BUILDING A DREAM TEAM

''Not another dumb company team building game,” says the displeased employee. Ouch. When this thought crosses your employees’ minds, you can pretty much throw the benefits of team bonding games out of the window. Team building activities and games are supposed to be not only educational, but also enjoyable. They help the team learn about each other; how each person thinks, works, solves problems, and has fun. A team that works well together is more effective, more productive, and more successful, not to mention happier and more fun to work with! However, team building at work can be tricky, especially when typical team building activities tend to induce more eye rolls among teammates than high-fives. However, here are three team building games your group are guaranteed to want to play over and over again:
1. ....................................... Rules: This is a great 5-minute team building game. Give an object to one person in each group. One at a time, someone has to go up in front of the group and demonstrate a use for that object. The rest of the team must guess what the player is demonstrating. The demonstrator cannot speak, and demonstrations must be original, possibly wacky, ideas. Objective: This team building exercise inspires creativity and individual innovation.
2. ....................................... Rules: Partner (A) shares something negative that happened in their life with Partner (B). It can be a personal or work- related memory, but it has to be true. Then Partner (A) discusses the same experience again, but focuses only on the positive aspects. Partner (B) helps explore the silver lining of the bad experience. Afterward, they switch roles. Objective: Participants discover how to reframe negative situations into learning experiences together.
3. ....................................... Rules: Have everyone stand in a circle facing each other, shoulder to shoulder. Instruct everyone to put their right hand out and grab a random hand of someone across from them. Then, tell them to put their left hand out and grab another random hand from a different person across the circle. Within a set time limit, the group needs to untangle the knot of arms without releasing their hands. If the group is too large, make multiple smaller circles and have the separate groups compete. Objective: This game for team building relies heavily on good communication and teamwork. It also results in a lot of great stories to recount during lunchtime. (Reading text adapted from wrike)