Group Activities for Team Building

Group activities are a great way to get people together for the simple reason that they have a lot of fun and everyone gets to feel connected. But they also need to be satisfying enough that they’re not stifling or overwhelming.

Visionary executives, especially those who want to lead the company forward and inspire others, often gravitate toward team building events that are focused on big ideas. These open brainstorming sessions give leaders a chance to share their ideas and work through the details on them in an intimate setting.

1. Human Knot

Human Knot is an icebreaker activity that helps break the ice between groups of people. This group activity also promotes communication, problem-solving skills and teamwork.

Start by dividing your group into small groups, each with at least four members. Arrange each group in a circle and have them stand shoulder to shoulder. Give them instructions to put their right hand in the air and grab someone’s hand across from them.

Explain that they are now entangled in a human knot. The goal is to untangle themselves without letting go of their hands, but it’s not always easy. Sometimes the knot stays tangled, or two loops appear.

Players can try to untangle themselves by squatting beneath each other’s hands, crawling under them or by crossing their arms over each other. They can also twirl around or walk in circles to disentangle themselves.

The best part of this game is that it’s a great way to get to know your team and build trust. It also provides a challenge that requires all of your team to work together to complete the task.

To play this game, assemble a group of five to twelve people (ideally ten). Form a circle and tell everyone to put their right hand up in the air and grab the hand of another person across from them. Then repeat the process with their left hand.

2. Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are an excellent way to engage people in a group activity. Not only are they fun, but they can also boost team morale and help you bond with your employees.

A scavenger hunt is an easy group activity for everyone to participate in. They are cheap and can be used in a variety of settings from birthday parties to sleepovers to group outings.

You can make it more challenging by using riddles. Create a list of items that are not commonplace and tell participants that they must search for each one in the area.

Another way to add a more competitive element to a scavenger hunt is to give teams a time limit. They must find as many clues in that time frame as possible.

If you want to make this a more engaging event for your team, you can even use QR codes! This allows your team members to scan a QR code that gives them a clue to where they can find an item.

This is a fun way to get to know your newer employees and get them familiar with your company’s history! For example, you could take a photo of all your employees with their start date in order of seniority.

Bonus points for teams that can show photos of people born more than two decades ago!

In addition to building problem-solving skills, scavenger hunts are also great for exercise. Psychologists have found that physical activity improves mental performance more than almost any other type of intervention. This is because it puts your brain in its peak cognitive functioning. This can have long-lasting benefits to your team’s overall performance.

3. Mockumentary

The mockumentary genre is a staple of film and TV, and it is a great group activity for team building. These movies are designed to mimic the format of a documentary and often use humor and negative stereotypes to make fun of different subjects.

Characters are a key element to any mockumentary, and they can be an integral part of the script’s comedic effect. The best mockumentary characters are believable and relatable, but they also possess the right balance of exaggerated qualities and realistic ones.

Mockumentaries like THE OFFICE and PARKS AND RECREATION often feature genuinely funny protagonists who have real-world motivations, feelings, and goals. Michael Scott from THE OFFICE is a lawyer with a big heart, and Leslie Knope from PARKS AND RECREATION is an office worker who has her own unique sense of humor.

While realism is crucial in writing mockumentaries, absurdity is equally important. This contrast helps to establish a comedic tone and heightens the laughability of the story.

Many mockumentaries, including the AMERICAN VANDAL series and MAKING A MURDERER, strive for overdramatization to create comedic effect. This is achieved by incorporating moments that would usually be edited out of a traditional documentary, such as interviews with actors or guests.

It’s important to remember that not all mockumentaries aim for this level of overdramatization, and some are just as effective without it. The best mockumentaries balance realism and absurdity, and are still a fun group activity for your team.

Some of the most acclaimed mockumentaries are based around the idea of putting on a show, including This is Spinal Tap and Waiting for Guffman. Others follow fictional sports teams, such as Mascots and A Mighty Wind.

4. Mini-Society

Mini-Society is a highly educational group activity designed to spark students’ interest in economics and entrepreneurship. This engaging program, created by Marilyn Kourilsky, allows teachers to create their own micro-economy in the classroom and helps students understand basic economic concepts like supply and demand and money and credit.

Using this program, students design and print their own currency as well as open businesses that satisfy the needs of their society. This teaches them the importance of supply and demand, as well as the role of government in an economy.

The program is also a great way for students to practice their writing skills as they write up an informational poster on the benefits of their country’s mini-economy and how its currency works.

This is a great team building activity because it requires collaboration and communication. Teams will need to work together and brainstorm ideas on how their mini-society will operate.

They will need to come up with a plan for how to distribute the wealth of their country to its citizens and what projects will be undertaken with the funds to ensure their society survives in the long run.

This activity is a fun and educational way to help your team learn about the value of hard work and the importance of putting their best foot forward. They will see how their efforts pay off in the end.

5. Desert Island

Desert Island is a great teambuilding game that is ideal for indoor or outdoor use. It’s a fun icebreaker that helps people share what they would bring with them on a deserted island if they were stuck there for months on end.

Groups take on the role of stranded survivors who must make their way through the nine zones in order to survive. Each zone has a series of challenges that focus on different aspects of survival including water, first aid, signalling and building shelters.

To win teams must survive each challenge successfully, gaining knowledge of the island and its resources that will help them in finding a way to be rescued. Each zone is only open for a limited amount of time so they must develop strategy and apply it with agility.

This game is a fantastic teambuilding and get-to-know-you activity that works well with groups of all ages. It’s easy to set up and no special props are required.

It can be played in about an hour and a half, or it can be designed for longer periods of play to really test team dynamics. In either case, teams will need to develop strategies and allocate tasks to their individual members for maximum effect.

In addition to developing communication skills and teamwork, this activity is also a good way to get everyone’s creative side going. Ask the players to list and explain three things that they’d bring if they were stranded on a desert island. They’ll love learning what their colleagues would do if they were in the same situation and will be exposed to a broad range of ideas.