Team-building activities help create a collaborative and productive work environment, promoting good interpersonal relationships between employees. They enhance productivity and reduce stress in the workplace while creating a sense of community within the company which is crucial for success.
This article will highlight 13 of the best workplace team-building activities that work for multiple teams. So, let’s dive in.
Top Workplace Team-Building Activities
Businesses that engage in regular team-building activities have a 36% higher employee retention rate.
It’s important to choose an activity that suits everyone, so make sure to choose one that caters to everyone on your team, taking any additional requirements into consideration. Here are our top choices.
1. Scavenger Hunt
The purpose of scavenger hunts is to help create connections between team members in a fun and stress-free environment and cityHUNT is a popular choice where your team can participate in fun, inclusive scavenger hunts and get away from corporate burnout.
Working towards a goal motivates people, and your team will feel more connected as they collaborate to find the hidden treasure. As a team leader or manager, you might also spot unexpected talents and learn more about your employees.
Scavenger hunts are great activities to get teams working together and engaging with each other, especially for hybrid or remote teams who spend most of their work relationships communicating online.
cityHUNT brings teams together in person across the US to boost morale and create a fun corporate team activity. The company also offers multiple scavenger hunt experiences in different parts of the world, so you can book one for a destination team-building trip.
This is one of the most flexible solutions as you can tailor your experience based on your budget, size of the team, interests, and so much more. The average cost ranges from $25 to $200 per person, depending on the adventure’s custom production and technology. But that’s not all. cityHUNT also offers special discounted prices to educational institutions, non-profits, and purpose-driven organizations.
2. Battle of the Bands
This activity takes some preparation and practice time but it’s totally worth it. As a team leader, you’ll divide your team into two groups to create two music bands.
Let them decide who will be the singer, guitarist, drummer, or keyboard player, and give them time to choose a song and practice lip-syncing it. If there’s more time, some team members will prefer to sing the song or perform a live performance with props.
Ask each band to perform their song in front of the other bands and teams in the office. Let them vote for the winner. Include a small reward to celebrate the winning team. This activity will help your employees see one another in a laid-back and stress-free setting.
3. Diversity and Inclusion Book Club
Do you have team members who come from different cultural backgrounds? Help your employees learn more about one another by starting a diversity and inclusion book club.
Give team members a heads up and schedule a weekly or monthly meeting where each one talks about their favorite novel or book that highlights the specific culture or ethnicity.
This is an excellent way to include foreign and new members who might feel left out or alienated, especially if they’re immigrants or have just moved from abroad. It’s also an eye-opening experience for all the other team members.
4. Painting and Drawing Classes
Building communication between teammates can’t be stressed enough, and this entertaining activity will help improve how your team members interact and communicate in a relaxed setting.
Many psychological studies promote the use of drawing and painting as a way to relieve stress and deal with depression. Using these activities you can improve the employees’ overall mood while engaging them in a creative practice.
Back-to-back drawing is a fun, light-hearted team-building activity for your team while strengthening collaboration and communication.
You’ll split your group into pairs and give one person an image and the other a piece of paper and a pen. The person holding the picture will give the other verbal cues to help them draw the same shape or picture, without telling them what it really is and the results are always entertaining. This activity provides insight on how to better improve communication within your team. 5. Build
5. Build a Storyline
Getting people to know each other when they’re starting a new team is essential. This can be a good ice-breaking team-building activity or a way to introduce hybrid and remote team members to one another.
One team member will start narrating a story and stop in the middle of a sentence having the next person continue and so on. Team members will continue adding more to the story until everyone has taken part.
The purpose of this team-building activity is to ensure that everyone is practicing active listening, paying attention and no one is distracted or feeling ignored.
As a team leader, you’ll notice who has more creative ideas on the team. The resulting story can be coherent or hilarious, depending on how your team members choose to complete the story.
6. Office Talent Show
How many hidden talents are there on your team? Organize an in-office talent show to find out.
Statistics show that 63% of employees believe that humor can reduce stress at work, and 59% agree that it improves the relationships between employees and their bosses.
Talent shows allow your employees to let loose and engage in a stress-relieving activity while bonding with other members of their teams. This talent show provides people with an opportunity to show off their skills and communicate in a friendly way.
As a facilitator, you’ll have to set up the stage or place where the show will take place. Announce the event early enough to allow employees to practice and prepare all the needed props. You should also choose the judging committee.
