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Team-building games are one of the most popular ways to de-stress employees, along with promoting social harmony at work. These fun and creative games help to improve communication between team members and ensure better team productivity.
But finding the right games that will be entertaining for everyone is a task. Employers and HR often search endlessly for fun team-building games that are actually loved by all. Yet in the end, many employees roll their eyes over repetitive and boring team-building exercises.
Don’t worry. We are prepared to make things easy and fun-filled for you.
Here are 5 innovative and fun team-building games for your employees that they will actually love. Don’t worry, there’s no trust-fall involved (Phew!)
“Does your idea have teeth?”
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People love ideas. They stimulate the mind, encourage conversation, and help break the ice. Even introverts are known to prefer conversing over ideas to personal life. What could be better than this?
How to Play?
Small groups of employees have to come up with an idea. Ideas could be related to anything from fun-activities to new products to different marketing strategies.
There’s only one rule. Come prepared and get everyone else excited over their brilliant idea. Employees could make presentations, charts, models, or anything to present their ideas.
To spice things up, the department’s seniors could be made sharks who would select the best ideas that could be implemented in the office. The ones who come up with these ideas could be given gifts or vouchers.
This "Shark-Tank" inspired game can be played both virtually and in person. Isn’t this great?
Benefits
Not only would this game stir interesting conversation and contributions from every employee, it will also boost their creative and leadership skills.
Moreover, every idea will result in a favourable outcome. The well-thought-out ideas will be inspiring, and some of them may even turn into reality. The funny ideas will make things lighter, butthey could also be the catalyst for your company's next major breakthrough.
How to Play?
To play, everyone sits or stands in a circle. One by one, each person in the circle says three statements about him/herself. Two of these statements must be facts, or "truths," and one must be a lie. Remember, the lie must be believable and not something that is highly unlikely (example: "I went to Jupiter")
The other members then try to guess which of the three is a lie.
Benefits
This game comes under the "get to know each other" category. Usually, extroverts have no difficulty communicating with others and forming connections. But introverts often find it difficult to break the ice. This game provides an equal opportunity for everyone to tell others about themselves. Employees learn about each other, and this helps in building understanding.
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How to Play?
Divide your team into groups of equal members. Give each team a different jigsaw puzzle of the same difficulty level. The teams have to complete the puzzle as a group within a set time (for example, in 40 minutes). But there's a catch. Each team does not have all the pieces to complete their jigsaw puzzle. Some of their pieces are mixed in with other puzzles belonging to different teams.
The goal is to complete their puzzle before the other groups, and that they must come up with their own method of convincing the other teams to give the pieces they need, whether through barter, exchange of team members, donating time to another team, a merger, etc. Whatever they choose to do, they must do it as a group.
Benefits
I know the game can be time-consuming. But, the fun and benefits are real. Employees will need to work as a team, persuade as a team and think as a team. That’s some team-bonding!
How to Play?
Give 10 minutes to employees to draw one thing that represents them the most. It could be any object, character, or life-form to which they relate or love the most. When time is up, each will have to show their drawing and explain why they chose the particular representation.
For example, a person could draw a lion to represent strength and courage in themselves. A person could draw a home to represent his/her major dream.
Benefits
This game not only helps employees learn important things about one another. It also helps to boost their creative and thinking skills.
How to Play?
Before a meeting, divide the team into small groups. Ask each small group to find one common interest among its members. This can include hobbies, music preferences, favourite foods, and even the most recent film they saw. After they've decided on a common thread, have them make a short list of traits or stereotypical characteristics that most people believe are shared by persons who share that trait.
For the rest of the meeting, the group must assume the characteristics of that stereotype. For example, if everyone in a group discovers they have dogs, they may all ask members of other groups to view images of their dogs on a regular basis. After the meeting, talk about how ridiculous stereotypes may be and how they limit our view of others.
Benefits
This not only helps in building bonds, but also helps in breaking stereotypes.