What happens when you hear the phrase “team building activities?” If you’re like many employees, you might wince. Traditional team building games and exercises can feel cheesy or forced at times. However, team building is essential for fostering collaboration, connection, and camaraderie among colleagues.
The key is choosing activities that are engaging, purposeful, and enjoyable for your team. Here are 10 awesome team building ideas that balance productivity and play perfectly.
The Importance of Team Building
At first glance, team building games may seem silly or juvenile. But they serve a critical purpose and have been proven to have measurable positive effects on teamwork and collaboration. Like classroom games, team building activities for adults aim to teach teams about their colleagues, communication styles, problem-solving abilities, and more.
Good team building group activities will give employees insight into one another’s personalities, leading to a stronger, more cohesive team. This offers a range of benefits across the organization, including:
- Better decision-making
- Clearer understanding of team vision and company culture
- Greater employee engagement and connection
- More creative thinking, even in remote/hybrid environments
- Higher job satisfaction
When colleagues understand each other better, they can more effectively collaborate on projects, support each other’s goals, and unlock innovative ideas together. Team building builds the trust and psychological safety critical for teams to thrive.
10 Fun team building Activities
Whether your workplace is fully in-person, remote, or hybrid, there are engaging team building activities to foster connection and collaboration. Here are ten awesome options your team will be grateful for:
Blind Drawing
Time: 10-15 minutes
Team Size: Groups of 2
This simple drawing activity is a fun exercise in communication. Divide your team into pairs and give each duo a picture (keep it covered), paper, and a pencil. Have partners sit back-to-back, with one holding the picture and describing it in detail to their partner, who will attempt to draw it based solely on the description provided.
For remote teams, do this over video call – email one partner the picture and have them describe it to their teammate on the line. The hilarious results make for great virtual bonding as partners share their artistic creations.
Scavenger Hunt
Time: 15-20 minutes
Team Size: Any
Send your team on a scavenger hunt around the office (or their homes for remote staff) to find unique objects or bits of company trivia. This gets everyone up, moving around, and engaging with different departments. Scavenger hunts are perfect for new teams to learn about the office layout, company history/culture, and each other along the way.
For distributed teams, compile a list of quirky household items (e.g. something green, an old photo, etc.) for teammates to find and share over video. Seeing glimpses into coworkers’ lives forges personal connections.
What’s My Name?
Time: 15 minutes
Team Size: 20 or less
A simple name game is an entertaining way to learn (or relearn) everyone’s names to avoid awkward mix-ups. Have the team sit in a circle and go around saying names. Then toss a ball to someone and have them say their name before passing it to someone else. Add rules like “don’t throw to the same person twice” or “throw to someone with the same initial” so people pay close attention.
For virtual teams, you can “pass” the ball by calling on teammates over video and having them follow similar rules. It may seem basic, but putting names to faces is an important first step in collaboration.
Group Map
Time: 20-30 minutes
Team Size: 20 or less
This activity works well for international teams. Set up a large world map and have each person place a pin or marker on their hometown, sharing a personal value they grew up with. The ensuing conversations about different cultures, backgrounds, and worldviews helps teammates bond over their diverse experiences.
For virtual teams, use an online mapping tool or template and have folks share their locations and personal stories over video. Celebrating diversity builds inclusion, a core ingredient for innovative collaboration.
Jenga Questions
Time: 20-30 minutes
Team Size: Any size, break into groups of 8 or less
Who doesn’t love the classic block-stacking, removal game Jenga? But this twist adds an extra team building element. Write questions on each Jenga block piece, and as teammates take their turn pulling pieces, they must answer the question written on it. From fun facts to deeper prompts, this game sparks dialogue as teammates learn about each other.
For remote teams, one person can host the physical Jenga game, pulling pieces on behalf of teammates based on who wants to go next. As silly as it sounds, these types of sharing activities go a long way in building rapport.
Pencil Precision
Time: 20 minutes
Team Size: Groups of 2
This exercise practices communication under constraints. Tie long strings between partners’ waists, with a pencil looped into the strings’ middle. The pairs must then lower the pencil into a bottle while standing back-to-back, communicating throughout to stay coordinated. It’s a fun challenge that requires focus, persistence, and collaboration to succeed together.
Count to 20
Time: 10 minutes
Team Size: 20-50 people
Here’s a simple group activity that’s more challenging than it seems: The team’s collective goal is to count from 1 to 20, with each person saying just one number in a random order. There’s no predetermined sequence – anyone can go next. But if two people speak at the same time, you have to start over. It forces teammates to tune into the group dynamic and communicate seamlessly as a single unit.
This no-prep activity works just as well in a conference room or over video call. The concentration required to listen and synchronize makes it an amusing yet meaningful team building exercise.
Achievement Sharing
Time: 30 minutes
Team Size: 20 or less
While classic icebreakers like “two truths and a lie” can get people talking, sharing personal or professional achievements takes bonding one step further. Break into small groups of 4-5 and give each person a chance to share something they’re proud of accomplishing, whether at work or in life. These insights into teammates’ skills, values, and motivations create deeper understanding and appreciation.
Team Jigsaw Puzzle
Time: 20 minutes
Team Size: Any, break into groups of 2-4
Divide into small teams and give each group a different jigsaw puzzle to assemble. Here’s the twist – swap some pieces between groups first, so they’re missing keys to complete their own puzzle. To solve this meta puzzle, teammates must collaborate not just within their mini-squad, but with the larger group, negotiating and trading pieces until each team can finish their portion of the master puzzle.
Off-Campus Outing
Time: A few hours
Team Size: Any
While in-office bonding matters, some of the best team building happens outside the workplace over a fun group activity. Get your team together for something social like an escape room, improv show, bowling outing, cooking class, or sports league. A relaxed environment free of work talk allows teammates to connect as people first. And anything that encourages laughter, creativity, and collective energy will do wonders for morale and camaraderie.
For remote teams, consider virtual experiences like online escape rooms, trivia nights, or cocktail classes that everyone can join from wherever they’re based.
Team Building for Collaboration Success
At the end of the day, teams with strong interpersonal connections and understanding simply work better together. When you make time and space for fun team building group activities, you improve collaboration, enhance creativity, and unlock innovation. These types of bonding experiences give colleagues a way to build the trust, rapport, and psychological safety fundamental to effective teamwork.
If your team works remotely or in a hybrid model, finding opportunities to unite can be a challenge. But digital tools like Mural offer virtual whiteboards and collaborative workspaces perfect for icebreakers, games, and interactive meetings that bring teammates together. No matter the setting, prioritizing team building creates more cohesive, engaged, and higher-performing teams across your organization.
