1. Team Building
Activities
By
Angelin

2. Team Building Activities
Team Building activities are important to the effective management and
growth of teams.
Purpose:
 To foster awareness of the team spirit,
 To reinforce commitment to the team's shared goals and objectives,
 To increase communication, learn new strengths and gain insights within the
team,
 To help develop all elements of team work including creativity, communication,
trust, problem-solving, time management, etc.
 To help develop a high performance team by encouraging shared commitment
to common purpose, core values, communication norms, defined roles and
responsibilities and a culture of mutual respect, accountability and responsibility.
When properly applied, these activities can develop strong interpersonal
relationships which help to bond the team closer together and help people
understand the importance of working together.

3. Team Building Activities

4. #1 - Shoot at sight!
Collaboration is at its essence, contribution. It is what happens when we
"step outside of ourselves" and honour the space we share more than where we
each individually come from.
Collaboration is what we create when we come together. Strong team
members value the power and synergy of collaboration.
“Shoot at sight! ” is a highly participative and collaborative activity that
challenges teams to discover just how creative they are.
Watch path breaking performance as the team members come together,
strategize and put their creative skills together in classic activity that will burn the
carpet on the conference floor. This is team bonding at its best!

5. #1 - Shoot at sight! (Contd..)
How to play:
The participants are divided into groups having a minimum of 5 team members
each. Then they are handed out a paper with the instructions listed below and
asked to take pictures of the items listed in it using their mobile phone cameras.
The team which submits all pictures first is announced as the winner of this game.
 Click a picture consisting of 4 different pairs of footwear
 Click a picture of 3 men wearing the same colour shirt/pant
 Click a picture of a stick man figure made with objects at hand
 Click a picture of 7 hands placed one above the other;
left hand above right hand and so on
 Click a picture of 2 people wearing wrong pair of footwear
 Click a picture of 4 people simulating the Indian emblem
 Click a picture of 3 men seated in a chair

6. #1 - Shoot at sight! (Contd..)
Objectives:
This activity involves team work, coordination, communication and
delegation of work. The teams must allot feats to team members and must find
quicker and intelligent ways to accomplish the feat before the other teams.
Marketing and convincing skills also come into play because the
participants will have to convince people to lend them their belongings, to take the
necessary pictures.
For example, 3 men wearing the same color shirt/pant can be seated in a
chair and a picture be taken of them. And feat like „Click a picture of a stick man
figure made with objects at hand‟ will bring out their creative talents and skills to
utilize the resources at hand efficiently.

7. #1 - Shoot at sight! (Contd..)
This activity also helps to
 Improve the way the team members interact,
 Improve support and trust levels in the workplace,
 Reduce stress levels in the work place,
 Develop healthy inter-group relations,
 Provide a platform for discussion and interaction and
 Identify the teams‟ strengths and weaknesses

8. #2 – Each one teach one
The key to long term health and success of a team is ensuring to have the
right people in the right place for the right job with the right skills.
This activity helps team members see themselves as others see them and
reveals perception gaps and areas of growth and motivates every team member to
understand what is required from them for the development of the team.
It also allows them to learn things about their co-workers they would never
have learned otherwise and as a result strengthen the relationships forever!

9. #2 – Each one teach one (Contd..)
How to play:
The participants are asked to write their name in a plain white sheet of
paper and draw a table with 3 columns and write 3 headings – ‘First Impression’,
‘Positive traits’, ‘Suggested areas of growth’ in it. Then they are asked to crush
the paper like a ball.
Then the participants are asked to form a circle and close their eyes and
throw the paper ball at the centre of the circular formation. Then they are asked to
open their eyes and pick up a random paper and fill in one point each against the 3
columns about the person whose name is written on it.
Then they crush the paper again and repeat the steps for as many number
of participants there are in this activity. Finally, the papers are returned to their
owners and if they want they can discuss the observations on each individual.
There is no need to mention who wrote the thoughts but do make sure that
no one writes any negative thoughts or repeats someone else's ideas.

