5 Ideas for Fun and Engaging Team Building Activities

A team that can work collaboratively and productively is an asset to any business. In order to achieve a strong and productive team, continuous effort to foster rapport between team members is necessary. Team building is one way management can encourage employees to build relationships within their teams, and it is a great way to facilitate cohesion.

Moreover, team-building activities are essential for creating opportunities for employees to interact outside their usual work environment, helping to strengthen the bonds between them. These activities promote open communication, trust, and mutual respect, which are all crucial for effective team development.

By incorporating these activities into your workplace routine, you can create a more inclusive and supportive atmosphere. This not only helps in improving morale but also aids in enhancing overall productivity. When employees feel connected and valued, they are more likely to contribute positively to the whole team, leading to better outcomes and a more harmonious work environment.

In this article, we’re going to discuss why team building is important, as well as ways to implement these activities in your workplace to help build connections among your employees.

What Is Team Building?

Team building exercises are activities that allow employees to problem-solve, interact, and build rapport with each other outside of the office setting. Team building activities can be company-wide or department-specific and can include anything from games, sports, outings, or parties.

Team building activities can improve company and office culture but require participation, planning, and resources to implement. To overcome these issues, you can make sure to plan and select activities that are accessible, enjoyable, and easy, so everyone can join in. You also don't need to book an expensive team-building activity outside of the office – you can easily create an enjoyable activity for free using resources you already have.

By incorporating these strategies, you can encourage team members to engage more effectively, enhancing team dynamics and fostering a collaborative environment.

Why Is Team Building Activity Important?

Corporate team building exercises are effective in improving workplace teams as they can assist with: 

Assisting in new team formation

When you form a new team in your department or company, you could be mixing people who have never met or worked together before. Team building exercises are great for breaking the ice and introducing members to each other. For remote teams, these activities can help create a sense of connection despite the physical distance. With established teams, team-building can reinforce existing relationships and improve collaboration. Managing multiple teams can be challenging, but regular team-building activities can enhance inter-team communication and cooperation. Ultimately, these exercises foster a stronger team bond and a more cohesive working environment.

Resolving conflicts

If there is tension or conflict in your teams, you can try some team-building activities to overcome the conflict. Team building isn’t always about getting employees to have fun with each other; you can use it as a way to encourage clear communication between employees. As 85% of employees experience conflict at work at least once, providing opportunities for employees to build rapport before conflict occurs can help mitigate any issues. Team-building activities also strengthen team connections, making it easier for other members to collaborate effectively and resolve any conflicts that arise.

Improving teamwork

Team building exercises involve problem-solving and communication; by getting employees to practice these skills outside of the office, they can become better team players. Team building activities encourage people to provide their input and listen to ideas, which can lead to innovation and creativity within teams. Engaging in brainstorming sessions during these activities helps in generating new concepts and solutions. Additionally, these exercises foster critical thinking among employees, enabling them to tackle complex problems more effectively. Moreover, having a strong sense of teamwork ensures that everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts, which ultimately contributes to building better teams.

Creating a sense of belonging

Ensuring employees feel appreciated is a key goal of DEI principles for many companies. Team building can also encourage a sense of belonging, as participation is encouraged, meaning everyone is given the opportunity to be involved in the team. This sense of belonging can improve employee retention and productivity. Organizations with strong team values and a sense of belonging are 56% more productive than those that don't. Fostering a sense of belonging and team values is incredibly beneficial for the overall success of a company.

Aligning to common goals

A sense of belonging and cohesiveness encourages and motivates employees, which can be achieved through fun team-building activities. Team activities can also be an opportunity to remind your employees of their common goal – the project, client, or task at hand, as well as the overall goal of your company. Aligning the entire team to a common goal can foster relationships between employees who are not as close or do not have common interests. These activities help build stronger connections within the entire team, creating a more collaborative and productive work environment.

Promoting a positive work environment

All of the points above lead to an overall positive workplace environment, fostering a positive atmosphere where team members learn and grow together. A positive work environment can encourage employee retention and attract new talent, with nearly 80% of applicants evaluating a company’s culture prior to applying. When team members learn from each other in a positive atmosphere, it strengthens the company culture and contributes to greater overall success.

5 Team Building Activities Ideas

Now we know why team-building activities are so important for the success of your workplace and employees. You can now host your own corporate team-building activities to enhance team cohesion and productivity. There are no strict rules around what a team-building event can be, but activities that require teamwork, communication, and problem-solving will be most effective. If you are interested in holding your own corporate team-building activities for your company, you can try one of our ideas:

Office Trivia

Trivia is a fun way to get people talking and interacting with each other, making it an effective team-building activity that is easy to plan and implement. To enhance its impact as a team-building exercise, try randomizing the teams instead of letting employees choose who they play with. This strategy encourages participants from across the company to interact and build relationships. By including a range of question types from various topics, you can encourage discussion and knowledge sharing. Office trivia can be conducted with very few resources, such as using regular office stationery or an online form to record answers. This talking point not only fosters communication skills but also promotes a collaborative environment in just a few minutes. 

Happy Hour

Another easy team-building activity is a happy hour, where employees, including new team members, can gather at the end of the week to relax and chat with each other. Happy hours can be themed, take place on-site or at a local bar, and be an open invitation to everyone in the company. Social team-building events are an easy way to mingle without any pressure to participate in an activity and are a great way to keep teams motivated throughout the week. Happy hour at a bar can be funded by the company, or for a cheaper alternative, drinks and snacks can be provided for free in the office. This type of team activity is suitable for both small and large groups and helps in building camaraderie within the entire group.

