Three Team-Building Games for the Workplace

Team-building games have been recognized for decades as a great way to help promote communication, goodwill and productivity in the workplace. Though a vacation or a trip to the ropes course may be fun, they aren't necessary to accomplish the main goals of a teambuilding session. Here is a look at three team building exercises that are easy to do right in the office, and what they are meant to accomplish.

Blind Maze

Two crucial skills that any successful business person needs are the ability to communicate clearly and the ability to listen. The blind maze will allow you to use both skills, as you become dependent upon a partner to succeed. Choose a course through your office that requires a few twists and turns. Divide up into partners (for the advanced version, choose partners who are having trouble communicating well with one another). Blindfold one team member (one team at a time) and have their partner lead them through the maze with only their voice. Time them and deduct five seconds for everything they hit. Switch places and combine their times for the team's total score. Complete this for all teams in the group. As a variation, blindfold the boss, and see who is most effective in getting him/her safely through the maze. This can often highlight effective but overlooked leaders.

Bean Bag Toss

This highlights out-of-the-box thinking. Begin by standing in a circle and asking people to toss a bean bag to someone else in the group, with each person getting it once. As a leader, keep out of this, as you will need to time them in a minute. Ask them to repeat the toss in the same order of people, and time them. Then ask them to shave their seconds down a little bit (if they did it in 30 seconds, try for twenty). Then, ask them to do it in five seconds or less, while always keeping the same order of people. The trick to this is to get them to realize they can rearrange their positions in the circle and hand it around. However, let them continue to try different things, with the only rule being they have to give it to the same person each time. The fewer hints you drop, the more satisfying it is for them to discover the solution.

Spaghetti Tower

Divide into two or more teams of three or four. Give each team a box of spaghetti, a roll of masking tape, a roll of string and one mini-marshmallow. The goal for each team is to build the tallest tower that you can out of spaghetti that can fulfill two goals: it must stand on its own for five or more seconds and the mini-marshmallow must be at the top. Give the teams ample time, between half an hour and an hour, if you really want to watch their imagination and productivity take off. You will be surprised at the ingenuity and design that some of the teams can achieve.

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