The 14 best Team Building activities (explained and ranked)

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

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

Next we are going to reflect on the importance of team building activities, their benefits and, also, we are going to mention a few ideals to put into practice in any company. Read on to find out!

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What is team building and what is it for?

Team building activities, also called team building activities or group work promotion activities in Spanish, are dynamics that serve so that a group of employees who usually work individually end up becoming a true team United. With them, workers are ready to work together in order to achieve the common purposes and objectives agreed 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.. Group work promotion activities can result in many benefits, among which we can highlight the following.

1. Motivate the team

Through these types of activities, employees will be happier in their job, something that will undoubtedly increase productivity.

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2. Encourage camaraderie

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

3. Improve 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 adequately communicating 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 confident they have and the more free they feel to say things to each other, the more fluid communication will be in the organization and the better the interaction between workers.

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4. Increase creativity

Activities of this type help to create relaxed, playful and trusting environments, something that helps the people who do them give their all and have more and better ideas, that is, increase creativity.

5. Encourage team spirit

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

Through these types of activities we manage to create that feeling of belonging to a group that gives people so much satisfaction, feeling that they are useful and valued both by the company as an organization and by their colleagues as a group of people.

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

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

1. Activities to meet

Starting a new company is never an easy task. Not knowing anyone often becomes an obstacle when trying to give the best of ourselves, because the initial shyness does not invite us to put all the meat on the grill. For this reason, team building activities that help employees to get to know each other better and break the ice can be very useful.

Some examples of activities of this type are the following.

1.1. Business cards

We can start by proposing a simple activity to get the workers to know each other. A very recurring example is that of proposing to each team member to write three adjectives that define him on a small card, as well as three hobbies that she likes to do, without putting her name.

The cards are left in a jar and the facilitator of the activity 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.

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1.2. Invisible friend

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 much, being a fantastic team building activity to create an environment of greater trust and good vibes.

The dynamics are well known: Small pieces of paper with all the names of the workers are placed in a jar and each one takes out 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 knowing who our invisible friend is before opening the gifts. After opening the presents, each one will have to say who they think has given them the gift and reveal who the real invisible friend was.

1.3. The row

Two teams are formed and asked to stand in rows based on different variables, such as for example height, age, the first letter of their last name, the time they have been working at the company… Getting them to test how well they know each other and discovering new things about their colleagues at the office. The team that does it the fastest wins.

2. Team cohesion activities

These types of activities are great to improve trust between colleagues, promoting the cohesion of the 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 allowing himself to be guided by the rest of his teammates until he reaches the goal.. Their colleagues will have to agree and coordinate to guide the blindfolded person, preventing him from falling and hurting himself.

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

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2.2. team sports

Team sports are one of the best ways to generate emotional bonds among its participants. Here we can use practically any group sport that comes to mind: soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, paintball ...

23. A day out

It often happens that, no matter how good vibes there are in the office, stress and routine end up taking a toll on the interpersonal relationships of workers. Workers may associate the job as a tiring place and, of course, they also end up seeing their colleagues as also overwhelming people, inevitably associating them with employment.

To prevent this from happening a very good idea is planning days away from the office, where co-workers mingle outside of work stress and routine. This can be done anywhere, but ideally it should be in a natural environment and outdoors, 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 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 ones, and creating a very relaxed workplace environment.

3. Activities to acquire new skills

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

3.1. Culinary activities

Almost everyone likes good cooking or, at the very least, eating. Gastronomy has always brought people closer together, thus introducing them into the workplace they serve to get the workers to have a great time savoring delicious dishes while having a great time doing 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 fosters job-related skills. In them leadership skills can be put into practice, conflict management, creative thinking ...

3.3. Video game tournament

Video games are increasingly valued in jobs. Far from the stale vision that they are mere entertainment for children and adolescents, the truth is that the entertainment of video consoles and computers has many benefits. In the business field, video games promote technological skills, in addition to de-stressing and improving teamwork thanks to multiplayer-type games.

4. Problem solving activities

It is believed that, on average, employees spend almost 3 hours a week trying to resolve an interpersonal conflict. Not surprising, given that When there is a group of very different people, it is almost inevitable that quarrels arise, situations of tension and the occasional confrontation..

Team building activities contribute to improving communication between workers, strengthening interpersonal relationships and making them put aside their differences in order to achieve the objectives. Among the examples that you can see we have 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, making a room, a plant or the entire company the scene of a series of activities or a gymkhana that, if solved, will have a prize.

Be that as it may, the members of the groups will have to talk to each other, work as a team and cooperate to get through the activity.

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4.2. Looking for the treasure

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

To do this, they will use clues located at different points where they will have to solve riddles, puzzles and riddles 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 we leave a few activities that, more than to promote teamwork, serve to instill values ​​in the workers while they collaborate in a group. The activities to promote certain values ​​that we will see below are intended to make the employees have meaningful experiences while having a positive impact on society and the environment. Some examples of these types of activities are these.

5.1. Food collection

A classic activity to help make the world a better place is collecting food for a group of people in need. The company can periodically organize a day in which the workers are asked that donate food for an association close to the company, a neighborhood foundation or any group that needs it.

5.2. Cleanliness of the environment

The beaches, the countryside, the city... There are many places where certain people behave in an unresponsible way, dirtying the environment with their waste. To counteract the incivility of inconsiderate citizens, the company can organize days in which workers get together to do a collective cleaning.

Cleaning the environment can be made to take on a more fun and active tint by turning it into a competition, forming several teams to which it is proposed to collect the greatest amount of garbage. Whoever manages to collect the most waste wins.