How to Create Team Building Activities to Benefit Your Business

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Teams are critical to business success. Without them, a company would be left with a group of isolated individuals who work separately on their tasks from nine to five and that’s it. Imagine communication lines in such a company, or projects across multiple departments – it would be a disaster.

That’s why businesses have to invest in HR departments. Having an HR department inside a company or using remote professionals means you have someone who can take care of that and create a team. They will ensure the company is building teams and increasing the value of its greatest asset – your employees.

And to turn a group into a team, you will need to implement regular team building activities. Games and fun events might seem like a waste of time at first. But remember, it’s all about creating a healthy corporate environment where employees can depend on each other, which improves the performance of the company.

If you’re still unsure about how to do that at your company, here’s how to create team building activities to benefit your business.

Office Olympics

The popularity of this team building activity reached its peak around the time after season 2 of The Office (US version) aired. An entire episode is dedicated to this game, when Jim and Pam put on their own version for Michael, Dwight and their rest of their co-workers in Scranton. If it sounds unfamiliar, please watch it.

In real life, the game builds the various soft skills of your team like collaboration, teamwork, and competitiveness. Divide the staff into teams or use the existing department rosters, and have them compete in a triathlon or pentathlon. Use the office space and supplies to create the games.

Include games like paper-free throws, office chair races, water bottle weightlifting, coffee race, or mini golf. Office Olympics don’t take a lot of your time, but are a fun way to engage and motivate staff.

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An Office Showdown

Introducing a team building game show can be a fun competition at the office or a sensational event outside work. Choosing a non-executive for the role of host and facing off managers against their teams can be a great way to integrate everyone in the company.

Questions can be thematic or based on an existing quiz show like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? or Jeopardy. Instead of prizes, you can include a symbolic participation fee, which the winners can donate to their favorite charity.

A Scavenger Hunt

This game is a great way to build camaraderie among your employees and can be played both in the office and outside.

If you opt for a scavenger hunt at the office, separate your staff into groups. Give each group a set of clues (based on treasured office memories), start, and watch as everyone scramble around the office looking for miscellaneous stuff.

Alternatively, you can take the scavenger hunt outside, and use a scavenger hunt app to create your employees’ adventure. The best part: you design on your own where the teams have to find items or places across the city. And it can include partners’ or clients’ place of business.

The Food Truck Challenge

Every week you can assign two teams to participate in this game. Each team has a chance to display their culinary and creative skills, create a “truck stand”, and cook up tasty meals and dishes for the entire office.

It can also be a cook-off or bake-off, and employees vote for the tastiest meal, best presentation, or most creative stand design. And the team that becomes the office winner can be rewarded with a grand prize at the end of the season.

Food is a universal way to get people to open up since we are most relaxed during a meal. In fact, communal meals can end arguments, so using this game can help you create a more understanding and intimate workplace environment.

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Air Band Office Party

Although karaoke has been known as a great team-building activity outside the office, you can spice it up with an air band competition. Select teams of three to two members to form bands, and connect multiple headphones into one device.

Each “band” picks a song to play and takes turns performing. It can turn into a real office party at some point, once you turn on the sound and bring out snacks and drinks.

An Air Band Office Party is an extremely funny activity. It brings out the wild side in people, so everyone can show off their goofy side. This allows staff to put their guard down in the company of co-workers, which helps build camaraderie.

Sure, it’s going to be tough at first to everyone on board with these activities. But if you persevere, your employees will become more relaxed with each other, accept them as part of corporate culture, and over time turn into a real team.

Activities and games will improve group dynamics, communication and create a high performing workplace community with equally high morale and job satisfaction to boot. And your team will have everything it needs to turn your company into a successful business.

Author: Oliver Curtis

Hi there. I’m Oliver. I’m just a young boy from the outskirts of… Okay, that’s a lie, I’m not a young boy anymore, although I certainly feel that way at heart.