22 Best Team Building Activities for Work Teams [2023]

One thing all successful companies have in common is motivated and engaged employees. After all, a team where communication, collaboration, and creativity are encouraged is more efficient and productive, and that’s exactly what team-building activities can help with. And the best way to encourage teamwork and boost company culture is by introducing team-building activities in the workplace.

With that said, there are a plethora of quick team building activities for work teams that you can choose from, so how to select the right ones for your team? Of course, there are some factors you need to take into consideration, like the objective, budget, number of participants, etc.

To help you out, we’ve selected the best team building exercises for work teams, organized in a few categories so you can find the ones that match your company’s current team-building needs. But before we get into that, let’s briefly explain what team-building activities are and go over the benefits they bring to the workplace.

What Are Team-Building Activities?

The term team building is defined as:

a management technique used for improving the efficiency and performance of the workgroups through various activities. It involves a lot of skills, analysis and observation for forming a strong and capable team. The whole sole motive here is to achieve the organization's vision and objectives.

The main goal behind team-building activities is to strengthen social relationships and help (re)define roles within various teams.

These activities often include collaborative tasks, but their effectiveness can differ from one company to another. Put simply, this effectiveness depends on the goals the company wants to achieve, the interpersonal relationships there, the corporate lives the employees have grown accustomed to, and how the activities are organized.

The best results are seen when teammates learn to both work in a group and work independently, as certain activities may require workers to approach their tasks individually.

Although the intention behind team-building is to encourage productivity, we can’t forget that having fun is an important aspect of the process as well. This is why your goal should be choosing activities that are fun and exciting in addition to being effective team-building exercises.

It’s also worth mentioning that for these team-building activities to be effective, you need to regularly introduce them to the workplace. The team-building process is something that should become embedded into your company’s culture for it to bear fruit.

Once you do that, you’ll see how team-building exercises will help you develop strong work teams.

Why Are Team-Building Activities Important?

We’ll let the stats speak for themselves:

• when it comes to remote virtual team building, the US ranks second globally;

• team building improves work innovation and ethics up to ten times;

• more than 50% of employees decide to stay at a company just because they feel like part of the team;

• 86% of executives believe that a lack of collaboration contributes to company failures;

• during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of companies that adopted a virtual team-building approach increased by 2,500%.

Stats such as these help shed light upon the importance of team-building exercises. However, we’d like to go deeper into the specific benefits that come with team-building activities. In general, team building is said to:

• improve the employee engagement levels in the office;

• unlock hidden leadership potential;;

• improve company culture;

• help build bridges across different company departments;

• assist employees in collaborating and working better together;

• encourage creativity and critical thinking;

• help employees to get to know each other;

• build trust over time among teammates;

• increase productivity;

• foster innovation;

• help develop problem-solving skills among coworkers;

• motivate employees and improve team performance;

• enable healthy competition (please note that while we’re against any kind of rivalry in the office, we support a competitive approach);

• promote team bonding in a very spontaneous manner, and so on.

As you can see, team-building exercises can do wonders for your workplace. But first, you need to choose the right ones, and that’s what the next paragraphs are all about.

22 Best Team-Building Activities for Work Teams

An escape room experience.

Scavenger Hunt.

Asking your employees to find random objects.

An egg drop challenge.

And there’s (always) more!

So many team-building choices, yet so little time to try all of them. To help you choose the right activities, we bring you the very best team-building exercises that are suitable for both large groups and smaller teams.

We have something for businesses at all stages.

Remote Team-Building Activities

Handling a remote team doesn’t come without its own set of challenges. However, coming up with a fun way to allow that team to remain connected, get to know each other, and bond on a deeper level has many benefits for everyone involved.

All you need to do is find the right remote team-building activities, so go over our list below to see which ones would suit your team best.

1) Online Trivia Games with TriviaNerd

Online trivia games are games or competitions where participants are asked various questions about a wide range of topics. These games are usually played on a video conferencing app.

There’s a plethora of trivia games on the Internet. The one we like most is a tool called TriviaNerd, a tool that lets you run multiplayer games with your team or colleagues no matter where you are.

There are also other great aspects to TriviaNerd that make it such a great product. Some of them include the following:

• A collection of over 100,000+ trivia questions and hundreds of pre-determined categories and collections for you;

• Custom game generators;

• Random trivia game generators;

• A fun game experience with leaderboards, timers, and more.

