Ways of working and workplace culture have changed drastically in the last couple of years. For many companies, the amount of time employees spend engaged in collaborative work has increased significantly. More and more companies realise that team building games fostering teamwork and collaboration are the key to success in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing landscape.
These activities can range from simple games to more complex challenges, but all aim to bring people together, improve communication and problem-solving skills, and boost morale. Additionally, group activities in the office can help to break up the monotony of the workday and provide a fun and enjoyable way for team members to bond and destress.
In this article, we will explore in depth the benefits of investing in team building, and explore 15 fun team building games you can set up in no time.
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Benefits of Team Building Games in the Workspace
Investing in your team’s morale is key to cultivating a sense of belonging and building dynamism in the workplace. Learning how to work alongside colleagues to solve problems is a valuable skill that every employee must possess in order to succeed in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing professional landscape.
In fact, recent research shows us that 82% of UK office workers demand more team-building events. In this scenario, investing in team building games it’s not just a good idea to improve your team’s health and employee wellbeing. It’s also an actionable approach to retaining talent in the long term.
You can use fun team building games to sharpen collaboration and share techniques for addressing problems at the office. These games that nurture teamwork are highly effective for improving dynamics and fostering new connections at the office. These activities can range from simple icebreakers to more complex challenges, but all aim to bring employees together and improve the way we work.
How Do Team Building Games Impact the Office?
Team building games for adults in the workspace have wide-ranging benefits, including:
- Improved communication: activities that require teamwork help to break down barriers and improve the overall quality of communication within a team.
- Cultivated problem-solving skills: games that require creativity and out-of-the-box thinking help employees to develop and strengthen their problem-solving abilities and propose creative solutions to common problems.
- Increased teamwork: when employees participate in team building games that require collaboration and cooperation, it helps to foster a sense of teamwork in daily duties at the office.
- Boost morale: team building games can help to improve relationships, create a sense of camaraderie, and improve overall mood, leading to less employee stress.
- Cultivate leadership skills: working in collaboration to solve a problem is an activity that can provide opportunities for employees to take on inclusive leadership, gain confidence, and learn how to motivate people.
So, now that you know how team building can help to boost the workplace, let’s explore the most popular games to engage your staff!
Team Building Games to Engage Your Employees
1. Storytelling Relay
Time: 15-20 minutes
Participants: 4-25
Suggested location: Outside or inside
Goal: Create an interesting story one sentence at a time.
In this game, participants are divided into small groups and each person is given a piece of paper with a sentence written on it. The groups must then take turns adding one sentence to the story, building upon the previous sentence until they have created a cohesive narrative. Players must listen carefully to each other and work together to create a cohesive story.
2. “Human Knot”
Time: 15-20 minutes
Participants: 4-25
Suggested location: Inside
Goal: Work together to untangle a human knot.
Participants stand in a circle and reach their hands into the centre, grabbing onto a different person’s hand. Once everyone is holding onto two hands, they must work together to untangle themselves without letting go of each other’s hands. You can watch a tutorial here.
3. “Escape Room Challenge”
Time: 60 minutes
Participants: 4-8
Suggested location: Inside
Goal: Solve puzzles and riddles to escape a locked room.
Participants are locked in a room and must work together to solve a series of puzzles and riddles to escape. The team must work together to find clues and come up with solutions, so it’s a great idea to foster collaboration and trust.
4. “Marshmallow Challenge”
Time: 20-30 minutes
Participants: 4-25
Suggested location: Inside
Goal: Build the tallest structure using only marshmallows and spaghetti.
Participants are given a bag of marshmallows and a bundle of uncooked spaghetti and must work together to build the tallest structure possible. Although this game sounds simple, it fosters teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills as players must work together to come up with a plan and build the structure.
5. “Blindfolded Trust Walk”
Time: 20-30 minutes
Participants: 4-12
Suggested location: Outside
Goal: Walk through an obstacle course while blindfolded and relying on your teammate’s guidance.
This is another great team building game for adults. Participants are divided into pairs and one person is blindfolded. The other person must guide their blindfolded partner through an obstacle course by giving verbal instructions, and building trust and teamwork in the process. You can watch a tutorial here.
6. “Two Truths and a Lie”
Time: 15-20 minutes
Participants: 4-25
Suggested location: Inside
Goal: Guess which of the three statements is a lie.
Each person takes a turn sharing three statements about themselves, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. The rest of the group must then try to guess which statement is the lie. The players must listen carefully to each other and work together to come up with a guess.
