Top Team-Building Activities for Mid-Size Companies

Great Things In Business Are Never Done By One Person. They’re Done By A Team Of People. – Steve Jobs 

Organizations that believe in this saying are sure to succeed. Keeping a team stick together is critical and team building activities can help you improve team dynamics, build trust among members, and facilitate constructive communication. 

A team that works together is more efficient, productive, and successful. Along with this, a good rapport among team members helps reduce work-related frustration, and friendship and coordination keep employees happy and makes work a fun place to go to. However, establishing such bonds can be highly tricky, especially because it involves people and the camaraderie that they share. 

Forcing tasks on people could be the last thing you would want to do. You might want to consider the following before you decide on activities: 

The goal – What is it that you exactly want to achieve? Do you want to promote wellness, train your employees on a specific virtue, help them relax and have fun, do something for a social cause, or just have some fun at work? 

Your team preferences – Take factors like age, preferences and physical limitations of your employees into account while designing activities around team building. 

Take feedback – Have informal sessions with your employees around what kind of activities they would like to have as a part of their team. 

Here are some activities that you might want to consider when designing or ideating on team building activities: 

Scavenger Hunt 

• Objective: Encourage problem-solving and critical thinking 
• Activity Type: Indoor or Outdoor 
• Duration: 30-60 minutes 
• Number of Participants: 4-20 people 
• What you’ll need: Clues, items to find, and a designated search area 
• How to play: Create clues that lead to various items hidden around the designated area. The team must solve the clues to find each item and complete the scavenger hunt. 
• What to Expect: This activity promotes problem-solving and critical thinking, as well as encourages teamwork and collaboration. 

Battle of the Airbands  

• Objective: Encourage creativity and collaboration 
• Activity Type: Indoor 
• Duration: 60-90 minutes 
• Number of Participants: 6-20 people 
• What you’ll need: Music, props, costumes 
• How to play: Divide the group into teams and have them create their own airbands, complete with a song, dance, and costumes. Each team will perform in front of the group and the best performance wins. 
• What to Expect: This activity encourages creativity, collaboration, and communication, as well as encourages individuals to step out of their comfort zone and have fun. 

Back-to-Back Drawing  

• Objective: Improve communication and teamwork skills 
• Activity Type: Indoor 
• Duration: 30-60 minutes 
• Number of Participants: 4-10 people 
• What you’ll need: Pen and paper 
• How to play: Pair up the group members and have them sit back-to-back. One person will have a picture or object to describe to their partner, who must then draw it based on the description. The goal is to have the closest drawing to the original picture. 
• What to Expect: This activity encourages communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills, as well as encourages active listening and attention to detail. 

Office Trivia  

• Objective: Improve team bonding and knowledge sharing 
• Activity Type: Indoor 
• Duration: 30-60 minutes 
• Number of Participants: 4-20 people 
• What you’ll need: Trivia questions related to the office or company 
• How to play: Divide the group into teams and ask trivia questions related to the office or company. The team with the most correct answers wins. 
• What to Expect: This activity encourages team bonding, knowledge sharing, and communication, as well as encourages individuals to learn more about their colleagues and the company. 

Community Service or Volunteer 

• Objective: Encourage social responsibility and teamwork 
• Activity Type: Outdoor or Indoor 
• Duration: Varies 
• Number of Participants: 4-20 people 
• What you’ll need: Volunteer opportunity or community service project 
• How to play: Choose a volunteer opportunity or community service project that the group can work on together, such as cleaning up a local park or volunteering at a soup kitchen. 
• What to Expect: This activity encourages social responsibility, teamwork, and communication, as well as encourages individuals to make a positive impact in their community. 

Salt and Pepper  

• Objective: Improve communication and teamwork skills 
• Activity Type: Indoor 
• Duration: 30-60 minutes 
• Number of Participants: 4-10 people 
• What you’ll need: Salt and pepper shakers for each pair 
• How to play: Blindfold each member and give them a salt or pepper shaker. The group must then find their matching salt or pepper shaker based on verbal communication only. 
• What to Expect: This activity encourages communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills, as well as encourages active listening and attention to detail. 

Memory Wall 

• Objective: Improve team bonding and communication 
• Activity Type: Indoor 
• Duration: 30-60 minutes 
• Number of Participants: 4-20 people 
• What you’ll need: Sticky notes and markers 
• How to play: Have each person write a positive memory or experience they had with a colleague on a sticky note and post it on a wall. Each person can then read the notes and share their experiences with the group. 
• What to Expect: This activity encourages team bonding, communication, and positive reinforcement, as well as encourages individuals to appreciate their colleagues and their contributions. 

Odd Couples 

• Objective: To promote communication, collaboration, and creativity among team members by pairing them up with individuals they may not typically work closely with. 
• Activity Type: This activity can be done indoors, outdoors, or virtually. 
• Duration: 1 hour 
• Number of Participants: Ideally 10-20 participants but can be adapted for larger or smaller groups. 
• What you’ll need: Pieces of paper with names of various objects or concepts (e.g. “peanut butter” or “time travel”). A hat or container to hold the pieces of paper. A space large enough for pairs of participants to work together.  
• How to play: Distribute pieces of paper with objects or concepts on them. Ask participants to find their “odd couple” partner. Each pair has 10 minutes to come up with a creative idea that combines both of their objects or concepts. Encourage creativity and collaboration between partners. After 10 minutes, have each pair present their idea to the group. Debrief the activity by asking participants what they learned from working with their partner and how it relates to their work as a team. 
• What to expect from this activity: Improved communication and collaboration among team members. Increased creativity and innovation within the team. A greater sense of camaraderie and teamwork among team members. 

Two Truths and a Lie 

• Objective: Get to know each other better and build trust 
• Activity Type: Indoor or Virtual 
• Duration: 15-30 minutes 
• Number of Participants: 4-20 people 
• What you’ll need: None 
• How to play: Each person shares two true statements about themselves and one false statement. The group must guess which statement is the lie. 
• What to Expect: This activity promotes communication, builds trust, and encourages team bonding. 

Blind draw 

• Objective: Improve communication and teamwork skills 
• Activity Type: Indoor 
• Duration: 15-30 minutes 
• Number of Participants: 4-10 people 
• What you’ll need: Paper, pen/pencil, and a drawing object (such as a stuffed animal or toy) 
• How to play: One person is blindfolded and given the drawing object. They must describe the object to the rest of the team, who then draw it based on the description. The blindfolded person must guess which drawing is the most accurate. 
• What to Expect: This activity promotes communication and teamwork, as well as encourages active listening and attention to detail. 

Over to You 

Team building activities can be a valuable tool for improving communication, collaboration, creativity, and morale within a team. By engaging in activities that promote teamwork and camaraderie, team members can build stronger relationships and work more effectively together towards common goals. Whether done in-person or virtually, indoor or outdoor, team building activities can be tailored to fit the specific needs and goals of any team. By incorporating these activities into a team’s regular routine, leaders can help foster a positive, supportive, and productive work environment that benefits everyone involved.