It's no wonder that the site has already run over 100,000+ trivia games over the past few months.

If you decide to regularly host trivia games as team-building activities, choose a different theme or a different trivia game altogether each time to ensure your entire group of remote workers is enjoying themselves.

Alternatively, you can also get trivia questions from an online resource and use them to run a simple trivia game. You can head over to a website like Trivia.fyi and choose a few trivia categories for a quick online trivia challenge with the team.

We like using Trivia.fyi as a trivia resource because it has over 100 trivia categories with dozens of trivia questions and facts per category. They're also a great resource for trivia guides as well. Check them out by heading over to their website

Why we like this team-building activity:

Trivia games usually require collaboration, as an entire group is expected to come up with an answer or a solution to the question/challenge at hand. Trivia games are great for colleagues who wish to take part in exciting activities and aren’t afraid of competition.

To try out TriviaNerd, head over to their site by clicking here.

2) Run Online Icebreakers with Quizbreaker

Icebreakers are quick and fun activities that teams can do to feel more connected and engaged with very little effort on the part of the management team. When running team icebreakers, we like using Quizbreaker, a tool that helps you run mini icebreakers virtually.

Using Quizbreaker is quite simple. Your team creates an account, then everyone proceeds to answer sets of icebreaker questions. The system then asks team members fun icebreakers about their teammates across the week.

Quizbreaker then records those answers and tallies up correct answers in a leaderboard and rewards the team members with the best results with badges and so on.

What makes a tool like Quizbreaker a great team builing activity is that it automates the whole experience for the team. That way, your human resource department or managers don't have to worry about it too much. You set it up once and you're team gets to know each other a little bit more every single week!

Why we like this team-building activity:

Icebreakers great team building activities to have at work because they help work teams see each others as humans with lives of their own outside the workplace. By humanizing one another, teams feel they can empathize with one another, leading to more connection, trust, and engagement.

To try out Quizbreaker for free, head over to this page.

3) Online Game Sessions

Playing games is always fun, but when it’s part of a team-building activity, it’s productive, too. There are many types of games you can plan for your remote teams.

Regardless of the game you choose to go with, one thing’s certain - your remote teams are bound to have fun.

A) Murder Mystery Games

If you want to pick a game that will make your remote teams feel like real detectives, murder mystery games are the way to go. This is one of those team-building activities for work teams packed with suspense, excitement, and unpredictability.

This game’s goal is fairly simple - players need to find the murderer among them. But to do so, they’re asked to do research, identify suspects, look for clues, and get along with the plot. And by getting along with the plot, we mean truly immersing oneself in it.

After all, this makes perfect sense, as murder mystery games are known for their detailed themes, plots, and the context they ask players to put themselves in. For instance, if you take a look at the following games, you’ll see that it’s a black noir murder. It’s appealing to those who resonate with noir as a genre, and it’s very attractive for players to imagine being part of it.

Also, the way the plots are usually presented makes one addicted to solving the murder case right away:

There's been a murder, can you help?

*You and your team play the role of Mr Jones, a private investigator in search for a murderer on the loose. All you have to start with is a mysterious letter that will lead you through a trial of crime scenes with puzzles to solve and suspects to interrogate.

Set during the gangster era, follow the trail across a range of bespoke locations in New York City. This crime has to be solved before the murderer strikes again. Can you find the culprit in time?*

All in all, murder mystery games are great for bonding while having loads of fun.

B) Online Escape Room Games

Online escape room games can be just as fun as in person escape games - you just need to choose the right escape room and you’ll have the entire group hooked on it in no time.

This activity is all about discovering clues, solving various puzzles, and making sure the required tasks are accomplished within the allotted time so you can escape the room

Most of these games require a collaborative approach, although competitive ones exist as well. What matters, however, is that both options encourage lateral thinking, logic, resourcefulness, and attention to detail.

This is seen through the various tasks players are asked to engage in, such as word games, arranging things into various patterns, crosswords, word search, number calculations, searching for physical objects, and so on.

It goes without saying that this is great not only for this game’s purposes, but for the employees’ overall work productivity skills, too.

Lastly, all you need to do is pick a time and date for any of these games, and invite your remote teams to join.

And in case you can’t make up your mind and want to learn more about the online escape room games you can play, check out the 50 Best Virtual Escape Rooms [2023 Rankings & Reviews] article. And if you’re more fond of murder mystery games, make sure to go through the 27 Best Online Murder Mystery Games [2023 Rankings] text.

