10 Team Building Games and Activities for Team with Bonding Issues

Team bonding is very important to exist in a group environment. The level of bond in a team measures the level of trust and camaraderie between the members. It is not unusual for a team to encounter issues about bonding since it may not be all the time that everyone is comfortable with each other. This issue is very common for a team that is just starting up or there had been recent changes on the team composition or change in management, however, this should not be a hindrance for the team to learn how to bond with each other.

Harmony between team members is mostly developed within the workplace premises however the kind of bond that is built from extracurricular activities offers a refreshing way to inspire fun within the team. This is needed to cultivate and create a feeling of belongingness of each member of the team. The more comfortable a member is to the team the better the relationship they have with their co-workers the better the work output is.

The workplace can be full of competition for everyone. Each will always try to outdo each other and win promotions, awards, incentives, and fame. Not to mention that stress builds up easily in this environment and there will numerous workloads to attend to, meetings and metrics to maintain. However, in order for someone to survive the challenges of a workplace, it’s always good to have a friend or two and a team to help you with the tasks. A great bond with the team can help you out with daily tasks and survive bad days.

Leaders and upper management also recognize that these bond of a team is an essential factor for development and ensure the growth of the organization. There are even some industries that allow a specific budget to encourage their members to conduct team building activities to promote and develop bonding of a team. The more the team bonds, the better work relationship they have. This improves the productivity of the team that would reflect on the team score and the organizations progress. Google, Facebook, and all big industries support this attempt in making the workplace environment to their employees.

Whenever a team needs a timeout or the bond needs to be reinforced, leaders may find that conflict are more common to arise. There may be members that prefer to isolate and distance themselves from their fellow workers, and you will only find them talking to them when they need help about finishing work or task that requires them to get someone else’s assistance. This could also be a sign that there is a lack of trust in their leader or the team.

There are a lot of team building activities that your team can try and experience to cultivate and reinforce bonding between members. Try any of these activities in your next team gathering. Break those barriers and get the team to interact and bond together. What’s great about having the team try any of these actions is that they get a brand-new experience and memories with each other on it.

1. Board Games

Everybody knows a board game or two, so a good way to break the ice and initiate bonding with the team is to play board games. It could be any as long as everyone can have a chance to engage in a conversation with his or her fellow team members. You can have the members of the team choose their game. They can either go for monopoly, scrabble, chess or even ladders. Each member will get a chance to interact with each other through the game and at the same to have fun on the activity. It’s a good idea to keep these board games in the office so that they can use it during break time. This is also a great way to suppress stress within the office and an outlet for stress that members can take advantage of while working on their tasks.

2. Improvised Theatre

There may be chances that team members are not into physical types of activities. The team can enjoy being together by watching a great film. Best recommendations would be those film that is trending and popular to everyone so that they can come up with a mutual topic to talk about. Gather the team to a recreational room in the office or if such arrangements are not possible, you can bring the team over to any available place. You can use laptops or television even projector machines to have this activity. What’s important is that the team will have a chance to get together and enjoy the movie.

3. Perfume Making

Take the team to a perfume making workshop and have them try the chance of personalizing their preferred perfume scents. Everyone has his or her own taste in perfumes and it’s great to have something common to talk about, this is a great starting ground to get the team together and bond. These perfume workshops will provide all the necessary items needed to create a personalized perfume. Set the date and bring the team over to try this activity. Perfume making explores a more personal side of the team and allows them to talk something that they have a common interest.

4. Take a Vacation with the Team

Your team might find it easier to bond when they are outside the work zone. Brainstorm with the team for their best picks to have a quick getaway. Could be a day on the beach with them or going on nature tripping as long as they can get the chance to bond together. Taking a vacation also helps the team release the stress from work and break those awkward barriers. This can be common for a team that is just starting up. It is important to get a head start by improving their bond and communication so that they will be able to replicate this attitude at work. Also, during vacation trips, the team will have a chance to talk about something unrelated to work and something that they are really passionate about.

5. Indoor Scavenger Hunt

The team doesn’t have to go anywhere just to have a great team building activity. When it’s impossible for everyone on the team to get a time together outside of work, try bringing fun over the office. Setup an indoor scavenger hunt at work. Have the team group themselves into 3 or pair up with each other to make this fun and for them to get a chance to bond together. You may need materials to set this up. Go for items that are related to work and something that represents each member’s personality, that could be pictures, food or something that represents the team. You may include challenges to add fun to this activity like riddles, trivia, and puzzles. What’s important is that they can have the chance to work with each other and come up with a bond. You can shuffle the team on the next scavenger hunt so that they can get a chance to know everyone from the team. The longer the scavenger hunt is the better since this will make everyone invest his or her time in the activity. Make sure to take a picture of everyone to make it memorable.

6. Show and Tell Session

For a team that is just starting up, a show and tell session would be a great way to get everyone the chance to present and introduce their selves. Show and tell is a great way for the team to know each other and find a common interest that they can strike up in a conversation to bond. What’s good about it is that the show and tell activity can be done anywhere. Huddle up the team together and allow them time to prepare for the session. Give each member an equal time to go through their presentation and allow everybody to offer questions. This will make everybody engage with each other while at the same time know more about their peers.

7. Game of Charade

The game of charade is always a crowd favorite. Split the team into two and have them try to outwit each other with this activity. This is a great way to encourage bonding through fun and have them develop communication skills with each other. You will be needing some materials like a stopwatch, some pencils and papers, a container for the word slips, and an extra notepad for monitoring the score. You can choose specific topics for the words or phrases to guess or you can have each of the team write the words and phrases that they want the other team to guess. Create a rule limiting the phrases from two to four words so that they can really guess it. Make sure that the topics for the phrases are on the same genre, no foreign words included and other specifics to make sure that the game will be effective. Whoever guesses the most of these words wins the game.

8. Office Trivia

This activity is pretty simple. Get the team to split into two groups. Come up with a list of trivia like “who’s the name of the guard” or “what’s Mary’s favorite color” or any question related to the team, office, and work. This will sure to engage everybody and be more aware of their surroundings and their co-workers which is another way to create a bond.

9. Art Jamming

Art jamming is an emerging trend across team building activities. Have the team give it a try by hanging out together in an art jamming workshop. They will be able to explore the creative side of each other and communicate in a more personal level unrelated to work and get the chance to actually bond with each other. With art jamming workshops, they will provide the necessary art materials, good music, and food. All there is left to do is bringing the team over. By having this activity, the team will get the chance to bond in a whole new experience with everyone. There are no criteria or rules to follow when creating the art, just spending the time to reflect on yourself and the team allowing it to be expressed through the strokes of the brush or any means of artistic expression.

10. Eating out Together

One of the fail proof and the most common form of team bonding activity is getting everyone to eat out together. Food is always a great catalyst for a good conversation. Everybody can have their own dish while having the chance of striking a great conversation with everybody. Have the team brainstorm for the best restaurants or cafes they know of. This can be an after-work activity so that everyone can join and enjoy.