A well-coordinated team is more effective, productive, and successful – not to mention happier and more enjoyable to work with! However, team building at work may be complex, especially since standard team-building games elicit more eye rolls than high-fives from teammates.

Team-building events in the workplace are the way to go, whether you were paid to put together some team-building games or think your team needs to get together and do something fun. There are even more alternatives for online team-building exercises when your company is dispersed. 

Don't be the Michael Scott of your office, organizing team-building activities such as egg and spoon races and hotdog eating contests. A corporation would not tolerate that. This list will become your go-to resource for workplace team development, and it can even be adapted as games to play with remote staff. We've compiled the ultimate list of fun team-building activities for the office, from tiny team-building games to problem-solving exercises to make you laugh, learn, and connect with your team.

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Team Building Activities Have Many Advantages

When done right, well-chosen team-building activities may transform any business, regardless of type, size, or dynamic. Let's look at some advantages of workplace team-building activities.

1. Increase Employee Engagement 

Team building exercises can significantly increase your employees' engagement and Motivation. They assist you in bringing your staff closer together and developing new friendships.

In the long run, employees tend to engage with one another to complete tasks, and overall engagement in a business increases by 50% (according to Gallup data).

2. Enhance Your Communication Skills

Workplace failures occur for a variety of causes. One of the most serious of these is a lack of good communication among staff, which leads to poor teamwork. 

Most employees are afraid to speak to others or are unaware of each other's positions. Team-building exercises help to break the ice and promote communication on multiple levels. 

3. Develop and Recognize Leadership Qualities

Another significant benefit of team-building events is that they assist in identifying the leader among your personnel.

Certain activities and games, for example, necessitate individuals stepping forward to lead the team toward a common goal. It would require some of your staff to take up these roles actively. You'd be shocked to find specific people you'd never expect to display excellent leadership characteristics in such situations.

4. Strengthen the Company Culture 

Regardless of your organization's growth cycle, you must periodically reiterate your core principles and vision. It helps employees stay on target while also strengthening the business culture. 

Team-building events are an exciting method to accomplish this. Remember that, in the end, your organization's culture brings your employees together and contributes to their level of engagement. 

5. Boost Motivation 

Nothing beats team-building activities for motivating employees. They contribute to maintaining your team's morale and fostering thriving company culture. The concept is that when your team members finish a task together, they become energized.

In other words, they share a sense of accomplishment. It boosts their self-esteem and confidence in their ability to complete any assignment.

Furthermore, it displays how the organization is willing to invest in them, supporting their long-term goals. All of this contributes to their Motivation.

6. Increase Productivity

One of the most common purposes of team-building events is to increase productivity. When individuals work monotonously in an organization, three factors influence the quantity of work they put in to complete a task. These include policies, processes, and procedures.

Employees are encouraged to collaborate and distribute tasks more effectively through team-building activities. It leads to better work methods and faster task completion.

Games and activities for team building

Zombie Escape as a creative problem-solving and team-building exercise

You'll need the following items: 1 rope, one key, and 5-10 puzzles or hints, depending on the amount of time you spend on the game.

Instructions: Gather the crew in a conference room or other open area and "lock" the door. Choose one team member to portray the zombie — dead eyes, arms spread, moaning "braaiinnss." The volunteer zombie will be tied to a rope in the corner of the room with one foot of wiggle room. When the team exercise begins, the rope restricting the hungry zombie is let out another foot every five minutes. The zombie will soon reach the living team members, who will then have to solve a series of puzzles or clues to uncover the concealed key that will unlock the door and allow them to leave before it's too late. 

The Battle of the Airband's

For: Team Cohesion

You'll need the following items: Bluetooth speakers, a smartphone, or an MP3 player.

Instructions: Have you ever seen Lip Sync Battle? Extend the concept to a full-fledged battle of the air bands. Divide your party into teams of three to four people and let them select who will be the vocalists, guitarists, drummers, and so on. Allow them time to set, rehearse, and perform a lip-synced rendition of their favorite work-friendly music. Teams can dress up or bring props if they have a few days. Following the performances, groups can vote to choose the champion (with the caveat that no one can vote for their band). Allow a nearby department to join in on the fun and determine the winner. 

A Shrinking Vessel for Problem Solving Creativity

You'll need the following items: To mark a spot on the floor, use a rope, blanket, or tape.

