Do you know the no. 1 struggle of every team leader working in any major MNC in Delhi/NCR is always how to motivate each of his team members to be productive and to make sure they are their best in order to achieve the team goals? Such is the reason why there are various team building activities specifically geared towards fostering team-work. The monotony of work atmosphere almost always discourage some employees to be productive hence there is a need to take a break and conduct team building activities.

We have listed the following fun team activities to help your team get back on track. All activities are simple exercises which require only few materials and fewer minutes to conduct. Each of these activities aims to help every team player to loosen up so they could be the best they could be when they should be during work.

  1. Tag Team

Time Required: 30 minutes

Purpose/ desired outcome of exercise:

  • This will help each team member understand that their collective strength as a group will trump individual weaknesses.

Materials needed:

  • Large sheets of paper
  • Writing paper
  • Pens
  • Markers

     Mechanics:

  1. Divide all members into groups of 4-8 members each.
  2. Each group must discuss and share individual strengths of each member that they feel would contribute to the success of the entire; write those attribute on a piece of paper.
  3. Each group would be given a large sheet of paper and marker.
  4. On the large sheet of paper, every group must create an “imaginary person” which bears all the positive attribute of the members they have enumerated during prior discussion.
  5. 10 minutes before end of exercise, a representative of each group would share to the entire class or group about this imaginary person and the amazing things that person could do.

    2. Road Map Game

Time Required: 30 minutes

Purpose/ desired outcome of the activity:

  • This is a fun activity that will motivate every team member’s imagination and foster teamwork into coming up with the best vacation plan within 30 minutes.

Materials needed:

  • Map of a certain area
  • Papers
  • Pen

       Mechanics:

  1. Divide everybody into groups with equal number of members in each group
  2. Each group is given a map, papers and pen
  3. Instruct the groups to come up with the “best vacation plan” given the following resources:
  • Rs. 5000 cash 
  • 5 liters of gas
  • 1 specific type of car

Have each representative discuss to the whole team about their vacation plan.

3. Mine Field

Time Required: 30 minutes

Purpose/ Desired outcome of the activity:

  • This is a trust exercise that will encourage better communication amongst team members

Materials Needed:

  • Large open area or field
  • Balls, pins, cones, etc. (this will serve as the “mine”)
  • Cloth for blindfold

Mechanics:

  1. Scatter all the “mines” haphazardly in the large area or field.
  2. Group all members into pairs
  3. One member of each pair must be blindfolded and is prohibited to talk.
  4. The other member remain at the outer field and his/ her job is to direct the blindfolded member to cross the other side of field without touching or hitting any mine as much as possible.
  5. Points/ time will be deducted from the pair every time a mine is hit
  6. The pair who crossed the field with as little time involved would be the winner. 

    4. Life Highlights

Time Required: 30 minutes

Purpose/ Desired outcome of activity:

  • This is an icebreaker game that allows team members to reflect on their lives while at the same time allowing others to get to know them in a more intimate level.

Materials needed:

  • Paper
  • Pen

Mechanics:

  1. Ask all participants to close their eyes and recall the best moments in their lives.
  2. Ask them to write three of those best moments on a piece of paper
  3. Ask them to choose one among those three best moments in consideration that they only have thirty seconds to live and they have the chance to relive that best moment.
  4. Ask each participant to share his/ her answer to the entire group and why it is so.

5. Puzzle Pieces

Time Required: 30 minutes

Purpose/ Desired outcome of activity:

  • This allows participants to understand that his/ her role in the team is important to create the whole picture.

Materials Needed:

  • A picture of a famous cartoon character
  • Pencils
  • Markers
  • Papers
  • Rulers

      Mechanics:

  1. The picture will be cut into many equal square pieces that is equivalent to the number of participants of the activity.
  2. Each piece of the picture will be given to every participant.
  3. Each participant must recreate a copy of his/ piece but five time bigger than its original size
  4. Once everybody is done replicating their piece, ask them to assemble everything and that will form a bigger picture depicting the picture.

6. Shrinking Vessel/ The boat is sinking

Time Required: 15 minutes

Purpose/ Desired outcome of the activity:

  • This is a creative game/ activity aiming to foster quick thinking and problem solving skills

       Materials Needed:

  • A wide space on the floor
  • Tape (Mark a space on the floor)

      Mechanics:

  1. Divide participants into groups of equal numbers (preferably 5 or more)
  2. Have all members stand in the space on the floor
  3. Gradually shrink that space until the remaining team that was able to hold much longer wins the game

7. Salt and Pepper

Time Required: 30 minutes

Purpose/ Desired Outcome of the activity:

  • This is a fun icebreaker game that helps break communication barriers amongst team members

Materials needed:

  • Paper
  • Marker
  • Tape

Mechanics:

  1. Have a list of well-known pairs such as Jack and Jill, egg and hotdog, salt and pepper, etc.
  2. Write each word on papers and tape one to each participants
  3. Have the participants mingle with each other and try to figure out their word. They can only ask questions answerable by yes or no.
  4. Once they found out their word, they proceed to looking for their rightful partner
  5. When they found each other, have them sit down and find three things that are in common with each other.

