All work and no play is pretty boring. When your employees are bored, they are far from engaged. And when employees are not engaged, they are not giving you or the company their best efforts.
Research has concluded that happy employees are more productive. This is why Google has made sure that every one of their global offices is “fun” to work in. While I am not suggesting you immediately install a pool table and disco ball in your organization, I am strongly recommending that you keep reading to learn some very effective communication training.
These are in the guise of fun team building activities, so they actually IMPROVE employee engagement and increase productivity and communication among team members.
Community Coffee Breaks
One of the easiest ways to catch up with team members is through a community coffee break.
Once a week, maybe on a Monday morning, schedule 15-20 minutes and order in muffins and bagels from someplace like Panera or a local bakery. Then invite all team members to the board room or your favorite meeting place to talk about everyone’s weekend and plan team goals for the week ahead.
Team Movie Night
Just about everyone loves a monthly movie night. Ask staff to vote for their movie of choice.
Then you can stream the winning movie through a conference call so the entire team can view it no matter where they are located. Another fun consideration is to open a chat channel so people can share their reactions during the movie.
You’re on a Desert Island
This is a fun team building game that finds group members stranded on an imagined deserted island. Give them seven objects from which they can only choose three to take with them on the island.
The fun of it comes from making the objects really obscure and weird so that your team members are forced to use critical thinking and planning skills. For instance, the seven objects might be items found around the office: a stapler, a pack of pens, the bag of mini cheeses in the fridge, a set of golf clubs, a roller chair, a butter knife and the petty cash box. You can also choose other items not found in the office, that is totally up to you!
Split your employees into small groups and give them time to discuss. Then collect everyone in the conference room to share their items and reasons why they chose them. Not only will everyone have fun, but your team members will need to use effective communication techniques to be successful.
Show and Tell
Teams become more cohesive when everyone feels they know the other people well. But most “jobs” don’t really allow employees to get to know each other well.
This is a classic team-building activity that you may have taken part in back in grade school. Ask everyone to bring in a special item, or even an idea, and give everyone 2 minutes to share their item or idea.
After each person shares, be sure to allow a few minutes for questions or conversation. This sharing will lead to bonding, which will open up doors to better communication in the future.
Fun Facts
Ask everyone to write down one fun fact about themselves on a little slip of paper. Then have someone go around collecting the papers in a hat, box or any container. Later in the day, hold a meeting and read out the facts one by one and let team members guess which fact matches which team member.
Two Truths and a Lie
If you’ve never played this classic icebreaker game, prepare to have some big laughs! Each team member shares three statements about themselves: two that are true and one that is false.
Everyone then takes turns to share their truths and lie and other team members guess what is true and what isn’t.
While incredibly fun, this game actually forces people to really listen and pay attention to one another’s body language. It is great effective communication training disguised as a fun game.
Aliens Have Landed!
Problem solving combined with a bit of imagination is what this game is all about! Divide your team into smaller groups of 3-5 members.
Here’s the scenario: Aliens have finally landed on planet Earth, but they don’t speak a lick of English. So, each team must pick five symbols or pictures to best describe the company!
Not only is this a fun way to get your employees to work with one another, improving their problem solving and effective communication skills, but you can also see what common themes or symbols are selected. This gives you a window into how your employees feel about the company culture.
Share Your Bucket List
A bucket list is comprised of very big, personal goals we all have. These are things that are important for us to do or experience in our lifetime. Naturally, our bucket lists say a lot about us as individuals and sharing these lists is a great way to get to know one another.
Each week, assign one person to share their bucket list and allow a bit of time after for questions and discussion. Sharing these lists will help team members learn a lot about the personalities they work with!
Team building often gets a bad rap, but it’s one of the most important investments you can make for your employees. Team building encourages collaboration, communication, and builds critical trust. This is not only good for company culture but also your bottom line.
Continued Learning & Success!
LaQuita Cleare and Team CCA
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