Teamwork is an important factor in ensuring office productivity. When employees are effectively able to work together, companies can reach their business goals with little to no problems. However, it’s challenging to maintain good office synergy if the employees don’t get along. If the different departments in the office aren’t on great terms with one another, it’ll be difficult to foster good work culture.
That’s why a lot of companies hold events that can help bolster work relationships. Team building activities, for example, give employees the opportunity to get to know their colleagues better. By participating in different activities that encourage teamwork, employees will be able to strengthen their bond as a team. It’s important to have appropriate games and activities to ensure that everyone stays invested in the event.
If you’re looking for interesting and fun activities for your next team building at one of the Pasay hotels or a beach resort, here are 4 awesome team building and bonding activities that can strengthen work relationships.
Simon Says
Starting the event with a fun activity is a sure way to get people pumped, so a game like Simon says is a perfect choice to ready the participants. This schoolyard game is simple to set up, and everyone in the company can easily join.
The rules are simple. Assign one person to be “Simon” the leader. This person’s role is to give out commands, which the participants have to follow. If “Simon” says jump, participants have to jump. If “Simon” says to turn around, everyone must do so as well. Participants who perform the wrong action are eliminated from the game until one winner is declared.
To make things a little trickier, “Simon” can confuse the participants by making an action that’s different from the command. So, if “Simon” says to do jumping jacks, but is swaying their hips, participants who follow his action are out. After all, the game is Simon says, not Simon does. Simon says may look like a simple, fun game on the outside, but in reality, it encourages participants to use their listening skills and quick thinking to ensure that they are following the rules of the game correctly.
Egg Drop
When everyone is warmed up, you can proceed to a game that makes use of their energy as well as their ingenuity. Egg drop is a great collaboration exercise that can improve one’s creative problem-solving and communication skills. In this activity, participants are divided into groups, and each team is tasked to create a carrier that can keep an egg intact after it’s dropped at a certain height. Teams are given one egg, simple construction materials (like newspapers, rubber bands, popsicle sticks, yarn, and plastic bags), and 20 to 30 minutes to make their carrier.
Once the time’s up, each team will be given a chance to test their carrier and see if their egg survives the drop. If no egg is shattered, increase the height of the drop until one all, but one egg is damaged. The team with the most intact egg wins the game.
Common Factor
If you’re looking for a bonding activity that can help employees get to know their co-workers better, then add the common factor activity to your list. This game can help unveil similarities that your employees may have with their colleagues by asking them simple questions. To begin, have the participants gather around in a circle. Then, you can ask questions like “do you like watching horror movies? or “do you take care of plants?” and if any of the participants answer “yes,” they must step inside the circle. Questions that focus on people’s interests make common factor a great game where employees can connect with co-workers who share the same interests as them. This way, employees can build stronger and more meaningful work relationships with their colleagues.
Office Trivia
Another great team bonding game that’s easy to do is office trivia. All you have to do is to divide the participants into teams and ask them questions that revolve around the company. Questions such as “how long has the company been operating?”, “what color is the carpet on the main lobby?”, and “how many new hires did the company have this year?” will get teams to huddle and discuss their answers. Teams who get the right answer get the point. Although the rules of the game are simple, you can shake things up by asking the teams to create a team name. Their team names can also be composed of animal sounds, so if a team wants to answer the question, they have to make their animal sound first before answering.
To make the activity more meaningful, it’s better if each team is composed of people who are from different departments or age groups. This way, employees from different office groups can socialize and create new friendships.
Team building and bonding activities may look like ordinary games, but they can help employees improve their relationships with their co-workers. When everyone is having fun and enjoying each other’s company, the memories shared in these activities can be appreciated and the lessons they learn through these fruitful experiences can be applied when they work.