Why we like this team-building activity:

Irrespective of which game(s) you pick, here are some of the most common benefits you can expect to see:

• better employee morale;

• a much more productive work atmosphere, as games help workers identify and eliminate issues;

• higher creativity levels - engaging in online game sessions helps creative juices flow;

out-of-the-box thinking and a more critical approach toward one’s responsibilities and tasks-handling;

• more meaningful communication among colleagues.

4) Two Truths and a Lie

Two Truths and a Lie is a very simple team-building activity. One person is asked to share three facts about themselves - two should be truthful ones, and one should be a lie. The rest of the team then tries to guess which facts are true and which one is false.

Although and instructions are fairly simple, give your teams some tips before you start. For instance, to make it more fun, ask your employees to come up with lies and truths that aren’t that easy to differentiate. Get the entire team to join in to maximize the experience. This is great for welcoming new hires.

The game can continue as long as you want it to - you can even play for several rounds so that each person says two truths and a lie a few times. Set a time limit for employees to guess to add a twist.

Why we like this team-building activity:

Being one of the most well-known team-building activities, Two Truths, and a Lie helps colleagues bond, learn new information about one another (especially new employees or new teams), and have fun. This boosts communication between colleagues and improves team cohesion.

Indoor Team-Building Activities

Organizing indoor team-building exercises allows employees to see their everyday workplace in a new light. Moreover, indoor team-building activities are great because everyone is already comfortable with the space, “everything” is here in case employees need to grab something, and workers can get back to work in case there’s some business-related emergency that needs to be addressed right away.

Let’s see some team-building activities for work teams that can be hosted in the workplace.

5) Campfire Stories

Activities that involve storytelling are some of the most creative ones you can opt for.

First, you need to gather your employees in a room and ask them to form a circle (tip: pick a room with a whiteboard). Then, have each attendee talk about some of their experiences at the workplace by giving them trigger words that will help the employees start their stories, like “first day”, “conference”, “business trip”, “team project”, “client”, and so on.

Once you decide on the words, write them on the whiteboard in two sections. Ask each of the attendees to pick one word so that they can tell their story. After they’re done, tell them to move their word to the other side of the whiteboard.

As each of the workers tells their story, ask the rest of the team to write down words that are connected to that experience and add those words to the whiteboard. Repeat the same process as much as it’s necessary, and in the end, ask the entire group to take a look at the board - you’ll have a whiteboard of interlinked stories.

To break the ice, we suggest that you pick the first word from the whiteboard and share an introductory story. This will help the others prepare and see what this storytelling (or story sharing) looks like.

With that said, feel free to make adjustments to the storytelling process based on what your workers resonate with.

In general, storytelling techniques that encourage workers to share their workplace experiences help everyone bond in a much more meaningful way because, at the end of the day, all of them share similar experiences in the same environment.

Why we like this team-building activity:

We love this activity and we can’t recommend it enough because it’s so simple, yet so effective. We appreciate campfire stories for the following reasons:

• It focuses on unity within the workplace, as it forces workers to focus on the same thing and although each person shares their own story they realize they’re “all in this together”;

• The storytelling approach can be very inspiring and boost the employee engagement levels in the office;

• Allowing workers to share their experiences in such an informal manner creates a very welcoming atmosphere and helps employees be more open to sharing their true thoughts and feelings.

6) Memory Wall

Went ice skating with your team?

Drank cocktails in your favorite bar to celebrate the new deal with a VIP client?

Maybe you and your team got invited to a conference abroad?

Celebrating such moments is always important, but having a way to reflect on them and remind your workers about these special instances is also significant. And while there are many ways to do so, one of the most creative ones is creating a so-called “memory wall”.

A memory wall means exactly what you think it means - a wall full of your and your teams’ memories.

There’s no right or wrong way to make a memory wall. For example, you can add photos from these special moments and write a brief note under each one. Your employees can add post-it notes and write something they’re grateful for (for instance, getting a promotion, meeting a deadline, starting a new project, and so on).

Moreover, as an employer, you can also participate in this memory wall “creation”. For example, you could use it to express your appreciation for specific employees and recognize their efforts and accomplishments. You might even come up with something like “employee of the month” and stick a photo of the employee of the month in some part of the wall. Then, each worker might add a post-it note and write something they appreciate about that particular employee.

