These games are an offline equivalent of online team building games and virtual team building activities and help boost employee morale and improve team cooperation. From games that keep you on your feet to ones that test your knowledge, these surprisingly fun team building games are sure to be a hit at your office. For fans of murder mysteries like Knives Out, a murder mystery party is a role-playing team building game.
Each team member receives a character to play and the objective is to solve a murder. To further incentivize your team, you can also award team members for best costume or acting, and give prizes for members who correctly guess the murderer. Here is a list of online murdering mystery games. Codenames is traditionally an in-person board game. However, there is also an online version that makes for a great team building game for remote teams.
At the beginning of the game, everyone can see a series of cards with words on them. The game then divides players into two teams and each team nominates a spymaster. The team that guesses all their cards first wins the game. Codenames is a fun team building game because your team must work together to succeed. Here is an entire list of team building board games.
At the beginning of each week, your team members come up with a simple list of goals to achieve by the end of the week. These goals should be challenging, but not impossible. The winner of this game is the team member who is able to clear their goals for the longest number of consecutive weeks. Productivity Tracker is a great way to enhance productivity at the office because the game teaches team members how to set and follow through on goals.
We like adding a prize here, too, to give your remote team an added bonus to strive for! Here is a list of time tracking tools to help. Online Office Games is a great corporate team building game for remote teams. For this game, a host will lead your team in a series of competitions that are high-energy team bonding experiences. Since we provide you with these trained hosts, once you sign your team up, you can set aside the pressure of running a team building event and let our host take over.
Your team is sure to have a great time! Curious about whether Online Office Games is right for your remote team? Learn more about Online Office Games.
People Bingo is an exciting DIY team building game for learning more about the people you work with. During the game, players ask each other if they have experienced what is written in the spaces.
Like traditional bingo, the first player who collects enough signatures to form a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line across the board wins the round. Here is a game board you can use, and you can also use this icebreaker Bingo generator. The Channel Closing Game is a game that compels your team to stay organized. Once a month, set a time to challenge your team members to close as many Slack channels as possible.
These Slack channels should be ones that your team members rarely or no longer participate in. Ask your team members to keep track of how many channels closed. The person who closes the most Slack channels wins. The Channel Closing Game is a useful team building game because it increases productivity by removing possible distractions from Slack and injects a quick burst of friendly competition into your remote workplace. Here are more games to play on Slack and the best Slack apps.
Two Truths and One Lie is another fun way to learn more about your colleagues. Best of all, this game requires no materials! In this game, a team member presents two true statements and one lie. The other members have to guess which statement is the lie.
If any of the team members guess correctly, then that person earns a point. However, if no one guesses correctly, then the person who presented the statements wins a point. The winner is the person with the most points by the end of the game. Here are more quick icebreaker games. First, prepare a list of trivia questions.
The best trivia questions span a variety of subjects and are little-known facts. After coming up with your questions, divide players into teams. Teams can privately discuss answers before responding. The team that answers the most questions correctly wins. This is a great game for team bonding because teams need to collaborate and pool knowledge to succeed.
Here is a guide to hosting trivia games online and a list of work-appropriate team names. These stories should describe how the team member came to work for your organization and are based on true events. Then, team members vote for the best backstory. Here are more fun improv games for groups. ABC Hunt is an amusing indoor team building game that gets your virtual team out of their seats. In this game, a host names three random letters of the alphabet and the other team members scramble to find objects beginning with each letter.
The person who finds three objects the fastest wins. Here is a list with more fun word games to play. For this game, team members have 15 minutes to come up with a basic business plan for an enterprise.
The person who dreams up the most intriguing business wins. Pitch Me Your Business is a smart team building game without materials because managers can informally evaluate team leadership and entrepreneurial skills through this game. Remote Work Bingo is an engaging team building game for remote teams that turns everyday virtual working experiences into something shared and fun.
To play Remote Work Bingo, set a length of time that the game will run for. Then, distribute Remote Work Bingo boards to your team. Download our free Remote Work Bingo template and learn more about this delightful game.
Every month, your team appoints a day where everyone comes in dressed to the nines. Then, team members vote on whose sartorial choices are their favorite. The person who receives the most votes is the winner of Fancy Dress Day and gets a reward.
Fancy Dress Day is a great team building game because it lets your team express themselves through outfits, while also changing things up every once in a while. Every day, a team member starts by recording a video doing ten push ups and sends it to a group chat, tagging another team member. The tagged team member then has to do ten push ups and tag someone else, and so on and so forth.
Anyone who neglects to do ten push ups by the end of the day loses and must buy everyone else a coffee. Practices problem solving, cooperation and non-verbal communication skills. Have the team stretch their creativity and communication skills by having them plan, script, direct, and perform their very own cinematic masterpiece. How to play: Disclaimer: you will need specific equipment for this team building activity cameras or smartphones with decent inbuilt cameras, tripods, computers with video editing software, TV.
