Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
I work in the Information Technology (IT) field, and I recently overheard some team members discussing the online multiplayer game they play together. They frequently devise battle strategies while they work, and this makes me think online gaming could be a good team building tool for my engineers. Multiplayer gaming would suit my teams’ natural competitiveness far better than traditional team building exercises like ropes courses and corporate retreats. Gaming would be considerably less expensive than these exercises, and could be permanently incorporated into the organizational culture, instead of being a one-time event.
I could also use gaming to resolve certain kinds of team conflict. IT professionals often argue about the best approach to resolve a technical issue. There are usually several different possibilities that will produce identical results, but IT professionals can be passionate in their defense of a particular idea, to the point their fractiousness negatively impacts the entire team. To prevent this I could have different factions square off in a quick online battle, with the victors winning the right to decide which approach we’ll use. Saving Changes...
I believe activities done in groups such has cooking, but maybe divide the team to compete. Group that make to best meal.
Board Games play in teams. Then rotate the teams. Saving Changes...
Games I loved:
- Everyone writes down in a paper something surprising about them (e.g. I hiked the Everest), all papers are mixed in a bowl, facilitator picks a paper and everyone has to guess who wrote them. It is excellent to make people aware and get rid of their biases.
- Everyone writes down in a paper the name of the person on their right and what they appreciate the most about this person, then they pass the paper to the person on their left which does the same about this person. Exercise completes after each paper has done a full round. Facilitator collects all papers (=number of participants) and distribute them to participants. Participants can chose whether to read or not the one they loved the most.
- Treasure hunting around Budapest. We did it twice, both times in teams. First time a colleague prepared the game and the paper handouts, second time we used a mobile app.
- Cooking
- Bring Your Own Food team breakfasts and lunches
Some I did not love where those related to personality assessments (e.g. DISC) that always turned to introverted against extroverted competitions. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
As Stéphane and Vincent commented above, any activities for team building should be aimed for the trust building between members at first. Without trust one another, team spirit or ego will fail in the long run. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
"Interesting" team building or "team bonding" activities depends on your preferences.
Have you tried Karaoke singing? Sing to your favorite classic tunes...it's a good therapy to vent out frustrations, release stress and pressure, etc.
You can go to a karaoke club/bar
or another option:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details...dia.yokee&hl=en
How about going to the spa and have a group massage?
Everyone deserves to sit back once in a while. Life is short.
Have a great time! Saving Changes...
Wendy UpasenaProject Engineer| Australian Fluid HandlingMelbourne, Australia
Interesting topic,
Once we involved in a community volunteer organization and manned one of their fund raising campaign. They did the organization but we did the leg work. It was very interesting and challenging. Saving Changes...