With that said, be careful with such recognitions. Try to show your appreciation toward specific employees without neglecting the importance of others. You don’t want to create a rivalry in the office - you’re trying to build a company culture where employees are proud of each other’s achievements and everybody gets the same chance to succeed or be recognized for their contributions.

Finally, make sure this memory wall is somewhere visible. Choose a wall in the hall, for instance, where everybody passes by and all employees can take a look at what’s been added to the wall.

After all, can you think of a better way for your employees to start their working day than by having them enter the building and take a glance at the wall?

Why we like this team-building activity:

Creating a memory wall is a fun and positive way to stimulate harmony and productivity in the office. Team-building activities for work teams such as this one allow employees to feel connected and appreciated, and it serves as a reminder that they’re always working side by side and creating memories together.

7) Low-Tech Social Network

This team-building activity has the phrase “social network” in it, yet there’s nothing digital about it. In fact, people are asked to do all of the things manually.

The game is meant to simulate a way for individuals to introduce themselves, share their interests and likes, and find others who are fond of the same things.

Here’s how this activity is played:

• Divide your employees into several small groups (the number of people per group will depend on how many workers are present for the activity, so it’s up to you to decide);

• Provide each group with a whiteboard or at least a wall where you can stick notes;

Tell each attendee to write their name and three things they’re passionate about on a post-it note;

• Each employee needs to put the post-it note on the board (or on the wall);

• Once everyone’s done with that task, ask each worker to compare their passions with those of the other group members;

• When they find a match, that is, when they identify someone with similar interests such as theirs, they need to draw a line without moving the notes around;

• Ask employees to look at the whole network of notes and all the lines they drew;

Discuss their observations and findings.

Why we like this team-building activity:

This activity is amazing for:

• identifying teammates with the same or similar interests;

• allowing employees to share their passions with their coworkers;

• starting new office friendships;

• reducing the differences between employees and increasing the sense of unity;

promoting empathy.

8) Spectrum Mapping

Spectrum mapping reveals the differences in opinions and perspectives people have on a particular topic, and it helps organize them in an interconnected and meaningful way.

Each participant expresses their view without having to take ownership or defend their opinions in any other way.

Here’s how to organize this activity:

• Brainstorm topic ideas and write several on a sticky note. If you want to keep things corporate-related, you might focus on topics such as company culture, new projects you can work on, informal events the company should consider for its employees, and so on.

• Put the notes in a column in the middle space of a wall (or a whiteboard).

• Ask everyone to come up with an opinion about the topic and write it on a sticky note (they can write more than one).

• Tell participants to put their note(s) in a horizontal line on the wall (or the whiteboard) on either side of the note with the topic.

• Once everyone puts their sticky notes, ask the entire group to sort all of them in the following way: the notes which express similar views should stand next to each other, and those that seem to suggest opposing views should stand alone.

• Once everybody’s happy with the arrangement, ask attendees for their insights and detailed observations.

• Let the group discuss their findings.

Why we like this team-building activity:

This team-building activity discloses how many employees from your work teams share the same views and opinions, but also how many don’t. Moreover, it allows the employees to understand their peers’ take on specific matters. All in all, spectrum mapping reveals what the majority of the company seems to believe about certain topics and whether it’s inclined toward one type of opinion or another.

9) Back of the Napkin

The purpose of this activity is to allow work teams to think of an answer to a provocative question and draw it (maybe even write it) on the back of a napkin.

To play this game, follow these rules:

• Divide your employees into teams;

• Come up with at least one problem and define it in greater detail;

• Ask each team to either write or draw their answer on a napkin;

• Players should write their names on the other side of the napkin;

• Come up with ways to assess each group’s answers (you can form a group of judges and they can vote for the best solution).

Why we like this team-building activity:

We find this activity to be quite effective, as it:

• encourages people to come up with solutions in a short span of time in a creative way;

• requires employees to collaborate and discuss their views with one another;

• can be quite entertaining;

• urges people to brainstorm.

10) Magazine Story

If you’re trying to engage your workers in creative activities, this idea should definitely be on your list. It’s an activity where workers are asked to come up with an imaginary magazine story about a business achievement they’re striving to accomplish.

Divide your workers into groups and ask each group to write their story as detailed as possible. They should also add headlines, images, sidebars, quotes, and so on. It’s up to you whether this will be done in a digital format or you’ll go with a more traditional approach (meaning they’ll use markers, pens, and pencils to write the story and create the cover).

