Effective team collaboration is a top priority for many businesses today. Whether teams work together in-person, remotely, or in a hybrid work environment, team members need to feel comfortable communicating, brainstorming, and problem-solving with their coworkers in order to maintain the flow of projects, meet deadlines, and achieve goals.
Trivia games, and virtual murder mystery games, are great team-building exercises that can ultimately help to improve relationships between employees and boost team morale. Activities like these will lead to better collaboration between coworkers, resulting in a stronger, more productive working environment.
1. Trivia Games
Trivia games are fun activities that ideally get the whole office involved. For example, 25 questions could be anonymously dropped in a box, then pulled and asked of the team one by one. Questions about the office or how many people are in each department will create an atmosphere where they could work together to come up with the answers, keeping them engaged.
2. Virtual Murder Mystery Games
Who doesn’t love to solve a good murder mystery? For this exercise, you’d split into teams, then follow the clues to discover who the killer is. These teams will have to piece together what led to the murder and who would be capable of following through with it. They’ll work toward a common goal: to win. Working in cooperation among teams to win will help to boost morale and will get their minds working.
3. Campfire Stories
For this activity, the office would gather around, telling stories about their office experiences. Campfire stories inspire bonding through storytelling, evoking all kinds of emotions. A few prompts could get the stories started, leading to others. These stories are an excellent ice-breaker to loosen up the team, allowing them to communicate freely and learn more about each other.
4. A Compliment Circle
Forming a compliment circle in the office is a great way to break the ice and boost morale. Employees sit in a circle, then begin sending compliments to each other about their work. A compliment circle is something they may not have had time to say during a busy workday. It will allow them to show appreciation for each other and could potentially build new working relationships.
5. Board Games
You could break out the Monopoly board and split into teams for this activity. Board games are great for getting the office to work together in decision-making. It will loosen them up and will get them buzzing with excitement. Everybody loves a good game of Monopoly, and what better way to team build?
6. Solving a Puzzle
Break out a puzzle to get your team working together. You can choose a puzzle based on size and complexity to suit whatever time you’ve allocated to this activity. Or, it could be an ongoing group activity everyone participates in as they have time until it’s complete. Puzzles are a great tool to exercise the brain. They can be relaxing, and everyone involved works together to create the finished product. A 500-piece puzzle could be a good start.
7. An Escape Room
You could turn the office into an escape room for something a little more challenging and collaborative. Teams would work together to solve the puzzle, with an escape as the final goal. Escape rooms involve thinking and decision-making in a team atmosphere. It’s a great way to get them to work together with a common goal.
8. The Two Truths and One Lie Game
With this game, one employee will tell the rest of the team two true things about themselves and one that is a lie. The rest of the office will have to figure out which of those things is the actual lie. It’s a fun way to learn something about each other, and it will get them laughing and lighten the atmosphere.
9. Laser Tag
Although this is best-suited for larger groups, laser tag is a fun activity for team-building. Team members will laugh, they’ll hide, and they’ll have to be strategic with their next move. With a sensor on their chest, they’ll each be given a laser gun and the goal of hitting their targets until they are the last one left standing.
10. A Scavenger Hunt
Another fantastic collaborative game to bring into the office would be a scavenger hunt. Teams get clues, then work together to seek out different objects they’re tasked with. This is an excellent way for them to learn more about the best ways they can work together on other projects.
Final Thoughts
Any one of these activities would be excellent ways to get team members to collaborate and work together effectively toward a common goal. These activities will get them engaged, make them laugh, and build great working relationships to carry the office forward. It’s a great way to break the ice, and loosen them up, making it easier for them to work together on the projects that they’re there to do.