A variation is to categorize the types of words before the first round. So, tell them you are looking for words that apply to the team without telling them you are working on a mission statement.
By stripping away the jargon and stiffness and allowing the mission statement to go through several rounds of nonsense, you allow your team to help you craft a statement that is more relaxed and honest. Using wooden blocks or an actual Jenga game, mark blocks according to the hierarchies present in your company.
For example, you might have some blocks denoted as the IT department, and others as HR. Divide your team into groups, giving them an equal number and kind of blocks. From here, either specify the type of structure each team must build, or provide guidelines and allow them to build any structure they want. When the time limit has been reached, each team, taking turns, must begin to remove a block at a time without destroying their structure.
Do not inform them ahead of time that you will be asking them to do this. If time allows, you may ask them to repeat the exercise. See if they find a way to build a structure that can withstand removal of blocks.
Purpose: This exercise is meant to show how each department and the various managers and staff positions are necessary to complete the task, and that without everyone in place, things fall apart.
Divide your team into groups of two each. Have each person sit with their back to the other. One person will have a picture. The other person will have a blank sheet of paper and a pen. The team member with the picture must not show the other person the image. Instead, the are to describe the image without using words that give it away, while the other team member is to draw what is being described.
For example, the picture might be of an elephant standing on a ball. After a set time limit, the drawing time ends and both team members view the original picture and the drawing. Purpose: This is an exercise that focuses on communication and language. While the final drawing will seldom look like the picture, it is revealing to participants to see how different the interpretation of instructions can be even when they are supposedly talking about the same thing.
Gather your team in a circle, and have them sit down. Each team member should then put on a provided blindfold. Leave the circle.
Instruct them to form a perfect square out of the rope without removing their blindfolds. You can introduce variations into this game. For example, you might, at random, instruct a team member to not speak. One by one, members of the group are muted, making communication more challenging. Or, let the team come up with a plan before putting on the blindfold, but once they cannot see, they also cannot talk.
Purpose: This exercise deals with both communication and leadership styles. There will inevitably be team members who want to take charge, and others who want to be given direction. The team will have to work together to create the square, and find a way to communicate without being able to see. On name tags or similar labels, write down the name of a famous person, or write down people types e. For a set amount of time, the entire group should mingle, and ask and answer questions.
They should treat each other according to the stereotypical way based on what kind of person they have been labeled. Each team member can use that treatment, as well as the answers to questions, to figure out what the label is.
As each team member figures out who they are, they can exit the game and let the rest continue. Purpose: By confronting stereotypes in both how people treat us and in the questions and answers used, the team can get a better sense of how we mistakenly see people as well as how it feels to be so narrowly defined. This is also a good ice-breaker activity if you have team members that do not know each other yet. Using masking tape, create a large polygonal shape on the floor. It should be about 12 feet long by 6 feet wide, at least.
Mark the start and stopping points. Make the shape a bit convoluted, choosing a shape that is elongated with the idea that people must make their way from one end to the other. Place a few squeaky dog toys inside the shape, and twice as many full sheets of paper with a large X on them inside the shape. The paper is the mines.
At least two at a time, each person on your team must make their way from start to finish blindfolded. They cannot step outside of the boundary, nor can they step on a mine.
If they do, they are frozen. They can only be unfrozen if someone else inside the shape steps on a squeak toy. Their only guidance is the vocal commands of those outside the shape who are not blindfolded. Purpose: This game is about communication, and trusting each other.
Players learn to be observant of multiple action as well as give clear and timely advice. On a bulletin board or other surface which accepts thumbtacks, create a blank timeline. The timeline should start as far back as the oldest member on your team was born or when the company was founded, whichever came first. Mark each year on the timeline. Then, using narrow strips of paper, write down important dates for the company e.
Give your team members four slips of paper, and ask them to mark down four important moments in their life. Let them pin them to the timeline. Purpose: This exercise helps show, in a visual way, the different generations and experiences of your team. It leads well into talking about cultural and generational differences and the effects that has on how people work and communicate. It is also an opportunity for team members to learn more about each other.
Have each team member bring one item from their desk to the exercise. Then, tell them that this item is going to be their new product, and that they must come up with a name, logo, slogan, and marketing plan for that object. Give them a set amount of time. This could be done individually, or in small groups if desired. Discuss, as a group, which products were successfully sold and why. Purpose: For marketing and design teams, this exercise presents the challenge of seeing old things in a new light.
When combined with groups working together to sell a common object, you introduce teamwork and crunch-time brainstorming. It promotes creativity and problem solving, too. Come up with several scenarios in which a person would be chosen to do something. For example, it might be a new job hire, marriage, leading an organization, or commanding an army.
Have each team member write their question down. When all scenarios have been covered, discuss the questions as a group and see what each team member thinks would be the perfect question. Purpose: Team members quickly learn how each other thinks differently. The perfect question that each comes up with will reflect their motives and what they think matters the most. This is an excellent way to lead into a discussion on how team members determine who is capable and who they will follow or trust.
