A study conducted by Gallup reveals that an average of 17 percent of workers in the U.S. are actively-disengaged at their workplace. Team building helps to build up engagement amongst your co-workers.
Disengagement in a workplace often has negative feedback on the productivity of the workforce and, ultimately, the growth of the company. You can, however, improve your business performance by pushing your team to engage in some quick team building activities.
Are you looking to improve the performance levels at your workplace? Team building activities provide an effective strategy for building a positive and healthy workforce. But how does it all work?
Here are the top 11 ways you can improve your workplace engagement through some quick and fun activities.
1. Blind Drawing
Employees need to pair up to play this game. The only requirements are a pen and paper or a marker and a whiteboard.
The game involves two players sitting back to back. One player is given a picture of an item or a word and has to describe it in a way that the other player can identify. The second player then draws the item after carefully listening to the verbal description.
The game is useful in helping two colleagues improve their communication skills as well as their creative and innovative skills.
2. Scavenger Hunts
The Scavenger Hunt is a favorite team building activity among many companies. You can easily create some fun and easy tasks to accomplish within a time frame of 2 to 3 hours.
Among the best areas to conduct a scavenger hunt are zoos, museums, and theme parks. You can give your colleagues some tips that will help them get the final prize. The game is perfect for lightening the mood.
By creating teams randomly from different departments, you can help them get to know each other and bond quickly. It is also a simple and effective way to put a name to a face.
The main goal, however, is to evaluate the problem solving and decision-making skills your team possesses.
3. A Truth and a Lie
This activity is best for use when you want to get your co-workers to know more about each other in a fun way. You only need a pen and paper.
All the participants of the activity have to introduce themselves and jot down three statements, one of which is a lie.
The statements are then read randomly, and participants are asked to tell if it is true or false. Once a participant makes a right guess, they receive a point and at the end. The person with the most points wins.
4. Team Birthday Line-Up
One cool way to improve communication, problem-solving, and communication within your co-workers is by engaging in a team birthday line-up. The participants of this activity line-up side by side according to the date and month of their birthdays.
The participants should not speak to each other at all. Instead, they use sign language to try and identify each other’s ages.
5. A Penny for Your Thoughts
You can get your team members to open up and get comfortable around each other through an ice breaker game called a penny for your thoughts.
All you need to have for this game is a jar and some coins. You need to collect coins that are not older than the youngest person in the team.
The participants then pick a coin from the jar and share a memory that relates to the year of the coin.
6. Social Activities
There are several ways you can improve the interest of your co-workers showing up for work every day. The best way is by breaking the usual routine and introducing social activities that require everyone’s participation in the office.
Some options you can consider including are playing board games or setting up a fashion show.
7. What Is My Name?
For organizations to operate effectively, everyone needs to understand the roles they play and how they collectively have to work in sync for the organization to grow. “What is my name” helps employees understand this aspect.
The activity involves placing name tags on the backs on the participants. The participants see each other’s tags and ask questions that relate to the name tag on their back.
They have to figure out the label on the tag through the questions they receive.
8. The Great Egg Drop
The great egg drop highlights the importance of having teams and teamwork in the workplace. The activity involves creating teams and giving each a raw egg and some office supplies.
All they have to do is build a contraption that can securely prevent the egg from falling and breaking within a set time frame, preferably 15 to 30 minutes.
After the time is up, the different teams test out their contraptions. The team with the surviving egg wins.
9. The Perfect Square
The activity helps to foster communication and leadership skills. You can get your employees to stand in a circle while holding a piece of rope. Then, they should drop the rope and wear blindfolds.
They should then walk a few steps away from the circle and come back to form a square using the rope.
10. Conducting an Offsite Retreat
You can improve the mood of your employees by organizing an out of the office retreat. Depending on your accomplishments and budget, there are various places you can choose to take your employees.
The purpose of the retreat can as well either be formal such as detailing the plans for the next business year, or informal meant to help your employees relax and have a good time.
11. Attending an Outdoor Event
If you want to grow your team spirit, you can participate in activities that help you to share experiences and objectives. They include getting a group ticket to watch a major sporting event.
Also, consider grabbing tickets for your teammates to watch an outdoor movie together.
Quick Team Building Activities: Are They of Benefit?
Team building activities help your employees to create a healthy and productive working environment. It helps to improve the employee’s ability to work with each other effectively.
It is a worthwhile investment, especially if you want to set up a new team or if you sense a feeling of discord in the ranks. Once you get your employees to work together with genuine respect, a synergy is created that inspires everyone to work toward higher productivity.
Which quick team building activities would you employ in your organization? Continue reading our blog for more tips.