Instructions: Make a place on the floor for the entire group (or several smaller teams) to stand in. The space will be steadily reduced, requiring the team to think quickly and collaborate to keep everyone within the reducing boundaries. 

Trivia 

Team-building, icebreaker, and competition

Trivia is a game in which a moderator asks participants questions, allowing them to win or lose points based on the responses. As a result, at least three people must participate. The event is frequently centered on a theme, such as music, sports, office inside jokes, or a mash-up of entirely unrelated pieces.

Set up a point system to rank answers and have an end goal to reach after you've chosen your topic to make the game more competitive and exciting. Finally, to further stimulate bonding, you might motivate staff with a present, such as a lunch on the company's dime. There are numerous forms of trivia you can play with your team, ranging from organizing a whole event in a nearby bar or shared room at work to taking 10 minutes out of your day to play with an online version like Sporcle - one of our office favorites. 

Charades

Team-building, icebreakers, competition, and communication are the goals of this activity.

It may seem familiar if you remember having sleepovers with pals as a child. Charades is a game in which one person acts out a word or phrase using motions without speaking while the other participants attempt to guess.

To get started, have a moderator make a list of words and phrases that everyone in the room knows. These can be relevant to the office or sector, or they can be random. To begin, you'll need at least three participants. Whisper the secret phrase to the player playing it out, and then have them go through their actions while the other players speculate. Set a time limit, so it's a race against the clock. Also, have a point system to designate a winner depending on who accurately predicts your desired amount of words. Finally, award a medal or bragging rights to the top performer.

Day of Community Service

The goal is to foster teamwork, collaboration, and community support.

Community service is one way to give back while staying motivated at work. It is the act of doing a nice deed for your community or region. It might be as basic as picking up garbage in the city center, helping at a homeless shelter, or putting together care packages for hospitals or the military overseas.

Perhaps your company already donates to and supports a charitable organization regularly. You can direct your community service efforts in this scenario. The goal is to bring your company together to do good, collaborate, and make the world a better place. It makes no difference how big you are or how much money you have to spend on this; any small gesture can significantly affect it.

Treasure quest

Communication, problem-solving, and teamwork are the goals.

It is one of the most enjoyable team-building activities. A scavenger hunt starts with a list of items to find, collect or photograph. These can range from 'discover Bill's secret stash of chocolate' to 'take a picture with the new art piece downtown.' Your specifications and time constraints are entirely up to you.

Participants are divided into teams to work together to cross items off the list in the allotted time. As a result, four or more employees should participate; the more people, the more fun. One suggestion is to do this solely with new hires to familiarize them with your company's history and to help them locate often utilized items. Another idea is to involve the entire organization and select random, unrelated things that get them out of the office to recharge and get to know each other better. 

'Shark Tank' at the office

Research, productivity, competition, teamwork, and public speaking are all goals.

Nothing shouts "intense competition and teamwork" quite like Shark Tank. If you've ever watched the show, you've probably seen the contestants face the judges and pitch their business ideas in a short amount of time. After the timer goes off, the judges grill the pitchers with difficult questions to determine whether their proposal is viable enough to invest in. Bring this concept to your workplace by defining your criteria. You'll need a theme, which can be relevant to work, such as the next project or drafting your company's mission statement, or it can be completely unrelated to work. At least one judge and three or more teams are necessary for four individuals.

Allow teams to split up, conduct research, and prepare their pitches. When it comes to presenting, keep only the current pitchers in the room so that other teams are forced to give unique discoveries. Following the presentations, have the judges discuss the concepts and select their favorite. Finally, bring everyone back together and proclaim the winner once all has been done. To heat the competition, provide a prize at the end that you have informed everyone about from the beginning.

Conclusion

No matter how good the work chemistry among your staff is, teamwork is a skill that requires ongoing attention. Just as constructing a website strengthens your internet presence, team-building activities at work promote your corporate culture. It involves everything from entrepreneurship to problem-solving and decision-making to increasing overall morale and so many more.

Team building games, icebreakers, competitions, and fun days can last anything from a few minutes to a whole day. It's up to you to decide which will be the most beneficial to your squad in the long run. This team-building activities guide will get you started with some creative inspiration, regardless of the size of your team or the money you have to work with. For more information visit the Relinns website.