Teambuilding Activities

Teambuilding-leader can provide you with some team building activities. These activities will improve your team’ s communication, performance and productivity. Try out these activities can for your next meeting, workshop and event

Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces : Objectives Help teams think about collaboration, communication and strategy. Materials A jigsaw puzzle, but ones with pictures are also ok. It is also helpful to have cups or small bags (to hold a some of the pieces). Set Up · Divide up the puzzle into chunks - 1 for each functional group or team. · Pass out the pieces for each group (it helps to divide them into bags or Directions · Identify the goal you want the team to work towards - e.g. highlighting current challenges fitting teams face in working together, or · Introduce the activity - goal is to put pieces together · Give people time to work on it (varies depending on complexity) · Facilitate discussion about how this relates to what the group is doing in real life (i.e. how group is working together) Debrief · How is this similar to what we are trying to do as a team? · How is this different? · So what? what do we want to take away from this? ] Alternatives · Pass out the puzzles in advance and have teams draw their vision of success on them

Elephants In Denmark Objectives Get the group's attention and emphasizes listening to directions. Also a fun riddle. Directions Tell the group you can read their minds. Then follow the steps to prove it. · 1: ask each person to think of a number from 1 to 10. · 2: take that number and multiply by 9 · 3: take the result and add the number together (i.e. 72 = 7+2, 9 = 0+9). · 4: take that number and subtract 5 · 5: take that result and equate it to the corresponding letter of the alphabet (i.e., 4 = D). · 6: think of a country beginning with that letter. · 7: Ask them to think of an animal that begins with the second letter of the country name. · 8: Ask the group: "How many people are thinking of elephants in Denmark?" This exercise works because any number they think of for step 1, will result in the answer of 9 for step 3. From that point on, the country will begin with D (there are only 4 countries that start with D - Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic and Djibouti - and the majority of the group is likely to think of Denmark). There are many animals that start with E but Elephants are the most likely guess.

Building the Tower Objectives Communication | Collaboration | Team Strategy · Illustrate the importance of collaboration among groups working to achieve similar goals. · Demonstrate how competition can be potentially destructive. Materials 1 package of candy (with enough for each participant to have some) 1 pre-built tower made from: · 15 Paper Cups · 25 Popsicle Sticks · 5 sheets of Construction Paper · enough Masking Tape to hold it together 3 packets containing the following items: Packet #1 · 1 roll of Masking Tape · 10 Paper Cups · 25 Popsicle Sticks · 4 sheets of construction paper Packet #2 · 12” strip of Masking Tape · 25 Paper Cups · 15 Popsicle Sticks · 8 sheets of construction paper Packet #3 · 6” strip of Masking Tape · 10 Paper Cups · 35 Popsicle Sticks · 3 sheets of construction paper

Set Up The setup requires pre-building a tower and dividing the materials into each packet. There is no model for the pre-built tower - it can look like anything you want - the more complicated it is the harder it will be for the groups to replicate. Directions Big Picture: Participants will work in small groups to build towers that look like a pre-built tower. Each group will be missing some of the supplies necessary to build their tower, but between the groups they will have enough to build 3 towers identical to the pre-built tower if they decide to collaborate and share supplies. The facilitators should make sure this is not immediately obvious, and once it becomes more obvious, the facilitators should neither discourage or encourage collaboration. The groups will be purposely set against each other through competition (and therefore they will be less likely to collaborate). Use appropriate additional debrief questions based on the groups choice to collaborate or not to collaborate. Procedure: 15 min Begin by randomly dividing participants into small groups and organizing the groups in different areas of the room. You should have the pre-built tower (hidden from view) e.g outside the room, or in a corner where not everyone can see it. Introduce the activity by saying: “Your goal is to build a tower that matches the pre built tower.” Ask for one volunteer from each group to be their group’s representative, and explain that only the representative will be allowed to see the pre-built tower. Announce that a prize will be awarded for the group that builds the tower that most closely replicates the pre-built tower. While one facilitator is showing the representatives the pre-built model, another facilitator should be distributing the supply packets to the group. The representatives should only have a short time (~30 seconds to see the model) and no one but the representative should be allowed to see the model. Answer any questions at this point, and then announce that the representatives will return to the groups, and once they return, the facilitators will not answer any questions. [The facilitators should not answer any questions so that the groups are forced to figure out how to build their tower on their own. If the groups figure out they need to collaborate, the facilitators should neither encourage or discourage them (this will come up in the debrief).] Send the representatives back to their groups and announce that each group has 10 minutes to build the tower. 5 minutes into the building, ask for the representatives to come to the center of the room and report to the other representatives one thing they are doing well and one challenge they are having. Then let them see the model again for a short time (~30 seconds. [Again, the facilitators should not answer any questions, encourage or discourage collaboration! ] After 10 minutes of building, have a representative from each group present their tower to the other groups. Report Back: 10 min Give some candy to everyone who participated, and debrief! Debrief The facilitators should ask the following questions of the entire group. · Raise your hand if your group built a tower! · Did you achieve the tower in the picture? Why or why not? · What challenges did you encounter and how did you overcome them? · How did competition add from or detract from what you were trying to achieve? · What will you take away from this activity? · How does building the tower in this activity compare to your daily work? · How does this activity relate to being part of the larger company or organization, or group? · How can we encourage collaboration and healthy competition among team members? Additional Debrief (add the following questions if the groups did not collaborate): · Why did you not to collaborate? · Was it a conscious choice or did it not occur to you? · What would have been possible if you had decided to share resources? (add the following questions if the groups collaborated): · How did you come to the decision to collaborate? · What became possible once you made the decision to share resources?