We suggest giving the teams freedom when it comes to how they execute the task, but if you wish you can give them more specific guidelines.

After everybody’s finished, allow each group to present their magazine story in front of their peers. Discuss every story, and you can vote for the best one (or at least pick the best magazine cover). You might offer prizes for the most attractive magazine cover.

Why we like this team-building activity:

Having your work teams create a magazine story on their own will allow them to think big and visualize the company they work for to achieve similar things. In essence, this team-building activity can serve as a great motivational tool.

11) Shark Tank

Based on the popular TV show Shark Tank, this team-building program allows companies and their employees to create a new feature or a whole new product. In essence, the whole idea is to come up with something your own company can potentially sell.

It may also be a marketing strategy or an ad campaign - the whole point is to make the entire group focus on creating something beneficial for your company.

After the groups develop their concept, each of the teams then needs to pitch their ideas to the so-called board of Sharks.

The board of sharks consists of judges. These may be individuals from the company leadership or some facilitators from the company organizing this activity.

This whole experience is meant to be highly interactive, engaging, and authentic.

The event usually takes place indoors - a conference room, ballroom, or some other room in the office building are all adequate choices, where you can personalize the space so it’s on brand with your company.

Finally, the Shark Tank activity takes up two to three hours, and the recommended group size is 25-120.

Why we like this team-building activity:

Shark Tank is one of those team-building activities for work teams that helps the entire group have a shot at process improvement, product development, and marketing. Also, it encourages employees to work on skills such as time management, creative thinking, planning and presenting, and others. There’s a bit of healthy competition, too.

12) Make Your Own Movie

You don’t need work teams with screenwriting or directing tendencies, you just need employees with a creative mind and artistic spirit.

Having your teams make their own movie may take more time than doing other team-building activities, but it’s going to be totally worth it.

Walk your employees through all the steps of the movie-making process - they need to create the characters, write a screenplay, pick where they can shoot it (allow them to use the whole company building if possible), choose adequate music, and so on.

The length of the movie may either be optional or you might give them stricter directions. In any case, it should be a short movie, as this is the most practical solution not only for filming purposes, but for screening reasons, too (yes, after everyone’s done, you should gather everyone and display their movies).

Why we like this team-building activity:

Movie making is great for collaboration, creative problem solving, time and project management, and improving your employees’ organizational skills.

13) The Office Trivia

Trivia events are some of the most popular team-building activities for work teams, so you have to host at least one at some point (if you haven’t already).

First of all, choose how you’d like employees to approach answering the questions - would you go with the traditional pen and paper method, or do you have something else in mind?

Now, it goes without saying that this game is for The Office fans. It’d make no sense to host this kind of a team-building event if your workers aren’t at least fond of the TV show. So, before you organize this event, make sure you’re familiarized with your workers’ TV show preferences.

Next, decide on who’s going to host the event (it can be you or someone from your HR team) and choose the appropriate equipment (for example, a microphone and some speakers if you have a big group of employees).

When the event starts, ask players to form teams (or you might divide them yourself). Get everyone engaged and set the game rules. Don’t forget to score the answers all throughout the game, too.

Here’s an extra tip: have a tiebreaker question ready at all times!

Finally, creating your own questions may be fun, but since it’s time-consuming, it’s best to google some questions. Here are some to get you started:

1. Question: Where does Michael Scott move to start his new life with Holly?

Answer: Boulder, Colorado.

2. Question: What was the name of Stanley Hudson’s mistress?

Answer: Cynthia.

3. Question: Who came in first place in the Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race for the Cure?

Answer: Toby Flenderson.

4.** Question:** What’s the name of Kevin, Kelly, Erin, and Meredith’s trivia team?

Answer: The Einsteins.

5. Question: What nickname does Andy give Jim?

Answer: Big Tuna.

6. Question: Meredith holds a Ph.D. in what?

Answer: School Psychology.

Why we like this team-building activity:

In general, such trivia games provide an entertaining experience for colleagues, allow them to learn something new about a specific topic (in this case a particular TV show), and engage them intellectually. And what better way to engage your office group than by hosting a trivia game based on The Office?

Outdoor Team-Building Activities

As much as being in the office has its perks, outdoor activities allow for a change of scenery and a whole new level of excitement.

Of course, you may not be able to organize these outdoor activities throughout the entire year (especially during the winter months, although it all depends on where you and your team are located), but that’s what makes them even more special.

