The 14 best Team Building activities (explained and classified)

Several examples of simple Team Building activities, recommended for company contexts.

Teamwork is one of the most important qualities in life, especially in the workplace. In the professional world, having the employees of a company work in coordination helps to achieve shared objectives and to be united, avoiding interpersonal conflicts.

Having a collaborative team is essential in any organization, something that can be achieved through team building activities, i.e., encouraging group work.

We will now reflect on the importance of team building activities. we are going to reflect on the importance of team building activities, their benefits and, also, we are going to mention a few that are ideal to put into practice in any company. Read on to discover them!

What is team building and what is it for?

Team building activities, also known as team building activities or group work promotion in Spanish, are dynamics that help a group of employees who usually work individually to become a real united team. They help employees to be ready to work together to achieve the common goals and objectives agreed upon by the company. To achieve this, it is necessary to follow a series of activities planned by the organization.

Teamwork is one of the most important qualities, both for life in general and for the business world in particular.. The activities to promote group work can result in many benefits, among which we can highlight the following.

1. Motivate the team

Through this type of activities, employees will be happier at work, which will undoubtedly increase productivity.This will undoubtedly increase productivity.

2. Encourages camaraderie

Team building activities strengthen interpersonal relationships among co-workers, fostering bonds between them.

3. Improves group communication

Good communication is essential in any group of workers so that they not only know what they have to do, but also have no problem in communicating with each other.It is essential for any group of workers to have good communication so that they not only know what they have to do, but also have no problem in communicating adequately any problem that occurs in the organization.

Team building activities improve communication and group interaction, breaking the fear that many colleagues have of giving bad news or asking for help. The more trust they have and the freer they feel to say things to each other, the more fluid the communication in the organization will be and the better the interaction between workers will be.

4. Increases creativity

Activities of this type help to create relaxed, playful and trusting environments, something that contributes to the people who perform them give all of themselves and have more and better ideas. and have more and better ideas, that is to say, it increases creativity.

5. Promotes team spirit

Another of the names by which team building activities are known is that of team building activities, something that reveals one of its great benefits.

By means of this type of activities we manage to create that feeling of belonging to a group that gives so much satisfaction to people.They feel that they are useful and valued both by the company as an organization and by their colleagues as a group of people.

The most recommended Team Building activities (and how to apply them)

There are many team building activities. There are activities for every situation we can think of that is related to the company. For this reason, we are going to discover the 5 main types of team building activities and, in addition, we will explain some examples of each of these modalities, all of them perfect for us to put them into practice in our company.

1. Getting-to-know-you activities

Starting a new company is never an easy task. Not knowing anyone often becomes an obstacle when trying to give the best of ourselves.The initial shyness does not invite us to put all our eggs in one basket. This is why team building activities that help employees get to know each other better and break the ice can be very useful.

Some examples of such activities are as follows.

1.1. Business cards

We can start by proposing a simple activity to help employees get to know each other.. A very common example is to ask each team member to write on a card three adjectives that define him/her, as well as three hobbies that he/she likes to do, without giving his/her name.

The cards are left in a jar and the activity facilitator will take them out one by one, saying what is written on them. The rest of the members will have to guess who it is.

1.2. Secret Santa

The invisible friend is a very common activity among groups of friends and families, especially when the Christmas holidays approach.. However, it can also be done with people who do not know each other very well, being a fantastic team building activity to create an environment of greater trust and good vibes.

The dynamics are well known: The dynamic is very well known: you put the names of all the employees in a jar and each one of them draws one to find out whose turn it is to give the gift..

A day of delivery is agreed, a maximum price to spend on the gift and the way to distribute them, to avoid that it is known who is our invisible friend before opening the gifts, after opening the presents, each one will have to say who he thinks has given him the gift and reveal who was the real invisible friend.

1.3. The line

Two teams are formed and asked to line up in rows according to different variables, such as height, age, first letter of their last name, how long they have been working at the company.... Making them test how well they know each other and discovering new things about their office mates.. The team that does it the fastest wins.

2. Team building activities

These types of activities are great for improving trust between colleagues, fostering the cohesion of work groups and awakening the feeling of belonging to the group.. Among the team cohesion activities we find the following.

