Team building activities are exercises built to improve the efficiency of the team by enhancing their interpersonal skills.
These activities are proposed so that the employees get to know each other and share their interests so that conflicts in the workplace can be avoided and the team can achieve their target efficiently.
The four basic categories of team-building exercises are as follows:
- Conversational exercises
- Decision-making and problem-solving exercises
- Flexibility and activity planning
- Trust-building exercises
Importance of Team building activities
Builds trust among coworkers
Team building exercises are very helpful in creating trust between the employees, which is the most important characteristic of a good team. If the teammates do not trust each other, the team cannot function suitably. The teammates wouldn’t rely on each other, which would ultimately lead to the wastage of resources due to a lack of utilization of proper skills of the team.
Avoids conflicts
When the team members socialize and get to know each other, they develop a sense of understanding. They share their thoughts and opinions and socialize and become friends. This sense of understanding between them avoids conflicts within the team.
Boosts team performance
Employees are better able to understand each other’s skills, weaknesses, and interests after participating in team-building activities.
Everyone is then able to cooperate, knowing their weaknesses and helping them overcome these weaknesses.
Every team is unique, and every member has a special set of skills. Your team will be able to realize its full potential once you can recognize each person’s potential and help them realize it.
Examples of Team Building Activities
An Appreciation Circle
In this activity, the teammates encourage their spirits by appreciating each other. They can spend a time limit of 5 to 10 minutes in which they can appreciate any quality of their teammate. Or they could appreciate some work done by the teammate, like ‘Good job on the last report.’
Or they can form a circle and say something appreciative to the person sitting next to them.
Treasure Hunt
The company can organize treasure hunts in which people will participate in a team searching for clues around the office. This will generate team spirit in a very fun way.
The clues could contain some information about the company so that the treasure hunt is informative as well as enjoyable.
Organize lunch and learn
Everyone on the team must possess a unique set of skills. In this activity, the team could organize a lunch in which the teammates could teach others the skills they possess, like a new language like Punjabi, Malayalam, etc., or some new tricks about excel which they gained from the internet.
Escape-the-Room Challenge
Nothing unites people like being locked in a room with no technology and only one way out. An authentic escape room will challenge your team’s problem-solving skills and force them to cooperate if they wish to succeed in the game and leave the room.
Start a Book Club
Over a few weeks, assign everyone to study a book about your area of expertise. After that, schedule some time to talk about it while enjoying some snacks. You’ll start stimulating conversations, invite coworkers to contribute their thoughts, experiences, and ideas, and assist everyone in understanding their position on the team a little better.
Find your Match
Many workers think that having a sense of belonging is important for sticking to a company. Therefore, Find your Match is the ideal game to break the ice and allow people to get to know one another if you want to foster a strong sense of belonging within your company.
Participants in this game must recognize their partner to win. Make a list of well-known couples or duos first, such as Salt and Pepper, Batman and Robin, etc.
One card per person should have each person’s name or item written on it. Now it’s up to each participant to decipher what is written on their back. They have to ask other teammates questions about his/her identity and then find his/her match.
Issue Directions with Blindfolds
In this activity, it is the responsibility of the other team member to guide the blindfolded team member in making motions as best they can, whether it be painting a picture or participating in a race. This exercise will help people who aren’t collaborative practice communication and develop trust.
Brainstorming sessions
This activity is purely work-related. In this activity, all the teammates sit together for brainstorming sessions to discuss their ideas for the long-term growth of the organization. In this session, the main focus is on the long-term plans of the organization rather than day-to-day plans.
Conclusion
Building a team bond is essential for any team, whether it consists of five or 10 people working in an office or more than 100 people working remotely from different parts of the world.
Better coordination, more effective communication and more output are all benefits of a linked team.
It brings a sense of trust among teammates, which is very important for the proper functioning of a team.
Team-building activities are tested and proven to be effective in building a strong team.
So, start using some of these suggestions for the team-building exercises mentioned above and have fun with your staff.
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