For instance, if employees know you usually organize outdoor team-building activities in the spring or summer months, they’ll probably look forward to this during winter when they’re mostly spending their time in the office.

It may be a cliche, but sometimes not having a lot of something makes one appreciate it more when they do have it. Why would team-building activities be any different? Let’s see some examples.

14) Back-to-Back Drawing

Here’s what the back-to-back drawing activity is all about: employees work in pairs, and one of them needs to describe a shape to their partner without naming it. Their partner should draw the shape that’s being described, while sitting back to back (hence the activity’s name).

After the person’s done describing and their partner is finished drawing, they should compare the drawing with the original image. The better the communication between the two employees, the closer the drawing will probably be to the original picture.

Why we like this team-building activity:

We like the back-to-back drawing activity for several reasons. First and foremost, it shows the importance of communication and one’s listening skills. Next, it asks participants to be patient and trust the process. Moreover, it teaches that sometimes people have to rely on one another for victory. Finally, it shows that teamwork makes the dream work.

15) Body of Words

Body of Words is an activity that encourages work teams to come up with words by using their bodies to make the letters. We suggest choosing an open area where people can move freely.

Divide your workers into teams, pick a team leader, and allow each team to pick one letter. Then, write down different words which contain one letter less than the number of participants in each team. For instance, if a team has six people, write down five-letter words. This is so that the team leader can take the card and direct the rest of the members to form the letter with their bodies.

It’s up to you to choose how many rounds the teams can play and how to pick the winners.

Why we like this team-building activity:

Body of Words shows the importance of cooperation and teamwork. It also tests workers’ listening skills. We also like the fact that this activity requires physical movement.

16) Buckets & Balls

To play bucket and balls, you need three buckets, many balls, and to have trust in your teammates.

But first things first.

Divide your employees into teams (if possible, make sure each time has an equal number of players). Create a line using a rope to mark a boundary. Then, place one of the buckets five feet from the line, another bucket ten feet from the line, and finally, put the third bucket fifteen feet from the line. Also, make sure the buckets are five feet apart.

We suggest playing the game in several rounds. Before the first round, make sure to cover the rules the teams should respect. Moreover, after each round, declare a score for each group.

Participants need to toss as many balls as possible into the buckets. Here’s what the scoring system can look like:

• 5 points for balls thrown into the closest bucket;

• 10 points for balls thrown into the middle bucket;

• and 15 points for balls thrown into the furthest bucket.

Players aren’t allowed to cross the line. Also, ensure all players have the same distance from the rope/buckets. This will depend on how big your outdoor area is, so come up with a solution that resonates with everyone.

Have a stopwatch nearby to time each round - for instance, each group might get one minute to throw as many balls as possible. Also, not all team members are supposed to toss balls at the same time (the rule is one by one).

Once the time’s up, players can’t toss any more balls, and the next group begins throwing their set of balls. A round is considered to be done once all groups have had their turns. You can have as many rounds as you wish.

Why we like this team-building activity:

Such team-building activities for work teams are great because they’re dynamic, ask for collaboration, and keep players on edge all the time. However, one of the best things about this activity is that it forces employees to trust the other members of their group and their “throwing” skills. It also teaches group victory as well as group “loss” - you can neither win nor lose this game alone.

17) Photo Finish

The Photo Finish activity challenges the group of players to step across a line (you can use a rope) at the same time. Even if one person is out of sync, the whole group needs to start all over again.

This is perfect for sunny days when outdoor activities are much more enjoyable. Also, you don’t need any extra equipment other than a rope. Some people prefer using a straight line floor marking instead.

Why we like this team-building activity:

We like the Photo Finish activity because it involves communication, cooperation, planning, and timing. What makes us appreciate the activity the most, however, is that it teaches patience and resilience.

18) Team Jigsaw

This activity is an interesting one because it doesn’t include giving all the information to your employees before they start doing it.

First of all, find an outdoor space where you could place several tables (the number of tables should be the same as the number of teams). Before your employees arrive, put a jigsaw puzzle on each table - we recommend using large-piece puzzles. Remove five pieces from every puzzle and put those pieces on another table. Repeat the same process for all jigsaw puzzles.

When your employees come, divide them into teams and tell them each group is supposed to complete the puzzle as fast as they can. When the teams start arranging the pieces, they’ll realize five pieces are missing and each team is in the same position.

