10 Ideas for Team-Building Activities, Games and Exercises

Team-building exercises may be plenty of fun – but they’re far from an excuse to slack off at work. Playful activities involving co-workers are essential in breaking the ice between teams, encouraging collaboration and overcoming communication barriers. In fact, a study revealed that 86% of employees cite lack of collaboration or ineffective communication for workplace failures. 

It’s undeniable that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work, and the lack of everyday interaction in the office has made it even more important to get teams talking and learning. Start introducing some motivating team-building activities to your weekly meetings and you could see big improvements in the way your teams communicate. 

In this guide, we’ll explore 10 fun team-building ideas that are suitable for working at home or in a physical setting – and outline some of the reasons why you should bring them to your workplace.

Why your business needs team-building activities

Team-building activities can:

1. Boost employee satisfaction and morale.
2. Encourage collaboration and partnership.
3. Break the ice between team members and integrate new hires.
4. Promote out-of-the-box thinking and creativity.
5. Create a friendly atmosphere in your workplace.
6. Build trust and camaraderie among colleagues.

10 team building activities for your employees

Keeping your staff happy is essential in creating a positive work environment, and these team-building ideas are an effective way to boost morale. While many of these exercises are workplace-based, you can easily adjust many of them for Slack, Zoom or whichever virtual meeting platform you’re using if you’re working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whether you’re dedicating an afternoon or only have five minutes to spare, use these ideas for team-building exercises as inspiration in your workplace.

1. Scavenger Hunt 

A scavenger hunt may take a bit of prep, but it’s definitely worth it. Engaging, interactive and fun, it’s a great way to get employees off their seats and working together to complete the tasks at hand. Sort employees into groups and give each the same list of tasks. Whoever completes them first wins. This could include finding hidden objects around the building using clues, solving riddles and taking photos with workplace “landmarks”. 

You can easily adapt this for teams working from home, too. Just have your employees find stuff from around their home and show it to the camera, or solving riddles as a team. Simple! 

Why? Improves teamwork and employee engagement, as co-workers can be paired up with people they don’t usually communicate with.

Where? Either virtually or in your workplace.

2. The Egg Drop 

A classic team-building game, the egg drop is one of the more common activities in this list. Split your employees into teams, giving them an egg and some supplies. The aim of the game is to build a contraption of sorts around the egg so that it doesn’t break when dropping it from a height (the higher up, the better). Materials can include straws, paper towels, tape, rubber bands and newspaper. Give players a time limit of 15 minutes to protect the egg before dropping it from a building or a height. Whichever team’s egg has stayed in shape wins. 

Why? Encourages problem solving as a team.

Where? In your workplace.

3. Two Truths, One Lie 

Quick, easy and casual, “two truths, one lie” is one of the most simple team-building activities out there – but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining. Get your team to sit in a circle, giving them time to come up with two things that are true about themselves and one thing that is a lie. Funny and unusual truths or lies can be hilarious. Take turns reading out these three facts, ensuring they are realistic enough to be believable, and have the others guess which one is the lie. 

This is a great choice for those looking for team-building exercises that don’t require much preparation or time. 

Why? A useful icebreaker and bonding session, helping teams and co-workers get to know each other. 

Where? Either virtually or in your workplace.

4. Escape Room

You can create an escape room in any workplace – whether it’s a gym, a restaurant or a beauty salon. You don’t need to worry about transforming your space – just spend some time coming up with riddles, problems and obstacles your employees can solve within a time limit. Challenges can range from completing a puzzle like a Rubik’s Cube to putting together a jigsaw. Whoever completes it the quickest gets to leave the ‘escape room’, which is sure to get the other teams in a rush to finish. 

Why? Promotes collaboration and problem solving while under a time constraint. 

Where? Can be adapted to work virtually, at an external setting or in your workplace.

5. Minefield

If you’re searching for outdoor team building activities, then this idea should be top of your list. Start by marking out an enclosed route with tape or cones. Dot objects randomly inside the route as well as sheets of paper to represent ‘mines’. Blindfold one participant and get them to cross the route, picking up objects and dodging the mines with the help of instructions from the rest of the group. Change up the location of the mines and objects until all team members have crossed the finish line. 

Why? Builds trust and communication.

Where? Works best in an outdoor space.

6. Birthday Lineup 

Birthday lineup is one of the more simple team building activities, requiring no preparation whatsoever. It sounds easy enough – employees must put themselves in order of their birthday month and date. The catch? They can’t talk. Instead, they’ll have to communicate using sign language and other actions. Age doesn’t matter here as you should disregard birth year and stick to the calendar year.

Why? This unusual team building activity focuses on cooperation and communication.

Where? In your workplace or any outdoor space.

7. Blind Drawing

Help your team unleash their creative side with this five minute team-building activity. Put your team into pairs and give one a whiteboard or piece of paper, having them sit back to back so the other person can’t see what they are drawing. The person who isn’t drawing has to describe a scene or image, but only using adjectives rather than outright saying what it is. 

Why? Encourages communication, thinking outside of the box and problem solving.

Where? Either virtually or in your workplace.

8. Two Sides of a Coin

Another super simple team-building activity, two sides of a coin encourages people to think positively. Pair your employees up and have them take turns talking about a negative experience they’ve had in the past. This can be work-related or personal, but doesn’t have to be anything too serious. The other person must listen and then relay a way to twist this negative experience into something positive. 

Why? Promotes positive thinking.

Where? Either virtually or in your workplace.

9. Show and Tell

A favorite from kindergarten, who isn’t familiar with show and tell? Ask your employees to pick one item they want to share with a team and give them time to present this to the team. It can be anything they’re passionate about or have good memories attached to. This activity can help your team get to know each other and share their passions. 

Why? An effective icebreaker that helps your team bond.

Where? Either virtually or in your workplace. 

10. Who am I?

Another popular-but-simple team building activity is this classic game. Write out the name of celebrities, politicians and famous figures onto a label, ensuring they are well known among the people taking part. Place these labels onto the back or forehead of each employee so they don’t know who they are and get them to ask the rest of the team questions until they figure it out. 

Why? Improves communication skills and breaks the ice.

Where? Best in your workplace, although you could adapt this to work virtually.

Do you have a favorite team-building game? Let us know in the comments.