Escape Room

Escape room is an interactive puzzle experience that takes place inside a themed room. These puzzles are designed to be solved by a group, requiring a lot of interaction and communication. Escape room activities are an excellent way to encourage creative thinking, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills, as participants must use every teammate’s unique background to solve the challenges within a time limit. Additionally, the escape room is perfect for companies looking to encourage employees by engaging in team-building games. They offer a great opportunity to showcase skills and leverage all team members' strengths, making them ideal for team building with small groups, as most rooms can only accommodate 4-8 people.

Outdoor Activities or Exercise

Schedule an outdoor walk, bicycle ride, or hike in your local area and invite your team to join. You can also set up a sports team, such as soccer or tennis. It does not need to be fancy – going for a run in your local park is a great way to get active and build relationships with your team. If you have some outdoorsy members on your team, ask if they would be interested in helping you host a team-building event. Active team-building events like these are great for encouraging employees to bond and collaborate outside the usual work setting. These activities would suit small and large teams, and require minimal resources as well. Additionally, engaging in these events can inspire other team members to participate more actively, fostering a more inclusive and energetic team culture.

Lunch & Learn

Host a lunch & learn session for a team-building activity, which can also be a learning opportunity for your employees. Invite a guest speaker, teach a new skill, or host a Q&A over lunch and encourage anyone interested to join. This is not only a great opportunity for professional growth but also allows you to align employees on common goals, share upskilling opportunities, and check in with your team. You can even get employees to teach a skill they have with their team – it doesn't need to be a skill used at work! You can entice employees to join by offering free lunch, snacks, or coffee, or by inviting an interesting speaker to your session.

Multiple groups within your organization can benefit from these sessions, as they provide a platform to foster group dynamics. This is especially beneficial for a remote team, as it creates a sense of community and engagement among team members who may not interact regularly.

Tips for Effective Team Building Exercises at Work

If you want to host team-building activities for your employees, there are some general guidelines you should keep in mind. We've listed some tips for you to consider when planning your team-building activities. Remember, the goal is to foster better communication, collaboration, and camaraderie among team members.

Tip 1: Set clear goals

A team-building activity should have goals and objectives. You don’t need to implement them as strict rules for the event, but they should guide you during planning. Otherwise, your team-building event might just become a social activity or distraction from work.

Group members should consider various goals for their team-building activities, such as:

• Getting every employee to chat with 5 new people.
• Hosting an event every month until there are 50 regular attendees.
• Hosting one company-wide event every quarter.

Setting clear goals also allows you to measure and track the success of your team-building activities. By ensuring group members are engaged and interacting, you can create a more cohesive and collaborative work environment.

Tip 2: Customize based on the team

Customize your event so it suits your team's dynamics. Team building is about getting people to participate, so don’t pick something that is difficult, awkward, embarrassing, or boring. Reflect on the personalities of your team members, and plan the activity around that – would you like your employees to become more talkative, cohesive, or better team players? Encourage participants to share their preferences and ideas to ensure everyone is comfortable and engaged.

Also, try to pick an activity you believe your team members will enjoy – if they are not interested in exercising, don’t pick an exercise-based activity. You can always ask your team what activities they would like to do for team building, to avoid any conflict during the event. By encouraging participants to provide input, you create a more inclusive and enjoyable experience for everyone.

Tip 3: Promote inclusivity and participation

Planning and hosting a team-building event requires a lot of effort – so make sure that every employee gets the most out of it! Make it known that team-building events are for everyone, and participation is expected. By choosing activities that are easy and accessible for everyone, you can make sure your employees want to and will choose to participate. Promote inclusivity for events like happy hours in particular – some people can feel shy or apprehensive about joining social events, and making them feel welcome will be appreciated.

Tip 4: Integrate into work routines

To enhance your team's performance, make team building a part of everyone's routine, so that it becomes second nature. The positive effects of team building activities, such as improved teamwork, innovation, morale, and employee retention, take time to come into effect. Encourage consistent team building with smaller events like a weekly trivia event or happy hour. Team building events like these, including happy hours and Christmas parties, also double up as employee perks, further contributing to the team's performance.

Tip 5: Ensure support from managers

Make sure your managers and leaders also approve of your team-building ideas. Team leader involvement in the planning process is crucial for securing approval for any events you want to host, ensuring they do not cause scheduling conflicts. Support from managers, leaders, and especially the team leader will demonstrate to employees that your company takes team building seriously, and participation is strongly encouraged. You can even invite your managers and leaders, including the team leader, to some of your events to showcase how effective they are in improving employee morale!

Key Takeaways

Overall, team-building activities are necessary to build rapport and relationships between employees. By encouraging participation and being inclusive, you can foster team effort and more meaningful interactions among teammates. Team building can either be a fun, social event, or an activity that requires problem-solving and communication. Whichever you pick, make sure it suits the team members' personalities and is interesting and entertaining. You can get leaders and management involved in the planning process to ensure that your team-building event aligns with company goals and values. Team building can promote a positive work environment and improve productivity, making it a valuable part of the work culture.

For more tips and advice about improving teams, promoting inclusivity, or general career advice, you can check out Cake for free!

— Originally Written by Bronte McNamara —