Teamwork is one of the major factors in every organization towards success. Effective teamwork among members of the team boosts productivity and fosters a contented working ambiance.
Some of the effective strategies to enhance teamwork include business games whereby there is open communication, critical thinking, and teamwork as in the case of escape room games. Below are five easy business games:
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The Marshmallow Challenge
The Marshmallow Challenge is perhaps one of the simple, effective games that encourage both creativity and teamwork. It involves tasking groups with making the tallest freestanding structure using the least number of materials available: spaghetti sticks, tape, string, and a single marshmallow. Of course, the marshmallow must stand at the top of the overall structure!
How to Do It:
– Divide all the players equally into small groups of either three or five participants.
-The group is given 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow.
– In this challenge, a team has to raise the tallest free-standing structure in the shortest possible time, normally within 15-20 minutes.
– Finally, in the end, ensure the marshmallow is fixed to the top of the structure.
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Two Truths and a Lie
Two Truths and a Lie is an icebreaker game quite simple but can go a long way in creating trust and better communication among team members. All the team members make three statements about themselves; two of which are true, and one that is false. The other team members guess which one is false.
How it works:
– The participants take turns presenting three statements about themselves.
– These statements can be work-related or personal, according to the environment.
– Everyone shares his statement after which the rest of the team starts to discuss and guess which one is the lie.
– The person reveals the lie after everyone guesses.
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Human Knot
The Human Knot is an action game that allows focusing on problem-solving and teamwork. First, players stand in a circle, then they should reach out with both hands and grasp another person’s hand in the group but not the person next to them. The aim in the game, is to untie the human knot without unclasping hands.
How to Play:
– Pool all your participants into a circle; preferably 6-10 people per group.
– Ask all of them to stretch across the circle and hold hands with two different people such that no one reaches to grab the person’s hand that is standing next to them.
– Now, tell the players to untangle the ‘human knot’ without unclasping their hands from each other.
– Achieve the ultimate objective-the complete circle with no arms tangled in it.
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Blindfolded Obstacle Course
The Blindfolded Obstacle Course would have participants navigate through their team mates’ instructions to guide them through the course while blindfolded. The Blindfolded Obstacle Course is one of the best activities for building trust, communication, and even leadership as it has been shown that team members must depend on each other for them to achieve their objective.
How to Play:
– An obstacle course can be set by arranging chairs, desks, or any available material in the office.
– Participants would be divided into pairs or small teams.
– This activity involves blindfolding one member and guiding them through a course with the help of verbal instruction from their team members.
– Members who are giving instruction cannot assist blindly. They can only assist by spoken words with the blindfolded member.
– The blindfolded individual needs to navigate the course in the shortest time possible.
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Egg Drop Challenge
Egg Drop Challenge: Innovative Problem Solving This fun teambuilding activity can be learned in the form of a game through such as a popular team-building exercise that requires innovative problem-solving and collaboration. In this game, teams are challenged to design a protective structure around an egg so that it can be prevented from breaking if it falls from a specified height.
How to Play:
– Form small groups of three to five players. Provide each group with materials such as straws, tape, newspaper, and cardboard.
– Goal: Create a protective design that will protect the egg from breaking when it is dropped. The minimum drop height is 6-10 feet.
– Each team will have a challenge time frame of 20-30 minutes to create its protective designs.
– After the duration is over, each egg will be dropped to see which one can withstand the fall.
Conclusion
The five games above are designed to elicit communication, trust, problem-solving, and collaboration among different team members. Business games are an entertaining and interesting activity to make the workplace more team-friendly.
By adding some of these activities to your team building sessions, you will improve cohesion and productivity in the workplace. Ultimately, these games build stronger connections between colleagues. Thus, it can result in better teamwork and greater success for your organization!