Since the last five years, there’s been a significant rise in catering to the needs of employees for promoting a friendly and healthy working environment. As a result, various clever team games that are engaging and fun to play at work are trending in the urban and office culture.
But what are these team games? Why should we include them in our corporate sector? And are there any suitable and intriguing team games that everyone can participate in and enjoy at an office?
A dish gets its flavour and appearance from the ingredients. Similarly, an organisation gets its stature and honour from its employees. Their performance and mutual connection play an active role in determining the success rate of any company.
And that’s why there’s a reason why more people are focusing on promoting team activities for helping the coworkers bond over some quality time and have fun amidst a hectic working schedule. These brief events create a happy environment in the office and provide shared benefits to everyone.
What are team games?
Team games are a part of team-building and developing activities. They are competitive exercises that involve interaction and trust in each other during the events. Often informal but suitable for the work environment, they are the ideal activities that help bring the coworkers and employers together through friendly games and workouts.
The goal behind the innovation of such team games is to cement the mutual feeling of respect and friendship in the office workers. It creates a healthy and positive environment for companies and encourages productivity, job retention, and satisfaction for each of their employees.
Why are team games required at work?
Apart from the other necessities, team games and collaboration activities are equally essential for any functioning corporation. Here are some reasons why their conduction is vital in any company:
The short-term benefits
Also called the base-level outcomes, they play an urgent role in the office and its human resources. And their impact is visible immediately. Below are a few of them highlighted for a better understanding.
- It promotes teamwork and team-building amongst coworkers.
- It serves as an icebreaker that removes the hurdle of awkwardness and lack of communication among the workers.
- Nobody feels left out and a black sheep at work.
- It acts as a recreational event for people to enjoy and de-stress from the pressure of working for a long time.
- Both the employer and the employee get added benefits through them.
Long-term advantages
- These merits have an immense impact on the company and extend beyond the office desk and group. We can trace their effect on the firm’s output, public image, and the investment and success ratio. Below are some results that fall under this criterion:
- The overall productivity rate rises conveniently, thus boosting the corporation’s pace of success.
- The mental, physical, and emotional health of the staff members of an organisation becomes a priority as they get proper treatment.
- The reputation of the company increases in the commercial and corporate sectors.
How the concept of team games influenced the entertainment and tech industry
Since team games started to trend in the commercial market, many franchises came forward with unique concepts to further boost this idea and make office-friendly games and activities.
The virtual gaming companies, mystery rooms in bangalore, online interacting platforms, etc., are some examples that combined their services to provide a fresh set of games that people at the office could enjoy with their coworkers.
And the way these events are fast catching up with pop culture, we have slowly started to witness how board games, puzzles, and many other recreational sources are slowly making their way into the fun exercises of a company and its employees.
As a result, we have so many clever team games and team bonding and building activities today that are equally engaging and help our mental and emotional growth.
Clever team games to play at work
By now, you must be wondering what these exercises and activities are. So let us look at the 12-best and most ingenious team games that you can enjoy at work with everyone:
Give random directions
It is perfect for involving those members who interact less and usually don’t work together with others. Through this game, they can learn to trust others and strengthen their communication in the office.
We have to gather a group of people and blindfold one member. Now, it is the task of the other members to give out random directions and instructions to the blindfolded person. The aim is to help them accomplish any goal, like picking up a book, crossing sides, reaching another room, etc.
Solve puzzles
Sometimes it’s fun to grab a puzzle and get down to it with our entire squad to solve it. These sets come at affordable prices and have a range of pieces. The best part of compiling puzzles and jigsaws as a team comes when we start to brainstorm out loud with each other for ideas.
The tension and the pressure of work vanishes, and everyone can sit back and enjoy a simple game.
And when we end up solving the puzzle, we can take some moment to conclude it. What strategies did we use? How long did it take for everyone to reach the end?
What were our expectations? Analysis like these helps us understand other people with whom we work. We get to learn our and their strengths and weaknesses. And it becomes a valuable asset for future projects.
Play board games
Board games are go-to fun themes at parties, get-togethers, and many celebratory occasions. So it won’t be a surprise when everyone at work immediately gets drawn once someone whips it out. Plus, there are so many cool and unique themes and options that we can try in the office.
And the best part about them is their ability to dissolve stress and fatigue. These games bring people together and help them enjoy a simple moment doing something interactive and creative amidst the hectic momentum of their lives.
Cocktail competitions
It’s fun to indulge in some relishes once in a while with our mates. And cocktail competitions are great team games that stylishly combine merriment and creativity for everyone to appreciate. An expert mixologist could guide us throughout the event and teach us about cocktail-making basics.