8. Memory Wall

Time Required: 30 minutes

Purpose/ Desired outcome of the activity:

  • To gain new appreciation of the job/ team members/ company

Materials needed:

  • Post its
  • Pen
  • A wide illustration board/ white board

Mechanics:

  1. Write a few work-related topics on the board such as “My first day”, “team awards”, “Memorable company events”, etc.
  2. Gather all team members in front of the illustration board/ white board
  3. Have them answer the topics cited on the board by writing it down on a post-it and have these posted on the board next to topics.

9. Frostbite

Time Required: 30 minutes

Purpose/ Desired outcome of activity:

  • This will enhance creativity, teamwork and problem solving skills

Materials needed:

  • Card stock
  • Toothpicks
  • Rubber bands
  • Electric fan

Mechanics:

  1. Divide the team into groups of 5-8
  2. Each group must construct a miniature shelter composing the materials enumerated above.
  3. Turn on the fan to challenge the construction of the shelter. The team who successfully constructed the miniature building wins the game.

10. Scavenger Hunt

Time Required: 1-2 hours

Purpose/ Desired outcome of activity:

  • This is a fun-filled game that is similar to the popular American game: Amazing Race”. This helps foster teamwork and encourages team bonding.

Materials needed:

  • Set course (could be inside the office or a field)
  • Clue cards

Mechanics:

  1. Set the clues on the course (Tip: make it exciting by setting a task to do before next clue is handed to the team)
  2. Divide participants into pairs or groups of equal numbers of members
  3. Have them finish the race following the sets of clues placed on the course.

11. Spider Web

Time Required: 30 minutes

Purpose/ Desired outcome of activity:

  • This is a fun activity that stimulates physical activity and creative problem solving skills.

Materials needed:

  • Strings
  • Tapes

Mechanics:

  1. Tape the strings across the doorway. This will serve as the poisonous spider web.
  2. Divide the participants into groups of equal number of members each.
  3. Have all members of the group enter through the doorway without touching the web.
  4. You can increase level of difficulty by adding more pieces of strings across the doorway.

12. Grab Bag Skit

Time Required: 10-15 minutes

Purpose/ Desired outcome of activity:

  • This motivates team members to go out of their comfort zones and have fun with their colleagues. This will also foster creativity and energize them.

Materials Needed:

  • Any material found in the office (literally!)

Mechanics:

  1. Divide the participants into groups of 5-8 members each
  2. Give them 10 minutes to come up with a skit/ story about a theme (prepared prior by team leader. Eg: what happens during first hours of work, funny mannerisms of superiors, etc.)
  3. Groups could be as creative as they could and use materials found in the office as props
  4. All groups must be around during presentations of other groups.

13. Beach Ball Toss

Time Required: 30 minutes

Purpose/ Desired outcome of activity:

  • This is a fun way for team members to get to know more of each other. This is perfect for new members. Unlike traditional meetings, this activity is more fun.

Materials needed:

  • Beach ball
  • Marker

Mechanics:

  1. Write random questions written on the ball (ball must have some sort of division on it where questions could be written).
  2. Have all participants gather around in a circle.
  3. Start tossing the ball around. Whoever catches the ball must introduce himself/ herself and answer the question closest to his/ her pinky finger.

14. Paper Tower

Time Required: 5 minutes

Purpose/ Desired Outcome of activity:

  • Teaches team members the importance of planning, timing and creative problem solving.

Materials needed:

  • Papers

Mechanics:

  1. Each team members are given a single sheet of paper.
  2. Instruct them to create a free standing structure within 5 minutes using that material only.

15. Concentration

Time Required: 10 minutes

Purpose/ Desired outcome of activity:

  • This will improve memory retention

Materials needed:

  • None

Mechanics:

  1. Divide participants into two groups.
  2. Have the two groups form two lines facing each other.
  3. One line would turn around; giving time to the other line change things about themselves (eg: swap earrings, remove necklace, etc.)
  4. After 40 seconds, the other line would try and pinpoint the changes.
  5. Once all the changes have been recognize, they will switch.

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