Ultimate Guide to Team Building Activities That Don't Suck
A team that works well together is more effective, more productive, and more successful — not to mention happier and more fun to work with! But team building at work can be tricky, especially when typical team building activities tend to induce more eye rolls among teammates than high-fives.
1. Zombie Escape
Creative Problem Solving & Collaboration Exercise
What you'll need: 1 rope, 1 key, and 5-10 puzzles or clues, depending on how much time you want to spend on the game
Instructions: Gather the team into a conference room or other empty space and "lock" the door. Beforehand, select one team member to play the zombie — dead eyes, arms outstretched, muttering "braaaaiiiinnnnssss" and all. The volunteer zombie will be tied to the rope in the corner of the room, with 1 foot of leeway. Once the team exercise starts, every five minutes the rope restraining the hungry zombie is let out another foot. Soon, the zombie will be able to reach the living team members, who will need to solve a series of puzzles or clues to find the hidden key that will unlock the door and allow them to escape before it's too late.
2. Battle of the Airbands
Team Bonding
What you'll need: Speakers, smartphone or mp3 player
Instructions: Ever watched Lip Sync Battle? (Tom Holland's is a personal favorite.) Expand the idea to a full battle of the air bands. Split your group up into teams of 3-4 people and let them decide who will be the singers, guitarists, drummers, etc. Give them some time to choose, rehearse, and perform a lip-synced version of whatever work-friendly song they like. If they have a few days, teams can dress up or bring props. After the performances, teams can vote on the winner (with the caveat that no one can vote for their own band). Or, let a neighboring department in on the fun and have them choose the winner.
3. A Shrinking Vessel
Creative Problem Solving
What you'll need: A rope, blanket, or tape to mark a space on the floor
Instructions: Make a space on the floor and have your whole group (or a set of smaller teams) stand in that space. Then gradually shrink the space, so the team will have to think fast and work together to keep everyone within the shrinking boundaries.
4. Back-to-Back Drawing
Communication Skills
What you'll need: Paper, pens/markers, printouts of simple line drawings, or basic shapes.
Instructions: Split your group into pairs and have each pair sit back to back. One person gets a picture of a shape or simple image, and the other gets a piece of paper and pen. The person holding the picture gives verbal instructions to their partner on how to draw the shape or image they've been given (without simply telling them what the shape or image is). After a set amount of time, have each set of partners compare their images and see which team drew the most accurate replica.
5. Office Trivia
Team Bonding
What you'll need: 20-25 trivia questions about your workplace
Instructions: Looking for a quick and easy team-building activity that is also suitable for remote cultures? Come up with a series of questions specific to your workplace and test your team's knowledge. "What color are the kitchen tiles?" "How many people are in the IT department?" "How many windows are there in the entire office?" "What brand are the computer monitors?" "What month of the year is most common for birthdays among our employees?" This is a quick team-building activity that tests how observant your team is, and can be done in both a conference room and over Zoom.
6. Marshmallow Spaghetti Tower
Creative Problem Solving & Collaboration Exercise
What you'll need: 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti, 1 roll of masking tape, 1 yard of string, and 1 marshmallow for every team.