Team Building Activities

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How to Create a Team Charter

A team charter is a document that defines the purpose of a team, expected outcomes and how the team will work together for results. It is a set of agreements created when a team forms to ensure everyone is on the same page from the start. It is updated when a new member leaves/joines a team.

Step 1

Purpose and Key Responsibilities: the reason for the team’s existence and what members hold themselves accountable for as a team. 

Step 2

Vision: a results-oriented picture of the team that describes what members commit to achieve together sometime in the future.

Step 3

Values: beliefs or principles that define what is important to team members and serve to guide the team’s actions and decisions. They are not compromised for short term gain or expediency. These are most useful when they are defined in terms of specific behaviors.

Step 4

Goals: specific, measurable results that are aligned with the team’s purpose and vision.

Step 5

Roles and Responsibilities: write clear descriptions of who is on the team and their functional responsibilities.

Step 6

Mutual Expectations: what will be the ground rules that clarify how team members will interact, collaborate, support each other and give each other feedback? This includes behaviors during conflict.

Step 7

Operating Procedures: descriptions of meeting structure, communication norms, decision-making methods, conflict resolution, and reflection strategies.

Step 8

Assess Team Effectiveness. Regularly assess the team's ability to work together to accomplish its objectives over time.

FINAL THOUGHT

Consider whether organizational systems such as performance management, compensation and other reward systems are supporting or hurting the team's chances for success. Ask yourself, can we honestly  expect people to work as a team if we're only recognizing their individual contributions?
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Let's Get Acquainted

Purpose:
To get participant's attention, put aside distractions so they can be present and fully engaged.

Outcome:
To increased mental and physical stimulation and engagement. Boosts preparedness.

Step 1

Everyone gets a packet of M&M's, colorful Jelly Beans, or Marbles (you choose).

Step 2

Give meaning to the colors, for example:Orange: Best vacation spot you have ever been? Red: Name a gift you will never forget. Yellow: Something you have done that you never shared with your parents or guardians. Green: if all jobs were paid the same, what would be your job today? 

Step 3

Pair up or get in groups and discuss answers. Following this activity, you're ready for what's next.
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Reppin' Where You're From

Purpose:
To get employees comfortable with self-disclosure.

Outcome:
Self-disclosure paves the way to honesty, trust, and relationship building.


Step 1

Invite team members to bring a non-offensive memento that represents an important aspect of their cultural, social, or ethnic identity.

Step 2

Give the memento to the facilitator. Ask participants to guess who brought the momento. 

Step 3

If no one makes a correct guess, invite the owner of the memento to share the meaning of the item and why they wanted to share it with the team.
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Emoji State of Mind

Purpose:
Promotes intentionality and encourages authenticity.

Outcome:
Inauthenticity gives way to acceptance and belonging.



Step 1

Choose a cadence or frequency for practicing this activity. Start slow, perhaps this becomes YOUR Monday Morning Huddle? Or your Midweek Meetup. If you overwhelm them, they won't play.

Step 2

Choose three emojis to let team members know their general status for the day or the week. Although it's not required, they can say more or let one another know about a special project/circumstance taking their attention that day or week.

Step 3:

If offering insight into the week, remember to keep it simple, short and to the point. Write the insight just beneath the emoji (just one or two sentences will do).

Step 4

Sample Emjoi's:
🌞
Focused and Feeling Good
🏄🏽‍♀️
I'm OK. Lot's Going On Behind the Scenes
🚌 
I'm on the Struggle Bus

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Communication Challenge

Purpose: 

To demonstrate the many problems of misunderstanding that can occur in a one-way communication. How to ask clarifying questions.

Outcome:
Participants become more aware of their communication strengths and shortcomings. Identify opportunities to improve.


Step 1

The participants will be paired and seated back to back. One of them will be given a picture of a diagram and their partner given a blank piece of paper and a pencil.

Variation: In larger groups, have one person speaking and give several others the blank piece of paper and pencil.

Step 2

For two minutes, and seated back to back, the participant with the picture will be asked to describe the picture so their partner can draw it on the paper provided without asking any questions.

Step 3

At the end of 2 minutes, Have them stop and ask them to discuss the difficulty of working with one-way communication. Ask them to show their drawings.

Step 4

With the same roles, ask them to proceed and tell the artist they can ask no more than 3 questions in the additional five minutes.