Collect a variety of objects and put them in the center of a table. The broader the variety, the better e. The goal is to collect items that, at first glance, have no apparent connection. Break the team into groups, giving each group a sheet of paper and pen.
Make sure they have a clear view of all the objects. Instruct them to classify the objects into four groups, writing down the groupings on their sheet of paper.
They should not let the team groups hear what they are doing. When the time is up, have a spokesperson for each group reveal how they classified the objects, and why. Reasons might vary, from the function of the object to how it looks, or the material it is made of. Purpose: This exercise promotes teamwork and creative thinking, but it also encourages your team to rethink how they view everyday objects. They are forced to look for commonalities in otherwise unconnected objects.
This leads to a discussion on how to work outside the box for solutions to problems that seem wholly unrelated. Bring in four objects or multiple sets of four objects of the same type e. Write up a conversational scenario for each set that outlines what the perfect item would be, in the order of preference.
While none of the four objects is an exact match, each have qualities that reflect that perfect list. Read this scenario to your team, and instruct them to order the objects from best fit to worst fit.
When all object sets are done, have team members explain why they ordered the objects that way. Purpose: This exercise helps your team break down a scenario or problem and figure out which things are the best fit. A scavenger hunt is also an exceptional opportunity for cross-department interaction. Consider reaching out to managers from other departments and creating groups of employees who don't often get to work together.
This game is simple and meant to energize your team. Get your colleagues in a circle and ask one volunteer to sit or stand in the middle. Tell the volunteer that they can not laugh or smile, regardless of what happens. Then have each other colleagues take turns telling the volunteer a work-appropriate joke.
The goal of the volunteer is to hear a joke from every colleague around the circle, while the goal of the other team members is to make the volunteer laugh. This icebreaker can be helpful in new-employee or management training to lighten the pressure of starting a new job.
It can also be helpful as a way of lightening the mood on teams that regularly deal with stressful projects or situations. Aside from being a fun team activity, this might be a great energizer for sales employees or others that regularly pitch, market, and sell products. Ask your team to find four to seven items around the office and bring them to one room.
These items could be something they use daily, like a pen or a chair. However, you should encourage them to find items that are more odd or unique. This will make the game more challenging. Line the items up and split the group into sub-teams. Task each team with picking an item they would use to survive if stranded on a desert island.
Tell team members that they cannot pick more than one and must assume it is the only item they will have on that island. Allow the teams time to deliberate and then ask them to present the item they chose and why. For this icebreaker, all you have to do is answer the question about your favorite things. You'll ask your team to choose their favorite movie, song, T. The question can change every week. This icebreaker helps your team get to know each other even when they work remotely and can spark conversation on what everyone likes or dislikes.
If you're looking for a remote icebreaker that's more of a game, and less discussion-based, you can host a trivia game. Kahoot is a trivia platform you can use for free hosts up to 10 people. To get started, all you'll need to do is sign up for a free Kahoot account. Then, you can choose a featured trivia game to play. To run this remotely, you'll want to share your screen with your team. Everyone will need to have a separate device to use so they can enter the game and submit their answers.
This is one of my favorite icebreakers because it's a fun way to get to know your team. For this game, have everyone bring in an embarrassing photo and tell the story behind it. Have your team members share their screen or send a file to the team leader to share with everyone. To make this more interesting, you can have people guess whose photo it is before your team member shares their story. Doing this icebreaker is a great way to build connections remotely.
For this icebreaker, have everyone on your team go around and share a word or phrase that represents how they feel that day. Manager, Christina Perricone , says this is her favorite icebreaker. It provides a space for participants to bring their entire self to work and it gives the team context for how to support that team member that day," Perricone adds. Take turns showing off the cutest pictures and videos of your pet. The more nonsensical the prompt, the funnier the drawings become.
Drawasaurus is one of my favorite online drawing games to play with colleagues. Players get to choose from three random prompts to quickly interpret and draw their vision. Other players can score more points for identifying the word the fastest and take turns going until the timer goes out.
Thinking off the top of your head is a lot harder said than done in Scattegories. Each round the game will highlight a random letter of the alphabet and let players come up with any noun or phrase that starts with said letter.
The best part — players can dispute answers amongst each other to take the win. A perfect icebreaker for your overly competitive colleagues. A rather straightforward ice breaker, team members can share an object they love over Zoom. Have team members share some bucket list items they want to achieve in the future.
Not only can these be inspirational, but they also open the floor for team members to encourage one another to pursue their dreams, too. While dispersed teams may not have the chance to share a handshake or hug, you can still share the love amongst each other in this icebreaker. Shout them out for their helpfulness in a project, for the energy they bring to the team, or for their lovely smile.
Making something with your team can be a great opportunity to learn something new and keep decorative mementos in your space to remind you of your team. Have everyone follow the same instructions to make a craft like simple origami, a drawing, or painting by a designated instructor in the Zoom call or YouTube tutorial. This icebreaker is best suited for new hires who may feel more reserved as they virtually meet the team. Find common ground and get the conversation going with your team members.