And once everyone gets accustomed to the rules and instructions, they can be divided into groups and given some time to come up with their version of the best cocktail ever. And once the game ends, the mixologist could score each result and declare the winner based on different criteria.
Organise a scavenger hunt
There’s nothing better than a game where we can work with our colleagues on something new and fun filled. And scavenger hunt games are especially a great team activity because it helps unite the fresh and the veteran employees under the same roof.
We can take this event in several directions, like assigning some people to fetch for a set of clues under a deadline or dividing everyone into many teams and seeing who finishes the competition first.
Plan a contest
A little bit of show-off and rivalry doesn’t hurt anyone under the same office roof. Planning and hosting contests are the ideal events for setting up a healthy and competitive environment in a company. Also, the coworkers come to develop the feeling of respect and sportsmanship for each other in the process. It also encourages everyone to do their best and not give up on their work.
It could be a desk arranging contest, an office-attire fashion show, a contest to see who makes the best chocolates, and so on. Thus, we can experiment with several ideas for coming up with show-stopping contests to enjoy as team games in our workplace.
Balloon Questions
This energetic team game is the ideal way for learning about our team members through interactive discussions. We need balloons, pens, and paper for playing it. The idea is to distribute a balloon to every employee and tell them to write a question on a small sheet of paper.
They have to blow the balloon and insert the folded paper with the written question. When everyone is ready, they have to hoist their balloons high in the air and rush to catch any other balloon before it drops down. And after everyone settles down in a circle, they read out the question they received out loud and narrate an answer for it.
Virtual escape rooms
Escape rooms have swept the world by a reckoning force! In these games, we are locked inside a room of our choice with our team. And now, it is up to us to hack our brains and solve the puzzles, complete challenges, and find answers to the clues and riddles inside the escape room together with our team before the time runs out.
The online versions get hosted through a secure Zoom link where a guide helps us throughout the event.
Apart from the immersive experience and a compelling plot, escape rooms are perfect for learning team building and communication. And these clever team games come in many themes like money heist, murder mystery, jailbreak, etc., that have exciting scenarios and moments where anyone can lead the team and become a hero.
Blind drawings
This team game boosts our listening and communicating skills. And it is excellent for learning to trust another individual at work. Two players sit back-to-back, and one receives a picture or image of a word or object.
They have to describe it without revealing the picture’s name to the other partner, who has a pen and paper. And then, they have to draw a sketch based on the details they receive from their partner behind them.
A fun and easy to indulge-in team activity, the best part of this game comes at the end when the final picture gets revealed, and everyone compares it with the original image.
Human knot
Nothing can go wrong in the human knot game. A well-preferred activity for group events and camps, it is a great way to bring people together and dissolve the feeling of awkwardness around them.
The players can begin by standing in a circle and holding hands with the ones who aren’t adjacent to them. And after everyone is tangled, the goal is to free ourselves from this knot without disrupting the formation.
Though this game requires more space and area for us to move and crawl, it’s perfect for office breaks where all the coworkers can band up and make some area for creating an enjoyable puzzle that everyone will love.
Marshmallow spaghetti tower
A great stress-buster, it is a game that tests our problem-solving, teamwork, and creativity. The participants get in groups with equal members and build the tallest towers made of sticks of spaghetti, strings, marshmallows, and masking tape.
The fun part comes when the game finishes and everyone places a marshmallow at the top of the tower. And whosoever structure stands without support for more than five seconds without dropping the marshmallow is the winner.
Two sides of a coin
A wholesome and effortless game, it’s an excellent activity to help employees connect and discover empathy, build trust, and develop coordination among one another. A team of people sits in a circle. And one of them talks about an actual gloomy incident from their past.
The other members then narrate it in their words but by omitting the negative aspects and highlighting the optimistic and happy points. People switch one by one to continue the game. In this way, we can bond with other workers, learn about their emotions, and embrace different perspectives in our lives.
In Summary
We can cultivate teamwork through plenty of games in the office. There are many themes and ideas that we can explore and invite our coworkers to indulge in a thrilling and ice-breaking game without leaving anyone behind.
And by encouraging the spirit of team-building through these activities, we can uplift each other’s liveliness and enhance our efficiency and productivity at work.
About the Author
Aniya More is one of the brightest content writer at Breakout escape room. With a great work ethic, she spends most of her time researching and reading. When she is not working, she likes to relax with a cup of coffee and enjoy watching her favourite tv show or walking her dog peanut.