10. #2 – Each one teach one (Contd..)
Objectives:
 To make the team members understand and encourage the talents and needs
of other team members, thereby enabling more flexibility and responsiveness to
each other.
 To encourage the team members to discover their personal strengths, positive
attributes and areas of improvement from other‟s perspective.
 To make the team members learn how to increase their accuracy of perceptions
in order to become a better observer of people and to know what is required for the
development of the team.
 To increase the interpersonal strength, dynamics and support within a team.

11. #3 – Go Crazy!
This activity helps assess the critical thinking and reasoning skills of team
members. This activity also provides a platform for discussion of different points of
view of the team members and allows them to learn how to listen to other‟s points
of view and discuss openly and resolve conflicts of interests.
How to Play:
The participants are posted with questions giving two similar choices and
are asked to choose one among them and explain what do they prefer and why.
The questions will be funny but at the same time thought provoking.
Objectives:
 To stimulate independent thinking,
 To improve critical thinking & reasoning skills,
 To facilitate an environment to learn to deal with conflicts
of interests and managing constructive debates.

12. #4 – Figure it out
This activity challenges teams to discover just how creative they are and
allows a group to use its creativity while working together.
How to Play:
The participants are divided into smaller groups of 3 members each. Then
they are given a set of random pictures and are asked to come up with a story
using those pictures within a given time span. At the end of that time, one person
from the team is asked to tell their story.
Since the teams are competing with other teams who have the same
resources, they have to aim to come up with something better than the others.
The judging parameters of the final creation would be based on the creative
talent, presentation skills and optimum utilization of the given resources.

13. #4 – Figure it out (Contd..)
Objectives:
 To serve as an energizer that changes the way the team thinks and achieves
results.
 To build confidence and encourage team members to express their ideas and
opinions.
 To help teams think about collaboration, innovation, communication and strategy.
 To provide the participants with the opportunity to experience and observe the
emergence of leadership within a group.
 To encourage brainstorming and team consensus of the story. In order to achieve
consensus, people must understand why other people think a certain way and then
come to a decision that everyone can live with. Many factors affect this: impatience,
poor communication skills, fear of voicing an opinion, time stress, lack of respect for
other members. This activity provides a platform for them to learn how to overcome
these.

14. #5 – Build up
Creativity and "out of the box" thinking are key for organizational
transformation and problem solving.
This activity tests imagination and challenges members to come up with a
solution by using methods they may not normally employ. This activity helps team
members nurture their creative instincts and encourage them to boldly share what
others might think as unconventional ideas.
Having creative thinkers on the team moves the organization forward in
ways that cannot be anticipated. Change would never occur if we didn't have bold
"out of the box" thinkers!
This is an inspiring activity that allows the real talents of the group to shine!

15. #5 – Build up (Contd..)
How to Play:
The participants are asked to think out of the box
and come up with a plan for their dream home in 10
minutes. At the end of 10 minutes, each participant is
asked to explain the plan for their dream home.
Objectives:
 To tap into the creative talent of the team members
 To allow team members to generate ideas without
being influenced by others.

16. #6 – Thumbs up Thumbs down
Questions open communication; statements don't. Outstanding team
members are inquisitive by nature and are open to hearing other‟s points of view.
Team members who appreciate the power of questions demonstrate strong
teamwork skills.
This activity creates an environment to openly discuss the team‟s work
experience.
How to Play:
The participants are posted with probing questions that helps to assess the
team and get their feedback on their project experience. They can vote a „Yes‟ by a
thumbs-up sign and vote a „No‟ by a thumbs-down sign. The response of the team
can also be openly discussed to get their feedback and suggestions for
improvement.

17. #6 – Thumbs up Thumbs down (Contd..)
Objectives:
 To assess the team‟s biases regarding workplace diversity.
 To get voting on their project experience and get to know their feedback openly.
 To discuss openly,
 challenges and risks faced,
 best practices followed,
 lessons learnt and
 suggestions for improvement.