Split the participants into smaller teams — each of them will create their own movie. Each team picks a mystery envelope containing a film genre or theme. The final cut of each movie will need to reflect the genre. Set a deadline for each final cut for the film premiere normally hours after you begin the exercise. Now, the production starts! Each team member should have a specific role — the director, the producer, video editor, actors, etc.
At the end of the activity, all the films are watched, and the best ones receive awards. Popcorn and drinks for the final screening will be a nice touch! How often do we stop to compliment our coworkers on a daily basis?
Probably — not often enough. Improving self-esteem is a team building activity that will boost confidence in your team. How to play: Everyone writes down their name on the top of a piece of paper. They pass the paper to the person on their left. Each person must then write something they admire about the person whose name is on the top of the page.
The papers are passed around to the left until each sheet ends up back with the person named on the top. Number of players: Preferably up to 24 people split into teams of players. How to play: Participants are divided into teams of people. Each team has to come up with an imaginary product and develop a pitch for it. The pitch must include a brand name, slogan, business plan, marketing plan , financial data.
Each team then presents their pitch in front of the sharks. The sharks must ask questions and evaluate the pitches as if they were real businesses. The team that gets the most investment wins. This team building activity promotes unconventional thinking, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and teamwork. Participants sketch their shared work memories and place them on a memory wall to create a welcoming environment and reaffirm a positive work relationship with other employees.
How to play: Each player writes down positive memories of shared experiences and moments on a sheet of paper. They then draw a few of these memories on fresh sheets of paper. The participants tape their memory drawings to the memory wall, while other participants approach the wall to expand on the memories with additional drawings. How to play: Divide the group of people into pairs and have one person of each pair blindfolded.
Make sure to mark the start and finish line. Have the unblindfolded person lead their partner through the obstacle course using verbal guidance only. The goal is for the blindfolded person to make it out on the other side without having touched any of the objects. The first person to cross the finish line wins. This is one of those fun team building activities for outdoors where players get to practice creative thinking and problem-solving. The purpose of the game is to build a structure that prevents an egg from breaking.
How to play: Assemble groups of three to five people and give each team various materials for building paper straws, a roll of masking tape, one fresh egg, newspapers, etc. In a set amount of time for example, 15 minutes , each team has to complete building a structure, with the egg inside.
When time expires, all structures are collected, and a judge tosses them from at least 10 feet in elevation. The structures are then inspected to see if the eggs survived. The winners are the groups that successfully protected the egg. Boosts teamwork, creativity, problem-solving, and time management. Although this team building activity requires a lot of preparation, it is a timeless classic that works in any situation, location, or team size.
You can run it indoors as well, although being outdoors will give your employees a much-appreciated change of scenery and pace. How to play: Create a list of activities and align them with the purpose of the hunt. If you want new employees to connect with senior employees, design team-focused activities that will force them to collaborate. Assign a point system for each activity, based on the difficulty level. Divide the group into equally-sized teams. Leave minutes for the actual hunt. Once the time is up, evaluate which team completed the most activities and has the highest points.
A team building activity outdoor that inspires collaboration, problem solving, teamwork, and is very fun. Laser tag is a recreational team sport where players attempt to score points by shooting infrared-sensitive targets usually with an infrared-emitting targeting device.
It is entirely safe and will provide a fun-filled bonding for the employees. Each player gets their laser tag gear and enters the arena. Employees will begin to work together to create new strategies in an attempt to win. Let your employees race around the track at up to 45 mph and experience the thrill and adrenaline of go-karting! How to play: Book a go-kart track beforehand.
Upon arrival, all participants will be briefed on the safety procedures and details about racing and the go-karts. You can try a warm-up classification race and then do a Grand Prix with 10 laps and see who races to the finish first. Prepare a trophy or a prize for the winners. Go-karting is easy to learn, fun, and thrilling.
It will also introduce a bit of friendly competition among employees. Since the game involves throwing balls, this quick team building activity is best for outdoors, although you can play it in the office as well.
Great for playing at the beginning of any team event. How to play: Have all players stand in a circle. Increase the difficulty by increasing speed and the number of balls in the circle. This activity breaks the ice, helps learn names, exercises memorization skills. A ropes course is a team building activity outdoors that includes high constructed in trees and low take place on the ground elements.
Rope courses are sometimes challenging on a personal level, as they may involve confronting fears and anxieties. How to play: Book a rope course venue for this activity. A rope course usually includes obstacles like a foot wall the participants must get over, a tightrope walk, as well as swinging ropes. Keep in mind the physical abilities of your team so that the course is not too difficult or too easy. A great team building activity to test teamwork skills, determination, and patience.
