Team Building Activities for Work

A team is defined as a group of people who collectively work towards a pre-defined goal utilizing their own skills, experience and knowledge. In order to be qualified as a productive team, the following criteria have to be met.

• There should be open communication between the team members and the leader.
• Roles assigned to each team member should be clear, and consented by all.
• The goals of the team should be clear and each team member should be aware of how the team's goals fit into the organizational goals.

• There should be a harmonious relationship between the team members. The team members have to like each other and trust each other in order to work together.

There are various fun team building activities for work which can be undertaken to meet the above mentioned criteria.

Brightening Up the Workplace Environment: Stimulating posters and art prints on teamwork should be put up in the office. A "My teammate my friend" notice board should be put up wherein team members can put up appreciation notes for fellow members who have helped them.

Themed Afternoon Events: A special theme day can be organized like a "Hawaiian day" or "cowboy day" or a "karaoke lunch" where everybody can dress up casually according to the theme and mix freely. The team members will get to spend social time with each other thereby resulting in increased understanding and communication between them.

Celebrating Birthdays: A particular day of the month should be fixed when employee birthdays that fall in that particular month can be celebrated. It gives the employees, a feeling of belongingness towards the organization.

Interactive Seminars: At the entry point of the room where a seminar is about to be conducted, placing sweets, bubblegums and candies can lighten up the atmosphere. Every team member should be allowed to present his views on the topic followed by a discussion on the same.

Games: Games work wonders as team building activities for adults as they help create a positive, fun environment. At the same time, they foster teamwork.

Following team building activities and games have been especially handpicked to make yours a well integrated team.

Now I know You: This game should ideally be played in a team of 8-10 adults. Ask the team members to list five things they have done in their life which differentiate them from others .They can list things like " I have visited 5 foreign countries" or "I can play guitar".

Compile this list and handover copies of it to all the team members without mentioning the names against the things done. The team members now have to go to each other and ask for the names of the team members who have done a particular thing.

The one who completes the list first with all the correct names is the winner. This team building activity for work helps the team members in knowing each other better.

Make a Castle: Employees should be divided in 3-4 teams. The team members should be seated in a circle and provided with clay. When the leader of the group whistles, they start making a castle.

When he whistles again, the clay is passed on to the next member and he starts from where the previous member has left . The team which finishes first is declared the winner .This team building activity for work reinforces that each and every team member's contribution is important to achieve the goal.

Catch Me if You can: This game can be played with a 5-8 member team. Let the team stand in a circle. One of the team members stands in between and falls on others without lifting his feet. The others have to save him from falling without breaking the circle. This team building activity for workplace helps in building trust among the members.

Make a Story: This game re-enforces how important communication skills are, to build a team. Take one comic strip and tear it. Divide its various pages among the team members. The members have to keep their pages hidden. Ask them to individually guess the correct story by reading their page.

When none of them is able to tell the correct story, let everybody open their pages. Give the team members time to arrange the pages. The story will now be clear to them. This team building activity for work shows that team members should communicate openly and not hide anything.

It also teaches that it is very important for a leader to communicate to his subordinates, how their individual work contributes to the team's goal and how the team's goal fits into the whole organization's goal.

Design your own Group Activity: Give full freedom to the team to design their own activity. This is one of the most creative team building activities for work. The team members will together conceptualize, plan and execute the entire activity.

This leads to better communication and co-operation among the teammates. Someone will automatically assume the role of a leader and direct the others. This activity helps in identifying team leadership abilities as well.

Team Sports: Matches of popular team sports like basketball, baseball and football can be organized. This will help in promoting team spirit among the team members. Such outdoor team building games provide a much-needed change from the mundane office routine.

Team building activities for work put team members in challenging positions where survival without each others' support is next to impossible. They also help in identifying hidden strengths of the team members which can be utilized for achieving organization goals.