Let the teams know they have to negotiate with other teams to get their pieces and complete their puzzle.

Why we like this team-building activity:

This jigsaw activity promotes communication, flexibility, and cooperation. It requires players to use their negotiation skills, too. Another thing that makes this activity great is that workers will initially believe they’re competing against each other, only to realize they can’t complete the jigsaw puzzle without working together. This is a very valuable lesson - one that will stick with them long after they’ve completed their puzzles.

19) Standups Over Coffee

Nothing connects workers like a cup of coffee does, right?

Organizing daily standups over coffee in the office are brief sessions where employees talk about their daily plans, projects they need to tackle, and share some fun anecdotes. In essence, it’s an informal way for employees to connect and get motivated to start with the tasks they’ve planned for the day.

All of these talks take place while everyone's standing (hence the name of the activity). The fact that everyone’s standing forces employees to just focus on the important things instead of getting immersed in lengthy talks.

Why we like this team-building activity:

Coffee standups are meant to motivate employees, improve the communication levels in the office, and break the ice between teammates. The more workers get to see each other in such informal settings, the easier it will be for them to communicate with one another. This activity also helps bring everyone up to date with the latest work schedule.

Team-Building Activities to Do During the Workday

Sometimes it’s beneficial to plan a team-building activity during the workday. For example, if you have a brainstorming session coming up, or an important team meeting, you can do a quick activity that will get your team’s creative juices flowing or prepare them for a presentation. Let’s see some examples.

20) Blind Leads

For this activity, employees should be divided into two groups. Each group chooses two representatives - one is blindfolded and the other leads them through a series of obstacles with physical contact, which can progress to voice leading. The obstacles can get tougher as the game goes on. For instance, you may place some chairs, balls, or other items that the blindfolded people shouldn’t touch while crossing.

The four individuals do the activity at the same time - the first pair to reach the end destination wins the game.

Then another set of representatives is chosen from both groups and the game continues (of course, the length of the game will depend upon how much time you have during the day for this activity).

Finally, safety should be the number one priority in blindfold activities. You need to ensure the activity takes place in areas where there are no sharp objects, corners, or any hazards which may harm your workers.

Why we like this team building activity:

Activities which include blindfolds are always about proper communication and trust, as well as learning to rely on another person (for instance, the blindfolded individual relies on the instructions they receive from the sighted person). This is great for developing collaboration skills.

21) Host a Lunch and Learn

Lunch and learn sessions are opportunities for employees to acquire knowledge on a certain topic while enjoying a nice meal.

There are many ways to organize these lunch and learn sessions, but there are certain commonalities and aspects worth considering each time.

For instance, you first need to settle the food issue. Are you going to order delivery, hire a specific catering company, or perhaps opt for another approach? For example, certain organizations may ask employees to bring their own lunches so that they can accommodate personal preferences and keep costs as low as possible, depending on their financial situation, while other companies may ask for sponsors.

When it comes to organizing the learning aspect, the options are endless. For some, these events focus on employee development, others introduce new concepts and skills from other departments. Certain companies don’t even make these events with corporate topics in mind. They use them to allow workers to learn skills that aren’t connected to their profession at all, such as cooking, photography, feng shui, and so on.

Regardless of what you decide on when it comes to the lunch/learning aspect of the event, here are some general suggestions to keep in mind for such activities:

• Always pick topics that resonate with your employees. You can conduct a brief survey and see how your workers feel about a particular topic (or even a speaker you wish to invite). As we said, you’re free to organize these events as you want to, but since you’re doing it for your employees, it’s advisable to take some of their ideas into consideration.

• Find a venue in the company that’s suitable for this kind of event. You want your workers to be able to eat and pay attention to the content, too.

• Schedule such events in a timely manner.

• Provide takeaways at the end of the activity.

• Keep the conversation going after the learning bit of the event is over. Invite your workers to discuss the topic and exchange ideas.

Why we like this team-building activity:

Lunch and learns are highly sociable events that promote a culture of learning. They stress the importance of knowledge sharing in your company, provide room for professional development, and help people bond over lunch.

22) Have a Hack Day

A hack day is a day where employees are allowed to work on whatever they want to. After all, project fatigue is much more common than many believe, and even if your employees have the most creative and dynamic job in the world, things may feel a bit mundane from time to time.

This is when hack days step in.