2.1. Blind circuit

This activity consists of a team member blindfolding himself and letting himself be guided by the rest of his teammates until he reaches the finish line.. Your colleagues will have to agree and coordinate to guide the blindfolded person, preventing them from falling and hurting themselves.

What can happen is that everyone starts talking at the same time and they are not clear at first, but after a few minutes they will surely find a way to organize themselves to give directions.

2.2. Team sports

Team sports are one of the best ways to generate emotional bonds between participants. Here we can use practically any group sport that comes to our mindsSoccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, paintball...

2.3. A day out

It often happens that, no matter how good the mood in the office, stress and routine end up taking their toll on the interpersonal relationships of workers. Workers may associate the workplace as an exhausting place and, of course, they also end up seeing their colleagues as people who are also exhausting, inevitably associating them with the job.

To prevent this from happening, a very good idea is to plan days away from the office, where plan days away from the office, where coworkers interact outside of the stress and routine of the job.. This can be done anywhere, but ideally in a natural, open-air environment, such as the beach or the mountains.

2.4. The office game

A very good way to create cohesion and group culture in the company is the office game, a kind of trivia game that we can make ourselves with the history, anecdotes, inside jokes and other curiosities of the workers and the company..

It's great for remembering funny moments among veteran workers, introducing them to new workers and creating a very relaxed environment in the workplace.

3. Activities to acquire new skills

Some team-building activities also serve to improve employees' skills while building good group dynamics. Among them we can highlight:

3.1. Culinary activities.

Virtually everyone likes good food or, at the very least, eating. Gastronomy has always brought people together, so introducing it into the workplace helps employees have a great time savoring delicious dishes while having a great time making them.

Culinary activities help to disconnect from the routine and live a different experience, improving the culinary skills of workers and putting into practice skills such as companionship and overcoming common challenges..

3.2. Training activities

Training activities are basically any workshop that promotes work-related skills. They can be used to leadership skills, conflict management skills, thinking skillsconflict management, creative thinking, etc., can be put into practice in these activities.

3.3. Video game tournament

Video games are becoming more and more valued in the workplace.. Far from the stale view that they are mere entertainment for children and adolescents, the truth is that the leisure of video consoles and computers has many benefits. In the business environment, video games promote technological skills, as well as de-stressing and improving teamwork thanks to multiplayer games.

4. Problem-solving activities

It is believed that, on average, employees spend almost 3 hours a week trying to resolve interpersonal conflict. This is not surprising, given that when there is a group of people who are very different from each other, it is almost inevitable that there will be a lot of tension and confrontation..

Team building activities contribute to improve communication between workers, strengthening interpersonal relationships and making them put aside their differences in order to achieve the objectives. Among the examples you can see are the following.

4.1. Escape Room

Escape rooms have become very popular in recent years. Many people see them as fun activities to do with friends and family, but they can also be used for work groups.

The company itself can organize its own Escape Room with groups of 5 people.The groups will have to talk to each other, work as a team and cooperate in order to overcome the activity.

In any case, the members of the groups will have to talk to each other, work as a team and cooperate to succeed in the activity.

4.2. Searching for treasure

This teamwork activity is perfect for perfect for getting workers to take the initiative and collaborate.. It can be done either in the office or outdoors. The team will be divided into small groups of 5 people who will have to search for different hidden objects.

To do this, they will use clues located at different points where they will have to solve riddles, puzzles and enigmas to discover the location of the treasure. The team that manages to find all the objects will win.

5. Activities to promote humanitarian values

Finally, here are a few activities that, rather than fostering teamwork, serve to instill values in employees as they work together as a group. The activities to promote certain values that we will see below are intended to make employees live meaningful experiences while having a positive impact on society and the environment. Some examples of such activities are as follows.

5.1. Food collection

A classic activity to help make the world a better place is the collection of food for a group in need. The company can periodically organize a day on which employees are asked to donate food to a nearby association. to donate food for an association close to the company, a neighborhood foundation or any other group in need..

5.2. Cleanliness of the environment

The beaches, the countryside, the city... There are many places where some people behave irresponsibly and litter the environment. To counteract the incivility of inconsiderate citizens, the company can organize days when employees get together to clean up collectively..

Cleaning up the environment can be made more fun and active by turning it into a competition, forming several teams to collect the largest amount of garbage. Whoever manages to collect the most waste wins.