Voting for talents can be done via clapping, online voting on a poll, or using Yes and No signs. The list of talents can include painting, playing musical instruments, singing, graffiti, acting, miming, impersonation, dancing, flair bartending, lip-syncing, and athletic performance. Give your employees the green card to get as creative as possible, and everyone will leave entertained.
7. What Do We Have In Common
Planning inclusive team-building activities can be challenging within large organizations, as it’s sometimes difficult to get tens of people involved in one activity. Yet, this fun activity can be an excellent way to boost employee engagement and help team members learn more about each other. It’s also suitable for hybrid and remote teams.
Set a time and place for this activity during the company’s lunch hour or a Zoom meeting. Then, divide teams or employees into groups of five people. Within each group, members should list five to ten things they have in common.
People will have to talk and dig deeper to find what they share, and it can be something as trivial as their favorite ice cream flavor. After they talk about their list, people will find out that they have more in common than they think they do.
8. Whodunit
Get your team members to share their lives and accomplishments outside work and help them learn more about their colleagues using this stress-free activity.
Each participant will write one fact that represents an achievement that is not work-related, like winning a sports championship or going on an exotic trip. Place all the notes in a container and ask each member to grab one and guess who it belongs to. They’ll also mention why they chose this particular person.
This activity is a great one to help people open up about their lives and feel more connected to their teammates. It can also show a hidden side of their personality.
9. Campfire Memory Wall
New team members can feel overwhelmed when introduced to new and established teams. This fun activity reminds everyone of their humble beginnings and can help them feel more at ease.
You can use a whiteboard in the meeting room or sticky notes on a wall. Choose various themes like my first day at work, first company meeting, or first company trip. Then, ask everyone to choose a topic and tell a story.
These stories are often hilarious and help members bond in an entertaining setting. People can even share pictures if you give them time to prepare in advance, making the experience richer and more engaging.
10. Karaoke Party
Workplace team-building activities can be more challenging to plan when you work with remote teams.
This fun and engaging activity is entertaining for everyone while boosting communication and team bonding skills.
Team members will use their computers and mics to challenge one another at an online karaoke party. Then, they will rate everyone’s singing skills and compare scores to choose the winner. Such fun activities are excellent for remote teams that often feel disconnected.
You can also organize an in-office karaoke party for your hard-working team. Rent karaoke equipment, have some drinks and snacks ready, and your employees will enjoy a fun day to remember.
Want to spoil your team a little bit more? Take them outside for an outdoor karaoke event held at a nearby pub or bar, where they can chill on a weekend or after office hours.
11. Bring Your Dish to Work
This is one of the most fun diversity and inclusion team-building activities that can help people learn more about their team members!
You can plan this as a monthly event, where everyone gets to bring a famous dessert or dish to represent their culture.
The idea is to start a conversation about the dish’s significance and what it represents. Like all diversity team-building activities, this one can help engage people on a more personal level.
At the end of the event, you might notice some people swapping recipes or planning cooking hangouts. Way to bring your employees closer!
12. Bake-off Contest
Invite your team to a creative bake-off challenge where they show off their creative ideas and skills. Even those who don’t know how to cook or bake can still take part in the designing and decorating phase.
You’ll have to split your team into two groups and provide them with all the necessary equipment and props needed. Each team will receive the same recipe and they’ll have a limited time to discuss the concept, how to prepare the dish, and how to present it. After preparing the recipe, the team should proceed to decorate and present their treat before the specified time is up.
This activity can show which employees have more leadership skills and who are good team players. As a team leader, you might notice that there’s someone who is giving orders without actively participating or another one who is waiting for others to do the challenging part to lend a hand. These findings can later help you work on more practices to improve collaboration within your team.
13. Charades
Charades is a versatile team-building activity that can be played indoors, outdoors, or online for hybrid and remote teams. One person is picked to play and they choose a word or phrase from a prepared list to act it out to the team, without using any words.
They can use body movements, facial expressions, and gestures to convey the meaning. Most people set the time for a minute, and someone has to guess the word before the time is up. If someone succeeds, then it’s their turn and they can start acting. Otherwise, the person can choose another world or the judge can pick someone else to play.
In addition to being an effortless team-building activity to plan, it also improves non-verbal communication between team members.
Wrap Up
Planning and executing team-building activities should be a priority for anyone in a leadership or managerial position. With all these different ideas, you can design fun and interactive events to engage all your employees in a relaxed and inviting setting.
In our list, we focused on offering something that would suit everyone, including remote and hybrid teams. You should take time to evaluate each team-building activity and modify it according to your company and employees’ needs.
