An organization is as good as its team! You probably heard that before. A strong office team works together with a sense of shared responsibility. This not only enhances individual productivity at work, but also improves collective performance, thereby scaling up the business. Hence, every company should allocate time for team-building activities.
However, the concept of team-building has garnered mixed views. The moment a company supervisor announces a team-building activity, employees often recall episodes from ‘The Office,’ the popular American sitcom. While watching Steve Carell essaying a try-hard and awkward leader is amusing on screen, having a manager mirror those traits can be stressful.
Despite mixed views, team building remains a crucial investment for a company. It helps mitigate conflict, develop trust, foster transparent communication, and increase collaboration. Effective and well-designed team-building activities can engage employees and create an ambiance of knowledge-sharing in the office.
In this article, we will discuss the best team-building activities that are both entertaining and interactive, for developing a strong team in the workplace.
Covered Topics
Team-Building Activities for 2023
It’s interesting to know that happiness and learning are closely connected. When employees are in a happy, stress-free, and relaxed space, they tend to learn more about their colleagues, the work culture, and even about themselves. Therefore, in 2023, it is time to ditch the age-old company picnics and count on creative ideas for team building. Ideas that would encourage employees to step out of their comfort zone and truly enjoy an activity.
The best team-building ideas for this year are:
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Win in 60 Seconds
This set of quick team-building exercises requires the team to accomplish multiple cooperative challenges within 60 seconds. These tasks can range from using chopsticks to transfer beads from one box to another, to stacking and unstacking plastic cups in a pyramid.
A designated team member is responsible for keeping score throughout the game. Once the game is over, every group will compare their statistics. This game is designed to enhance team spirit and enhance focus. It also promotes effective communication tactics and collaborative strategies to accomplish set goals.
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Tweak the Traditional Team Lunch
Your employees would love to be treated with delicious platters. It makes them feel counted and cherished. But let’s not repeat the age-old format of this activity, where an HR decides the meal and beverage options. Instead, it’s time to turn the tables and let your employees decide what they would want to savor for a team lunch.
A team lunch group order option is a smart idea to implement. This allows your employees to voice up their meal choices, ensuring they order an amount of food they can consume, which helps prevent wastage. They also have access to lunch boxes, eliminating the need for messy clean-ups after lunch.
CaterCow states that leading players in group ordering offer the best restaurant menus, customized to the preferences of office employees. Office team members can check the dietary details and nutritional value of the listed platters. They can even make special requests such as gluten-free pasta or salad with rice noodles that are easier to digest.
A team lunch where employees choose their own menus promotes assertiveness. It also helps to develop interpersonal relationships by sharing or receiving food suggestions from one another. Overall, it boosts the team’s morale and strengthens the bond among teammates.
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Two Truths and a Lie
You might have seen such an option on dating sites, to make one’s profile unique. However, it’s also an interesting team-building activity. This game takes about 30 minutes to play with a group of four or six members. The objective is to foster affinity amongst team members.
In this game, team members act as human lie detectors. Begin by allowing each employee to share one lie and two truths about themselves in any sequence they wish to. Subsequently, ask the other team members to identify which statement is a lie and which ones are true. Finally, the speaker can disclose what’s false and what’s true.
Urge employees to share interesting details about themselves to add enthusiasm to the game. This approach will enable employees to learn something unique about one another.
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Positive Feedback
The modern-day work environment is competitive and challenging. Needless to say, today we need more positivity than ever to continue accomplishing our goals. When colleagues complement each other genuinely, it not only builds confidence but also uplifts their positive spirits. Employees feel their hard work and qualities are recognized by others, which in turn motivates them to excel at work.
In this activity, each individual receives one or more positive feedback from their team members. There is no explanation required for this. Also, the facilitator should ensure that employees share a maximum of two or three concise feedbacks so as to keep the game engaging.
Conclusion
On average, employees spend 7 to 9 hours at the office, essentially making it their second home. Consequently, any problem within the office environment can profoundly impact an individual’s attitude and aptitude towards work.
A supportive and strong team at the workplace tends to churn out happy and content employees, who perform at their best and readily express their opinions when necessary. Hence, it’s imperative to introduce creative and unique team-building activities that are not only easy to implement but also nurture positive team spirit.