The North Wind Blows Objectives To get participants to find commonalities amongst themselves, and to get participants comfortable with speaking to the entire group. Also lets participants run around a bit. · Icebreakers/Warmups · Circle Games Set Up Have the entire group stand in an enclosed circle with one participant in the middle. Directions The participant in the center of the circle, or caller, announces "The North Wind blows for anyone who"...followed by a particular characteristic that the caller shares. Ex: "The North Wind blows on anyone who has more than one sibling" A personal favorite of mine is "The North Wind blows on anyone who has played this game in a language aside from English". Everyone to whom that characteristic applies then runs into the circle and switches places with someone else from the circle who also shares that characteristic. The caller must also find a place in the circle, and whoever is left without a place becomes the new caller. It's very easy for this game to become mundane (eg, TNWB for anyone who's wearing jeans, has glasses, etc.) so encourage participants to be creative and unique. Debrief Optional-ask if anyone learned something new about a fellow participant, or enourage people to start a conversation with another person about one of the issues addressed in the game. Alternatives Have everyone take off their left shoe at the beginning of the game, and leave it where they start. At the end of the game, have everyone put on the shoe that they're standing next to (or try to), and then meet other people by switching shoes

Pipeline Materials 10 – 15 Pieces of various piping (PVC Pipe, Styrofoam, Wood, Etc.), 1-2 Marbles, 1-2 Golf Balls, Several cones for marking, Bucket Set Up Clearly mark point A and B approximately 18 ft. apart (length = 3’ x number of participants) with a bucket at point B. Create a bend in the path by marking the center with cones for added difficulty. Directions The challenge is to transport a ball by pipeline from point A to point B in the fastest time possible. The team may attempt the activity several times, planning for improvement between each round. The group must adhere to the following rules: · Every member of the group has access to only 1 piece of the pipeline per round and the ball must pass through each person’s piece at least once. · Pieces of the pipeline cannot overlap · Participants cannot touch the ball at any point · The ball must be kept in continuous motion at all times · If the ball is dropped or the rules are broken, the group must begin again at point A with the clock running · Participants cannot move their feet when the ball is in their piece of the pipeline · The ball must stay in the pipeline Variations Two or more teams compete for the best time. Debrief Questions · What was the biggest challenge? · How did you decide the order? Did that change? (Why? How did that come about?) · What were the key ingredients for success? · What are some parallels in real life? (What are our goals for our team/department/camp? How are we going to get there?)

Team building activities heighten the effectiveness of team building sessions when targeted to the facilitation or training topic and the needs of the team participants. Check here for the team building activities I develop and for the best team building activities from the Web. Meet and Greet Meeting Ice Breaker for Lunch Here's a fun ice breaker that warms up a group and enables participants at a meal to get to know each other quickly. I usually recommend ice breakers that bring participants into discussion about the content of a training or team building session. But, there is a place for a fun lunch meeting ice breaker whose only purpose is to help session attendees know and appreciate each other. Team Building Ideas Looking for team building ideas to make your team building sessions effective? These team building ideas will engage your participants, reinforce your learning concepts, and build the cohesiveness of your team. Use these team building ideas to ensure your team's success. Three Shining Work Moments Team Building Activity Looking for a winning team building activity that you can use for meetings, training classes, team building sessions, and company events and activities? My three shining moments team building activity makes group cohesiveness and cooperation a natural extension of sharing in this event. Your participants will learn to know and appreciate each others' strengths with this team building activity. Sharing Management Wisdom Team Building Activity Here's a simple team building activity that creates excitement during a regularly scheduled team building and training session. This team building activity allows your participants to share their accumulated knowledge and wisdom with the other participants. During this team building activity, the facilitator steps aside and the participants take center stage with their knowledge and expertise. Your Personal Best Team Building Activity Picture this. I'd been asked to lead the final team building activity of the day before drinks and dinner. The audience had been in meetings since eight in the morning. The attendees were police officers who are experts at what they call, "cop faces," expressionless features that don't provide much information for the facilitator. Want to see the team building activity I created? Team Building Activity: Radio-controlled Cars Readers often send in ideas, initiatives, and team building activities and icebreakers that worked for them in their organization. It's great to have examples, and in the spirit of this article, I value your collaboration and ideas. Recently, I received a note from Keith Hamm which began: "You were asking about fun things in HR.” A fun team building activity was enclosed with his note. How to Create Team Norms The members of every team and work group develop particular ways of interacting with each other over time. Effective interpersonal communication among members and successful communication with managers and employees external to the team are critical components of team functioning. With the potential power of the impact of these interactions on team success, why leave team interaction to chance? Form team relationship guidelines or team norms early to ensure team success. Learn about team norms. How to Develop Group Norms: Step by Step to Adopt Group Guidelines The members of every team and work group develop particular ways of interacting with each other over time. Effective interpersonal communication among group members and successful communication with managers and employees external to the team are critical components of group functioning. With the potential power of the impact of these interactions on group success, why leave group member interaction to chance? Adopt group relationship guidelines or group norms early to ensure group success. Keys to Team Building Success: How to Make Team Building Activities Successful Want to make your next team building activity or team building exercise live up to its true potential? Integrate the team building with real-time work goals. Establish a systematic workplace integration and follow-up process - before you go on the team building adventure. You need to make the good feelings and the outcomes from the team building activity last.

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