Team Building Ideas

Team Building Activities

Though they seem more like fooling around than anything else and though some people denounce them as nothing more than charlatanism, the fact stands that team building activities are being employed around the world. These team building activities may be nothing more than games in which teams participate collectively so that they can get to know each other and foster some constructive workplace friendships or they can be some meaningful activities that enrich the participators in several other ways than merely improving their teamwork.

Hence, the primary intentions of team building activities can be to improve the efficiency of the group, improving communication between them and help them become more productive. The implementations of these activities transcends geographical borders too; many a survey has indicated that they are being effectively used in main cities in the US and Canada such as New York City, Chicago, Charlotte, Calgary, Albuquerque and Montreal.

Here we bring four of the most popular team building activities that are popular in these cities. We list them in the order of most simple to most complex.

1. Lock Races These are simple mission-bound games that do not take much time or preparation but can help people learn to do things as a group. Two people are made to stand back to back with their arms interlocked. Then they have to reach from one point to another, collectively. This is not possible without placing trust in each other and without moving together synchronously. These events can also be held as races with various pairs competing, which can add to the competitiveness of the whole thing.

2. Quizzes Quizzes are organized often where people have to answer questions from a subject they are interested in. Here, various small teams are made selecting people from different departments so that they are usually strangers and are given preparatory time. This makes the people bond because they are preparing together and later participating together. It also creates in them a sense of competitiveness which is very important for success in today's world.

3. Personality Profiling Games People of a team are set in pairs and they are supposed to map each others' personalities. This is done through mutual interviews. Various pairs are drawn up and they are allowed to converse with each other. During the conversation, they have to map each others' personalities. Then the pairs are broken up and mixed. Now, different people will converse and sketch personality details. Finally, all the personality sketches on the individual members are read out and similarities and dissimilarities are noted. This can be a very meaningful activity if conducted in the right spirit.

4. Corporate Olympics These are similar to sporting events, with the difference that here several fun sport events are conducted together. Teams are drawn up in advance so that they can bond during the rehearsals and practices and prizes are announced as incentives. Popular games that are included in such events are volleyball, handball and hockey. Today, many virtual games are making their appearance too. Corporate workplaces are organizing virtual multiplayer gaming sessions with games like Counter-Strike and Second Life to build team spirit.

There are hundreds of team building activities out there that are used to increase team spirit in a corporate milieu. You can search for several more options on the Internet.

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