“Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking” – Mahatma Gandhi
This quote underscores the importance of a cohesive workforce even under normal circumstances, but only more so in the wake of the pandemic. Organizations would do well to heed these words and take all measures to build solid and united teams to ensure mutual trust and confidence and stay aligned with the organization’s objectives.
The purpose of building a united team is to enhance communication, conflict resolution, and problem-solving. A cohesive team stays collaborative and engaged with the organization. To this end, we have curated a few team-building activities you can introduce to your teams. Remember that long-drawn-out activities like the one annual company outing of earlier times don’t serve the same purpose; employees tend to take it for entertainment and return to their separate ways. Shorter and more frequent team-building exercises are far more effective and will help them stay true to their course. You can use the 15-minute activities listed below for team building for a strong workforce.
Five 15-minute team-building activities for work productivity
With the remote and hybrid working models in today’s organizations, you need to have activities that can apply to both. While there are 5-minute activities for fun and to break the ice, the ideal time for an activity is fifteen minutes – neither too short to be ineffective nor too long to disrupt a work day.
1. Ice breaker activities
Icebreakers always work when you have a few new hires joining the team or a team already in place. They help set the tone for the following team-building exercises and give the team a few minutes to warm up. However, they can be a 15-minute activity to increase the comfort level among coworkers. They can be a welcome break from daily tasks and are ideal for encouraging camaraderie before a long meeting or training session. Furthermore, mixing teams up helps people from other departments to get to know coworkers outside their units. For example:
Two truths and a lie is a popular game. You can do this in the office or over a zoom call. Once everyone is present, each one gets to say something about themselves. You can make it a shorter activity by asking for one truth and one lie. The others on the team will have to guess which is the truth and which one is a lie. It is a fun activity and also a quick icebreaker.
2. Brainstorming sessions for creativity
Bringing the teams together to brainstorm can be full of surprises. You never know where an idea will come from, and you probably get a glimpse of hidden talent in your employee. An excellent game to get such insights is Tall Tales. One member of the team starts the story with a few sentences. The next one picks it up and adds to the story, continuing until every member has had a turn. It breaks down barriers and brings in a fun element, too. This also works as an online exercise.
3. Mid-week boost with pop quizzes
A fifteen-minute break every Wednesday has an additional impact as a mid-week energizer. Pop quizzes can have a few trivia rounds on a topic. You get to know each other’s interests, and the competitive spirit can be infectious. You play this game by selecting a topic and preparing a few questions in advance. Fix points per question and divide the teams. The team that gets the correct answers will be the winner. However, thanks to the quiz, everyone will emerge a winner because they will get a quick energy boost.
4. Getting to know each other activity
You may have new hires joining remote teams. Or, you may want to bring different groups together.
A quick team-building activity is to find out what they have in common. It starts with one member sharing something about their interests. Someone with the same interest will pipe in and add some of their interests. Every team member will have a chance to share their interests, making it a team exercise. Recognizing and sharing common interests is ideal for bonding with coworkers.
If you are building a remote team, you can have the remote workers send a photo of their workspace that they feel is representative. Then, host a short video call, share the images, and have them guess whose workstation it is. It is an excellent way to connect and have some fun.
5. Trust building activity
When team-building activities are to ensure better communication and collaboration, mutual trust is essential. Trust Fall is a popular team-building exercise. Have someone stand in the center or on a short stool. When they announce they are ready to fall, the team surrounding the member will close in and break the fall. It is particularly effective in a small group. However, there can be several teams doing the same activity.
As you can see, a few particular activities work well with remote teams. While they may be a virtual team-building activity, you can leverage technology to bring the teams closer. Online games can also be competitive and get the teams going with high energy. You can encourage activities like a virtual coffee break or a Geography pop quiz. These activities enhance the one-for-all and all-for-one feeling even when employees work from different parts of the world. They can meet virtually and chat, making it an informal chat session. Or, you can group teams from the same country and have them guess the answer to some fun facts you have unearthed.
To conclude
Team building activities are self-explanatory as to their purpose. But the activities are varied, and the duration may be five minutes or fifty. The aim is to have activities that fulfill their purpose without losing time or money. Thanks to technology, we can bring global teams together as easily as local teams. Perhaps it is more crucial to remember that when teams work together, they are more engaged and productive. They extend support when required and share the challenges and victories. Further, team-building activities are about learning the strengths and weaknesses of each other in a fun way and using this knowledge to make the team stronger than ever. Undoubtedly, organizations that invest time and effort into implementing regular team-building activities will be the ones that emerge victorious.