Engage Your Employees with Fun Team Building Activities

Are you trying to foster employee engagement? Try some fun team building activities. Break the ho-hum routine and shake up your staff by planning activities that build communication, foster an accepting environment, and show your employees that you care about them. 

Team building activities need not take all day. Nor do they need to cost an enormous chunk of your budget. How long they take to complete, and the financial investment depends on the size of your staff and your intended outcomes. 

1. Treat staffers to an in-office VIP experience

While you might not be a large corporation with lavish amenities, you can treat your staff to in-office VIP treatment. These experiences can bolster morale and show your appreciation for your team’s contributions.

Some ideas that take minimum time out of the day include an in-office catered luncheon. Or, host a Finally Friday-themed in-house wine tasting complete with canapes and a two-drink maximum. 

Another VIP experience that your employees will love is an in-office chair massage. Hire a professional massage therapist to come in to give employees 20-minute massages. This offering is popular with office workers who hunch over a computer. You can make this even more cost effective by reaching out to your local community college to see if they can bring their massage therapy students in for the experience.

For the smallest employers, these gestures are effective as they enable you to spend time with your staff and express your gratitude for all they do while allowing staff to spend time together bonding as a team.

2. Monday motivation

You—and your employees—probably dread Monday mornings. The truth is that if you can turn Monday into a day that oozes positivity, you set your team up for a productive, happy week. 

So, what exactly can you do to motivate your staff each Monday?

Hold a weekly rally. Share goals and expectations in an optimistic way. Proactively ep your staff for the expected outcomes for the week. Brainstorm ideas to jumpstart problematic projects. You might be pleasantly surprised at the input your team shares. 

Play one of two team building games to open up communication and demonstrate teamwork in action. 

For example, the classic childhood game of Telephone is a quick and lighthearted way to prove the importance of listening skills. Sound familiar? Here’s a refresher on how to play. Gather your staff in a circle. Hand the “first” person an index card on which you’ve written a short, easy to remember phrase. Each participate whispers the sentence to the next until you work back to the first person. By the time the phrase has circled the room, the participants almost certainly will have bungled the phrase. 

Your staff may resist at first, but they will start looking forward to seeing what you’ll come up with each week.

3. Take it outside

It’s a literal breath of fresh air for employees when they escape your building. Just kidding. I mean when they go outdoors for a break. 

During nice weather, head outside for a walking meeting. These meetings have grown in popularity and are a regular sight at major companies like Google and Amazon. Getting people from the comfort of the meeting table and walking stimulates the mind and recharges the batteries. Don’t worry, no tablet is necessary—email a summary of relevant information once you return indoors. 

Want to do even more team building activities while you’re already out enjoying the weather? 

Host an egg relay race. Split your staff into teams of four or five people—the fewer staffers per team, the quicker the activity goes. Give each group a hard-boiled egg (it won’t splat on your employees) and spoons. 

This team building game is a classic relay race with a twist—instead of handing off a baton, they will need to work together to gently roll the egg from one person’s spoon to the next without dropping the egg.

4. Team Building activities go a long way

Small employers know they cannot compete with the high salaries and luxurious perks that their larger counterparts offer. 

However, you do know that you stand apart from bigger companies by treating your team as part of the family. Teambuilding activities go far in keeping that family flourishing as you grow your business.