Debrief

Discuss the desire to give up, ask if there was a point where they stopped listening, in what ways were two way communication better, how can this be applied at work, and how communicating one message was perceived differently by the artists.
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Tallest Tower

Purpose:
To get participant's to recognize that teaming is a choice, an attitude and it shows up in our conduct and our behavior.

Outcome:
Individuals learn to focus on the goal rather than their own personal agendas and learn how to work through challenges that require the ability to consider and leverage other people’s strengths.

Overview

Tallest Tower is a simple teambuilding activity that involves creativity, planning and teamwork. Build the tallest tower using just paper and masking tape.  

Step 1

Each team receives just one role of masking tape and one stack of paper, equal number of sheets, scissors, and a measuring tape, other materials are optional. You determine team size.

Step 2

The goal is simple: have your team build the tallest or highest tower made of paper!  Each team will be given 3 minutes to plan and discuss strategy, and then I will start a timer for 12 minutes.

Step 3

Each team will build a tall tower using the materials supplied.  When time is up, stop everyone and use the measuring tape to determine the winner.  Towers must remain standing on their own and not fall, a tower that falls is disqualified.

Debrief

  1. Let's discuss your attitude before, during and now that you've completed that activity. How did it change, why or why not?
  2. What worked well?
  3. What surprised you most?
  4. What didn't work so well?
  5. What feedback do you have for your team?
  6. How can you relate this experience to your current team?
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Balloon Blast

Purpose:
To get employees comfortable with self-disclosure.

Outcome:
Self-disclosure paves the way to honesty, trust, and relationship building.






Step 1

  1. Ask participants to count numerically.
  2. Then give the odd numbers a balloon.
  3. Ask those with the balloon, to blow up the balloon and tie a knot. Take extras, they're sure to break.
  4. Once the balloons are blown, ask each person with a balloon to find a partner.

Step 2

  1. Once with their partners, they are to stand facing each other.
  2. On the facilitators command, they are to grab their partner's hand, toss the balloon slightly up in the air and keep it in the air without letting go of their hands.
  3. If it falls to the floor, they must find a way to get the balloon back in the air without letting go of their partner's hands.

Step 3

  1. After about 2 minutes of air bouncing and laughter, command the partners to burst the balloon without letting go of their partners' hands. 
  2. No one can stop until all the balloons have been burst.


P.S. They cannot use their feet.
Debrief
  1. Ask what worked, what didn’t?
  2. Why or why not offer to help struggling teammates?
  3. Did anyone ask for help, why or why not?
  4. When did it become fun and why or why not?
  5. What does the balloon represent?
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Standard Debrief Questions

Purpose:
Ensure all participants can convey their experience and practice having their voice heard.

Outcome:
Relief of stress, vicarious trauma, and psychological harm while enhancing sustained learning and improved performance.




Step 1

To have a great outcome, ensure you set up the experience properly. Discuss expectations, expected outcomes, and what success looks like. Inform participants that participation is expected but still optional.

Step 2

Never force anyone to engage in a teambuilding activity, even if it is not overly physical. If everyone is having a great time, those who might have resisted, will find a way to join in on the fun. Don't forget to ask folks how to best accommodate them if needed.

Step 3:

  1. Conduct the debrief as close to the close of the experience as possible.
  2. Encourage honesty, with respect towards one another and the facilitator.
  3. Summarize with a recap and key take aways or commitments.

Step 4

Sample Debrief Questions:

  • What was difficulty level? Discuss.
  • What did you learn about one another? Yourself?
  • Why is it important to connect at work beyond “surface” levels?
  • What / who surprised you most?

More Debrief Questions:

  • How can you transfer this experience back in the physical and virtual work environment?
  • What can we do unique or different to ensure sustainability of the positive aspect of our experience?
  • What worked well?
  • What could we do differently next time?


Debrief Questions, Continued...

  • How can we use this experience to communicate better?
  • What will be your individual commitments?
  • What should we commit to as a team?
  • How will we hold ourselves accountable?
  • What else?


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Are You Ready?

Purpose:
Don't forget to check-in with team members to assess their level of readiness to engage.

Outcome:
Simply checking in can move the needle in the right direction.





Step 1

Use emoji's in your presentations, or virtual meetings as a simple and effective way to encourage communication and emotional presence.

Step 2

Ask participants to select with number or color best reflects their mood:
1.
2.


Step 3

3.