Effective Strategies For Work-Related Team Building Activities

Most business owners and managers know how important teamwork is when it comes to business success. Bringing the most competent people together and getting them to collaborate harmoniously is the first step toward building effective teams. However, competency does not necessarily bring about team bonding. That’s where the team-building communication activities come into the picture.

Over the past few weeks, we have given special attention to team management issues; how getting to know your team enhances employee productivity and creates a collaborative environment in the workplace.

Helping your team members get to know each other can prove to be beneficial towards that goal, as well! In our “6 Steps for Creating Effective Teams and a Collaboration Culture at Work” article, we mentioned the importance of team-building activities in the workplace on good communication among employees.

This week, we are going to elaborate on this concept. Therefore, we will suggest fun team-building exercise ideas for small groups at work.

To do that, we have created a list of team-building activities for employees and managers! Feel free to try out one, or more, of our ideas and watch your team thrive and conquer!

Types of team-building strategies and techniques

Organizing easy and fun outdoor employee team-building activities is relatively simple. Provided that you know what your goal is. Team building activities are categorized into four main types:

• Communication activities
• Problem-solving & decision-making activities
• Adaptability & planning activities
• Trust building activities

The aim behind these corporate team-building activities ideas is to perform various activities that are both fun and constructive. Moreover, through each team-building activity, the members can gain new skills or refine already existing ones. This way, employee performance and productivity increase in the workplace.

Below we have gathered some corporate team-building activities for small workgroups, sorted by team-building activity type!

The best team-building communication activities & games

Indoors Communication Activities

Indoor activities are not only easier to carry out but also affordable! You don’t have to spend your company’s budget in order to improve communication among your staff.

Are you looking for indoor team-building activities ideas for work? You can arrange quick “Two truths and a Lie” sessions that will definitely promote effective collaboration.

This communication activity can take up to 30 minutes maximum of everybody’s time. So, you can squeeze it in between tedious meetings to lighten up the atmosphere! Start by asking everyone to write two truths and a lie about themselves on a piece of paper. For the next few minutes, they should quiz each other and try to find out which is true or not. But they shouldn’t reveal it yet.

After 15 minutes of open discussion, you can gather up and vote on the validity of each person’s statements. This team activity is ideal for building better communication and getting to know each other.

Team Building Icebreakers for Work Meetings

In case your team is new or there is a new addition to it, team-building icebreaker activities are ideal to introduce people to one another. As a good leader, you are expected to initiate conversations among team members and a great way to do that is through quick but fun activities and games.

One of the best small team-building activities for work is the “Life Highlights Game”. Every participant is asked to close their eyes and reflect back on the best moments of their lives. This can mean moments of their personal lives, with friends and family, and/or professional ones. They have to share them with the team with their eyes closed. They should also describe how they felt during those highlights.

For the next step, they have to choose 30 seconds of their lives that they would like to relive as if they were their last moments. Then, they are required to discuss the reason behind their choice.

This second part is especially important as the team gets to know each other on a more intimate level. They share hobbies, personal experiences, and preferences.

Outdoor Corporate Team Building Events

Warm, sunny days are not beneficial only to everyone’s mood but also for team-building workouts! Take advantage of the nice weather and take your team out. Play a fun game that also facilitates building trust among your staff! Sounds fun, right?

“The Minefield” is the perfect team-building collaboration exercise for small teams. You will need various handheld objects, blindfolds, and some kind of open space – a field or parking lot. Place the objects sporadically across space and pair up your employees as you see fit.

One of them is going to be blindfolded. The other must help the person cross the space without stepping on the objects, just with verbal instructions. The teammate in blindfold cannot speak during the game and must solely rely on their partner to cross the space.

This game’s objective is to develop trust and listening skills in your employees that will ultimately contribute to creating a more positive atmosphere in the workplace.

Team Building Trips

In addition to team-building activities and events, organizing team-building vacations and short one-day getaways give a chance for your employees to relax and get to know each other outside the office.

Team building trips not only work miracles in team bonding but can boost your employees’ motivation and performance once they get back to work! Finally, this is a great way you appreciate their hard work not only on a verbal level but practically as well!

So, organize a trip somewhere you think the majority will enjoy that also includes fun activities you can do together. If it’s winter, you may take your team skiing or on a mountain for hiking. Summertime is obviously the most enjoyable of seasons, so taking your team to a nice resort where they can swim, play beach volley or just relax is a popular idea.

Problem Solving Meetings

Problem-solving is one of the most important qualities a team needs to develop early on, in order to be effective in times of stress and heavy workload.

One of the best office team-building exercises for meetings and large groups is “Lego Man”. You will need Legos, obviously, and to divide your staff into two or smaller groups. Select a person who won’t belong to a team to build a Lego structure within 10 minutes. Then, appoint as many team leaders as the number of the teams and let them take a close look at the structure. Team leaders must then return to their groups and instruct them so they can create an exact replica of that Lego structure within 15 minutes.

The team leader is not allowed to participate in the replica’s building but only provides information on the size, color, and shape of the original structures. The team that finishes its replica first, wins!

This unique team-building activity for staff development meetings will stress the important role clear communication has in a team’s effectiveness!

Innovative teamwork communication activities for work!

These effective team-building strategies can be a valuable tool for any team leader. They can help their staff perform better and work together as an effective unit!