Have a manager or team leader start the conversation by sharing something they have an interest in, like popular TV, music, foods, or whatever they love to get everyone thinking. Popcorn it over to the most enthusiastic team member with that same interest and have them share a new one. To play Spreadsheet Battleship, each player needs two things: a game board and the placement of ships. You can use graph paper labelled with letters and numbers for the game board, and either randomly assign battleship placement or let each player choose where to place the ships.
Here is a Google Sheets game board you can use. Spreadsheet Battleship game mechanics are a little like Go Fish. The next player then goes in sequence, which could be in order of age or geographic location. Scavenger Hunts can be a fun way for your people to work together. Virtual scavenger hunts are more difficult to find that team spirit with. You might have game mechanics that have your team searching Google, Wikipedia, YouTube and other sites, without really working together.
The solution for successful online scavenger hunts is to throw away the normal and adopt a lightning version instead. For Lightning Scavenger Hunts, fire off a rapid series of clues that have your team members dashing to find objects, solve clues and win points.
For example, you could have everyone grab their favorite mug and award points to the best mug story. The fast paced nature of Lightning Scavenger Hunts is what makes it work for team building online.
Here are more virtual scavenger hunt templates. Lexulous is one of several free team games online that is modelled after Scrabble. The main difference is that Lexulous has eight tiles in play at a time, and the value assigned to each letter is a little different. You can easily include Lexulous in your options for online games to play with coworkers.
You can keep track of points and total scores over a month, and award a Lexulous champion at the end. Your refrigerator may be different. A fun game we could play together is Guess the Refrigerator. To play this game, everyone submits a photo of the inside of their refrigerator to one point of contact. That organizer then posts the photos to a channel where all participants can study the contents and make best guesses at which refrigerator belongs to who.
The players submit answers to the organizer, who then tallies up the scores and announces a winner. Sharing an inside view of your refrigerator takes a degree of vulnerability, which is a factor that contributes to the success of great online games for virtual teams. To play, name one person as the Describer and the other players as Artists. The Describer must explain to the Artists how to draw an item like a sunflower, kite or calculator using only geometric terms. You can play each round for as long as you like, and three minutes is usually sufficient.
At the end of each round, the Describer gets one point for each Artist that guesses the object correctly, and each Artist that guesses correctly also gets one point. Tally up points and award cool prizes to the winner.
Five Clicks Away is a logic game for online team building. To play, you select a starting topic and an ending topic, which you can decide on your own or randomly generate. For example, the starting point could be Blackbeard the Pirate and the endpoint could be grilled cheese sandwiches.
Each player must start on the Wikipedia page for the starting point, and in no-more than five clicks reach the end point. The idea is that Wikipedia has so many internal links that you should be able to follow a chain to reach the end point in less than five clicks.
One of my favorite online team building games is a Typing Speed Race with friendly competition. For the Typing Speed Race, you can use a free tool like typingtest. Then, each person posts their test results to Slack, email or another platform. The Typing Speed Race is a great way to encourage friendly competition with remote teams.
You can make the experience more collaborative by doing a Typing Speed Relay, which requires forming your people into teams and then adding the cumulative score from each person to create a team total. With the Typing Speed Race, everyone wins because typing quickly is an important skill for remote work. Chair Up! The game is played over email, messenger or conference call, and is specifically meant to counter the doom and gloom that sometimes guides conversations.
For example, you could do yoga sun-salutations, clap your hands, laugh or have a small dance party. When you work from home, taking care of your health and fitness is especially important.
You can do squats and eat well, and also make sure you drink enough water. Water Shots is a game meant to fortify your team around healthy hydration.
Virtual team building games that focus on building healthy habits are a great way to support company culture and development with remote teams.
Charades is one of those games that nearly everyone plays at school or home while growing up. With this proliferation of Charades, Virtual Charades has the advantages of being fairly familiar while also being fun.
To play Virtual Charades, prepare a set of links that go to Google Image pages or use a random image generator. Rinse and repeat until you are all out of fun.
Here is a random charades word generator you can use for your game:. Instead, you can play with at least two teams, a series of trivia questions, and positive attitudes. Playing pub-style trivia online is similar to the in-the-pub version, with one crucial difference: you need an easy way for people to communicate. Instead of mumbling across a table, we recommend using virtual breakout rooms so that each team can discuss the answers openly.
Each team can then submit the answers via a web-form and the host can award points as needed. Here are more instructions on how to play virtual happy hour trivia , and a list of team trivia questions. Pro tip: Playing virtual happy hour games like pub-style trivia give you a unique opportunity to include wildly different clues in the game.
The internet is your oyster for virtual group games. Werewolf is one of the best remote team building games, as it is full of cunning deceit and tactful manipulation.
The game relies primarily on the spoken word, which makes it perfect for remote teams.
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