Explores leadership and communication concepts, as well as involves problem-solving. How to play: Divide the players into two or more teams. The players must all cross the imaginary river by jumping and maneuvering different objects. Whoever touches the floor, gets burnt and must start the course from the beginning. The first team to get over the river with all team members are declared the winners.
This team building game tests coordination, promotes communication and teamwork. Instead of playing basketball, baseball, or soccer, where some people might have more experience than others, opt for kickball. Number of players: Kickball is usually played with teams of people.
How to play: Kickball also known as kick baseball is similar to baseball in terms of field, rules , and scoring points. The main difference is that you kick the ball instead of hitting it with a bat.
The ball is also made out of rubber and is much larger than in baseball — closer to the size of a football in soccer. Eventually, you can even form your own company kickball league and play with other local businesses and form productive partnerships.
Kickball is growing in popularity, especially in the United States. GPS-based team building games are great fun for the whole team and usually involve following clues to find hidden objects by using GPS coordinates. How to play: The employees are split into teams before the start of the race. Each group of teammates needs to have a GPS device on to help them with searching.
The kind of team building activities for work that motivates employees to collaborate, promotes problem-solving and will make them feel as if on an Indiana Jones-like adventure mission. Sometimes, an effective team building activity is just to kick back and relax — especially so if your company has been going through a demanding and busy period. So why not take the team out for an engaging sports game where the athletes do all of the work?
How it works: Do a survey to find out what kind of sporting event your employees would like to attend. A good idea is to pick an event where a local team or athlete participates. The result? Attending a sports event is the perfect way to get your mind off things and will help employees to socialize in a relaxed atmosphere.
How to play: Each player is blindfolded and positioned in the area where the game takes place. The challenge is to take a length of rope and lay it out on the ground to make a perfect square.
This physical team building activity will engage the entire team and get people to relax and collaborate while also promoting leadership and planning. How to play: The goal of the game is for your team to create letters and words with their bodies alone. You need to have a wide open area without any obstacles. Divide participants into teams of people and ask them to select a leader. Think of words that contain one letter less than the number of people in each team.
Write the words down on index cards. Each team then picks a word at random, and they have to display the word with their bodies alone. The team that makes the word the fastest wins. This team building game promotes planning, leadership, creative thinking, and cooperation.
This team building game involves two teams, a flag, and lots of running. 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. To play this game virtually, nominate one person as the narrator and then randomly distribute the following roles to players:. To play, first distribute the roles via private message or email the players in advance.
For a group of five people, you should have 1 werewolf, 1 medic and 3 villagers. For each additional five people add 1 werewolf, 1 special role, and 3 villagers. The ratios are flexible, so can modify them to suit your needs.
The narrator then puts the werewolves back to sleep and has the medic and seer wake up in sequence. If the medic selects the same player as the werewolf, then nobody dies during the night.
When the seer points to a player, the narrator can answer yes or no to whether that player is a werewolf. All players can open their eyes, and then debate on who the werewolf might be.
To end the round, all players vote on one player to eliminate from the game or can pass and wait until the next round. Any player that is eliminated either by the werewolves or by vote becomes a friendly ghost that is not allowed to speak for the rest of the game but may observe it in quiet frustration. To play, divide the attendees of your virtual conference call into groups of four or five people and then give the groups 15 minutes of prep time. After the 15 minute breakout session, bring everyone back to the main virtual meeting and have the teams present their creation.
Vote on the best one with thumbs up and cheers. Spreadsheet Wars is one of my favorite virtual team building games to play with coworkers.
Like other games on this list, Spreadsheet Wars is a combination of fun and skill-building, which makes it perfect for remote teams and offices. The best tool wins, and really everyone wins because you are getting better at using one of the most powerful free tools on the internet. Growing up, one of my favorite games to play was Risk, the game of global domination that meshes perfectly with my own aspirations.
Risk is a game of cutthroat collaboration, friendly competition, resource management and other strategic dynamics that make it perfect for team building online. The most flexible way to play Risk-like team games online is to use one of the many clones, for example Conquer Club , which provides a free browser based game.
Here are more online board games to play at work. In the early s, Sudoku took the world by storm; inspiring nerds everywhere to complete numerical logic games instead of the daily crossword. Today, you can play a version of Sudoku for online team building called Sudoku Throw-down. For Sudoku Throw-down, you can easily up the competitive spirit by including prizes for the top three finishers. I recommend nerd-friendly prizes like more Sudoku puzzles, science kits and white boards.
Here are more problem solving games. Something in common is an icebreaker game that works on video conference calls and similar. To play, first organize your attendees into manageable sized groups of four or five people and gently push them into breakout rooms. Each group has the goal of finding three similarities they have in common with other members of that group.
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