Team-Building Games for Employees

Corporate team-building activities unite the office staff to increase productivity and encourage stronger communication and respect. Using games makes the team building more enjoyable for the employees. The games used depend on your specific goals and the resources available in the office. Use the games during staff development time to encourage team building.

The staff members work in teams for this game. Each person gets between three and five index cards. She writes a letter on each card. The group members then pool their letters as the community letter pool. The staff members work together to create words using only the letters written on the cards. The team who creates the most words wins the challenge. End with a discussion about how the letters contributed to or hurt the group's efforts and how their own letters related to the letters provided by other team members.

Small groups of employees work together to create their ideal colleague. They write a list of the personal traits and professional accomplishments of this colleague. Have the teams draw a picture of this new team member or model her out of clay. Each team of employees shares their new team member and explains her qualifications. Ask the group how this new team member would affect the dynamics of the office if she actually existed. Discuss the individual contributions each of the employees makes to the team and how they work together rather than relying on one super employee that has all of the qualifications.

One blindfolded person paired with a seeing partner helps establish a sense of trust between the two employees. There are several games you can play with a blindfolded partner. One option is to create an obstacle course around a large room. The seeing partner gives the blindfolded person verbal directions to get through the course. A similar option is to set up several objects like balls, bowling pins or books throughout the room. The blindfolded partner has to cross the room without bumping into any of the obstacles. His partner is allowed to provide verbal guidance from the side of the room. For more difficulty, have others shouting out other directions or saying random things to confuse the blindfolded person. This symbolizes the need to focus on the task at hand and your colleagues rather than letting outside interference destroy the team environment.

Balloons add a childlike touch to the work environment, but they also work as the base of an effective team building game. Inflate three balloons per team member before the game starts. Each player starts with one balloon in her hand. The team members hit their balloons into the air and must continue hitting them up to keep them from hitting the floor. The employees work together to keep all of the balloons in the air. Continue adding more balloons to the game to make it more challenging.