Trust us, there’s a much deeper purpose behind a hack day than it looks at first. Hack days allow workers to learn new things and explore technologies and corners in the company they otherwise never would.

Most of the time, hack days don’t come with specific rules and high expectations - that’s what allows workers to relax and just do whatever it is they feel like doing.

Learning seems to be much easier when there’s no pressure and no fixed schedule one needs to follow.

Finally, when it comes to choosing the actual day, we’d say Friday is a nice one, as it provides a smooth way for workers to get into the weekend.

Why we like this team-building activity:

Hack days help employees take a break from their daily corporate lives and relax. Moreover, they allow employees to communicate with other coworkers they don’t quite get to interact with in any way. For instance, if someone from the marketing department spends the day with an engineer from your company, both can learn valuable things. Plus, they’ll get to bond in a very informal, non-stressful way.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do games promote teamwork?

Games help promote teamwork because they ask all participants to focus on the same goal. They help players understand the importance of collaboration and relying on others in times of need. Such an approach helps build long-lasting connections as well.

Moreover, teamwork includes delegation of tasks, and this is part of every leader’s approach.

Games provide a lot of fun, too. This is important because it allows employees to interact in a very different setting than the one they’re used to. In essence, workers see a different side of their peers - one that’s different from their “professional” one.

Moreover, games are linked with negotiation and making compromises. This is what makes employees realize that if they refuse to work together or do they do something to compromise the whole team, they might lose.

Finally, keep in mind that different workers enjoy different team-building games. To provide them with the best possible teamwork experience, ensure you choose the ones the majority resonates with.

What activities help groups bond together?

Many activities help groups bond and get to know each other in a deeper way. It all depends on how you plan, host, and execute the team-building activity.

Here are some activities that help workers collaborate with each other, express their views, come up with solutions, or learn something new about their peers:

1. Standups over coffee;

2. Team jigsaw;

3. Body of words;

4. Campfire stories;

5. and Shark Tank.

Finally, keep in mind that helping your workers create long-lasting connections isn’t an overnight thing. Put simply, you can’t expect to host one or two team-building activities and see your workers being best friends. This is a gradual thing, and what matters is being consistent. For instance, you shouldn’t host a team-building activity in January and plan the next one in November. You don’t have to overdo it either, but hosting a team-building activity once in a blue moon might bring you the results you may hope for.

What are the different types of team-building activities?

Team-building activities come in all shapes and sizes - it all depends on your company’s (current) goals. For instance, if you wish to foster company culture, you’re likely to opt for one type of team-building activity; if you want to enhance the communication levels in the office, you’ll seek to employ team-building activities that allow employees to work on their socializing skills.

When it comes to the actual types of team-building activities, there are five of them worth mentioning:

1. Meeting kickoff

Meeting kickoffs are activities that help motivate your workers to be more engaged in your meetings, contribute to them with their ideas, and discuss matters with peers. They’re also a great tool for you as an employer to start your corporate gatherings.

2. Communication

Ensuring there’s harmony and adequate communication skills in the office is key for employees who work together. Introducing them to team-building activities which help them with this is one of the ways to assist them.

And while improving one’s communication skills may come easier for some teammates, having everyone engage in such activities is more than encouraged.

3. Problem-solving

Every job position comes with its own set of challenges. The better your employees’ problem-solving skills, the easier it is to handle the issues they’re faced with.

Put simply, using such team-building activities that help workers find solutions and come up with ideas to resolve problems is a nice way to help them improve their skills.

4. Creative thinking

Every business appreciates a creative thinker. And yours is probably no exception.

Encouraging your workers to come up with creative solutions, fresh ideas, and critical thoughts can move your business forward in ways you couldn’t have imagined. Team-building activities that trigger creative thinking may improve the way your business operates, as well as the thinking patterns most of your employees have been used to so far.

5. Employee bonding

Employees may have the chance to develop relationships with their peers at work, however, getting to bond with them in an informal way can be priceless.

Making sure your workers have the support they need and aren’t afraid of opening up to their coworkers is important for securing a harmonious and healthy work environment.

And while team-building activities may not be enough on their own to foster such connections, they’re a very good start.

Final Words

All in all, team-building activities are meant to promote team bonding, improve the employee engagement levels in the office, and help employees communicate better, all while having fun.

Regardless of how you choose to implement the team-building exercises, we guarantee it’s worth investing your time and resources since team-building activities have a lot of positive consequences for the success of a company.