team building activities
Team building activities are a great way to bring your team together. These exercises often include fun games or creative projects that allow participants to collaborate in a different setting than the office and help break down communication barriers that might hinder the success of your business. Team building games and projects can also encourage trust and collaboration within a group as members work to support one another. The stronger your team is, the better they’ll be at tackling tough projects and meeting deadlines.
Teambuilding can be a huge topic, but it doesn’t have to be complex. Simple yet effective teamwork exercises like the Coat of Arms and Show and Tell can help you get to know your team and build a solid foundation for a successful working relationship.
A key component of a strong team is understanding that everyone brings something unique to the table. While it may be tempting to assign roles and responsibilities based on someone’s strengths, this can be counterproductive for a healthy workplace. To get your team on the same page and to understand that the sum of the whole is greater than the individual parts, try this activity, which uses pirate imagery to explore each team member’s role on a ship.
team building activities to bring your team together
During the activity, share an image of a pirate ship and ask participants to think about who they most identify with on the boat — is it the captain? The sailor who looks out for land or maintains the deck? This is an easy and lighthearted way to encourage discussion about how a team can be most effective when each person plays their specific role.
If you want to take a more in-depth approach to teamwork and building relationships, workshops are a great option. These types of team building activities can be done as standalone events or a support program to larger team gatherings, such as a holiday party or a weekend retreat. These kinds of activities can address a variety of issues, including bringing departments closer together to encourage cross-functional collaboration and strengthening overall company culture.
One of our favourite workshop team building activities is the Crocodile River, which encourages collaboration and problem solving in a unique environment. By working with one another to move across a large space, teams must communicate effectively and be creative in order to successfully complete the task. This is a great way to challenge your team and boost engagement.
Another good workshop team building activity is Open Fist, which invites team members to discover similarities with other members of the group. To play this, split your team into two groups and place a ball in the middle of the circle. Then, have members of each group draw the name of an employee from the other team and write down three strength statements about that person. Then, they’ll pass the ball to the other team and continue this process until all team members have a list of strengths to review.