7. “Pass the Ball”
Time: 15-20 Minutes
Participants: 5-15
Suggested location: Inside or outside
Goal: To improve communication and teamwork through active listening and attention to detail.
Have the group stand in a circle, and have one person start by tossing a ball to another person in the circle. As the ball is being passed around the circle, the group must call out the name of the person to whom the ball is being passed. If someone drops the ball or calls out the wrong name, they are out of the game. The last person standing wins. This game can be good to release work stress and recharge energies at the office.
8. “Scavenger Hunt”
Time: 30-60 Minutes
Participants: 4-10
Suggested location: Inside or outside
Goal: To improve teamwork and communication through problem-solving and collaboration.
Create a list of items or tasks that the group must find or complete within a set time limit. The group must work together to find or complete all of the items on the list, and can only succeed if they communicate and collaborate effectively.
9. “Blind Drawing”
Time: 20-30 minutes
Participants: 4-10
Suggested location: Inside
Goal: Communicate effectively to reproduce a drawing.
In this game, teams are divided into pairs, one of which is drawing a picture and the other one is trying to reproduce it just by verbal instructions. The game tests the teams’ communication skills, and also can be a fun way of having people drawing and laughing.
10. “Trust Fall”
Time: 15-20 minutes
Participants: 4-25
Suggested location: Outside
Goal: Build trust and teamwork within the group.
In this game, participants stand in a circle and one person stands in the centre. The person in the centre must close their eyes and fall backwards, trusting that the rest of the group will catch them. This is a classic game that helps to improve trust and break the ice in the office. This video guide explains in a bit more detail.
11. “Charades”
Time: 15-20 minutes
Participants: 4-25
Suggested location: Inside
Goal: Act out a word or phrase without speaking.
Participants are divided into teams and one person from each team is given a word or phrase to act out. The rest of the team must try to guess what the person is acting out. In addition to being fun, this game helps to improve communication skills as teammates must work together to interpret the clues and come up with a guess.
12. “The Elevator Pitch”
Time: 20-30 minutes
Participants: 4-10
Suggested location: Inside
Goal: Practice giving clear and concise presentations.
In this game, each person is given a topic or product and has to give a short pitch as if they were in an elevator with a potential investor or client. The pitch must be clear and concise and must convey the key points in a limited amount of time. This game helps to improve communication and presentation skills as players must be able to effectively convey their ideas in a short amount of time.
13. “Build a Bridge”
Time: 30-45 minutes
Participants: 4-10
Suggested location: Inside or outside
Goal: Work together to build a bridge using only a set of materials.
Participants receive a set of materials such as popsicle sticks, glue, and tape, and must work together to build a bridge that can support the weight of a small object.
14. “Murder Mystery”
Time: 60-90 minutes
Participants: 8-20
Suggested location: Inside
Goal: Solve a murder mystery by finding clues and questioning suspects.
In this game, one participant is chosen to be the “murderer” and the rest of the group must work together to figure out who it is. The group is given a set of clues and must question each suspect in order to gather more information and solve the mystery.
15. “Lost in Puzzles”
Time: 30-40 minutes
Participants: 4-15
Suggested location: Inside
Goal: Work together to solve a series of puzzles and riddles to find a lost object.
In this game, participants are divided into teams and given a series of puzzles and riddles to solve. Each puzzle and riddle leads to the next one and eventually reveals the location of a lost object. This game helps to improve teamwork as players must work together to solve the puzzles and find the object.
Team Building Games at Work
Team building activities, events and games are pillars for organisations that want to grow talent and boost performance. Employee engagement is crucial for increasing productivity and creating a strong sense of community in the workplace.
On average, employees are productive for 60% of their workday, but this can be increased by 21% if they are engaged in their work. And as a manager of people teams, it’s your job to take the values you’re sharing with your people, and use them to create a better place to work. However, fostering a sense of community and managing employee development and performance can be challenging and time-consuming.
That’s where Factorial comes in.
Our HR software streamlines communication and allows managers to easily track employee development and manage performance. With the right HRIS, you can invest more time in building a dynamic team that works towards company goals.
Having an all-in-one workspace to manage all the paperwork, tasks and roles can help you:
- Enhance communication among the team and with management by centralising all your documentation.
- Increase collaboration by providing a platform for everyone to communicate, share information and work on projects together
- Foster teamwork by providing a way to assign tasks and track progress, identify problems and report accomplishments.
- Track employee engagement through transparent communication and assignments that foster teamwork and accountability.
- Better define, plan and monitor individual and team goals and make sure they align with the company’s overall objectives.
👉 Sign up for a free trial today and see how our software can help your company reach its full potential.
