30 fun and low-cost indoor team building activities (part 1)
Team building activities are the mainstay of many companies, conducted to bring employees from different divisions together to nurture harmony within the organisation as well as to develop teamwork. However, more often than not, the activities planned either lack the fun factor, or do not provide a platform that brings employees together.
Many employers approach team building activities through very practical considerations: cost and benefit. Here, we take a look at 15 indoor activities that can be conducted with low cost and are beneficial to organisations.
Indoor office games ideas for employees
Writing with strings
Tie several strings to a marker pen, from the area closes to the tip to the end of the pen. Every end of a string is held by a team member, and members will spread out in all direction. The objective is to write a word on a piece of paper by having the team to collectively manipulate the pulling / letting go of the strings. However, team members are not allowed to speak to one another. Team with the best writing or the quickest to complete the most legible word wins.
Benefits: Creative problem solving, communication
Leading the blind
Each member will take turns to be blindfolded, while another team member verbally guides the blindfolded member towards an objective. The objective can be a place in the office, or to retrieve an item, or to perform a task. Once the objective is completed, it will be the blindfolded member’s turn to verbally guide another. Non-participating members are not allowed to give instructions.
Benefits: Builds trust and leadership
Office trivia
Compile questionnaires to test the team’s knowledge about various topics in the office, such as basic personal questions about team members, like number of siblings, transportation mode, favourite past-time, food, item of sentimental value; do avoid topics pertaining specifically to work. Perform this activity on a monthly, quarterly or half-yearly basis. This would encourage team members to get to know each other and at the same time gain knowledge about each other in a less awkward manner.
Benefit: Team bonding, ice breaking
In another person’s shoes
Relieve an employee of a day’s (or half a day’s) duty and have him / her sit with another employee from a different division, preferably one that is closely connected in terms of workflow. Explain to the visiting employee the work flow in the division’s daily routine, including the challenges involved. The objective is to allow the visiting employee to get a better understanding of the division’s work.
Benefits: Develops empathy, understanding and appreciation
Silent drawing
Each team member will take turns to pick out a card in a jar. He / she will draw out what is on that card. Level of difficulty can be based on whether the drawing member is allowed to use sound or say words that are not straight giveaways to the answer.
Benefits: Develops understanding, camaraderie
Classify this
Have team members gather items around the office, preferably between 25 and 30 items. Then, categorise the items into 4 or 5 lists, based on various categories, such as similarities in shapes, colours, utilization, composition etc.
Benefits: Out of the box thinking, cooperation
Good riddance
Get team members to agree that to err is human. Everyone has flaws and they can be corrected. Ask every team member to write down on a piece of paper one of their flaws, display it to other members, and get suggestions on how to correct them. This corrective measure will be done throughout working hours with gentle reminders from colleagues, and do set a time within which the flaws must be corrected.
Benefits: Humility, self-improvement, empathy
Secret Santa
Write all the names of team members into separate pieces of papers and place them into a jar. Each team member will pick a name and keep it secret. The member will have to be nice to the other person whose name he / she picked for a set period of time, e.g.; 1 week, a fortnight, a month etc. Set a place that is not frequently accessed for members to place gifts for their destined persons, and a jar for compliments.
Benefits: Feel good factor at the workplace, appreciation
Back-to-back drawing
Divide the teams into pairs, with members sitting back-to-back. One member will be shown a picture, which he / she will describe verbally its shape, design and colour except the name of the item. The other member will draw out a picture as described by the partner.
Benefits: Emphasis on verbal communication, listening skill, and comprehension
Lights, camera, action
Divide participants into several teams comprising members of different department. They are to write and produce a 5 to 10-minute cinematic sketch and perform during company dinner. Allow teams 4 to 8 weeks to prepare.
Benefits: Bonding, teamwork, planning, leadership
Charade
Each member takes turn at being the actor; the actor will be shown a word / sentence, and act it out to other members, who will guess. Once a member makes an accurate guess, another member will be the actor.
Benefit: Creativity
Liar’s poker
Use a deck of playing cards and distribute one card to each team member. Members will reveal the cards to everybody but themselves, and stick the card at the top of their foreheads. One member will ask 3 other colleagues what his / her card is. 2 colleagues will give wrong answers, 1 will give the correct answer. The member will choose who to believe. If he / she is correct, remove the card and pick a new one. If the member chose the wrong person to believe, he / she will skip a turn. The game finishes when all 52 cards are used. The winner is the one with the most cards.
Benefit: Bonding
What’s my name?
Write names of professions on papers and place them in a jar. Members are required to pick one paper without looking into the contents, and have another team member pin / stick the paper behind their backs. Allow the groups to mingle, free to ask and answer questions to identify the names of professions on their backs.
Benefits: Bonding, ice-breaking
Sneak a peek
Make a random structure out of Lego blocks and have the team construct an exact copy of that structure. Each team member will take turns to look at the original structure but for only 5 seconds each time, at intervals of 5 minutes. Once all team members have viewed the original structure, no more viewings are allowed.
Benefits: Communication, memory-strengthening, out-of-the-box thinking
Paper planes
Prepare big pieces of paper, size A1 or A0, and instruct the teams to fold them into paper planes of any design. Throw the paper plane from an elevated level. The paper plane that glides the furthest wins.
Benefits: Teamwork, communication
Stay tuned for part 2 of this series where we’ll focus on 15 outdoor team building exercises designed to build bonding and trust within a team of peers.
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