Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

How to play Mini Myers-Briggs session

If you work in a progressive environment, then chances are you’ve completed some form of personality assessment before, maybe even the Myers-Briggs version. In this popular personality test, you are assigned a four-letter personality type that gives insight into your behavior in relationships, at work, etc. Have everyone complete the test in advance, and then start your meeting by having everyone discuss the results.

How to play:

Choose thought-provoking topics or issues and divide the team into two groups: one supporting the topic and the other opposing it. Engage in a lively 1 minute debate where participants use their creativity and persuasive skills to make their case. Choose a judge to pick a winner.

Example: a poor person stealing food to feed their family.

Materials needed: None

Benefits:

• Critical thinking champions: Sharpen your team's critical thinking skills as they analyze and present arguments with a creative twist. This game is your intellectual battleground, where creativity becomes your secret weapon.
• Confidence boosters: Embrace the art of persuasive communication and witness your employees' confidence soar as they present their arguments with flair and creativity. It's like a TED Talk where your team members become eloquent speakers with powerful messages.

Anyone with experience in the active world may have encountered this exercise before. A classic improv game that revolves around cooperation, communication, and creative thinking, it’s fast-paced, funny, and full of opportunities to become a tighter-knit team!

How to play “Yes, and?”

You can play “Yes, and” in pairs, but we prefer it in a larger group. Standing in a circle, the basic idea is to work together to create a silly story, one statement at a time, using the words “yes and” to drive the plot forward. The goal is to make each new statement more exaggerated.

One person starts with a simple statement, then makes clear eye contact with whoever they want to continue the tale. For example:

• “The house is built on rock.”
• “Yes, and the rock is starting to crumble.”
• “Yes, and it’s falling down the hillside.”
• “Yes, and the house is tumbling with it.”
• “Yes, and superman is coming to save us.”
• “Yes, and he looks like he got dressed in a hurry.”

The goal is to cultivate a fun and carefree atmosphere and to keep the story moving as quickly as possible. Rather than pausing to think of the “right thing” to say, each person should relate the first “yes, and” phrase that comes to mind.

It doesn’t have to make sense – the sillier, the better!

This game can be a tad daunting at the start. But that’s almost the point. By talking without thinking, each team member opens themselves up to being vulnerable.

Far from being mocked, though, they’re celebrated. They discover they can be themselves around their colleagues, which is a huge boost to morale and levels of trust within the team.

What you need:

• Nothing more than a positive attitude! However, having a few simple statements up your sleeve to get the ball rolling may help.

As we’ve seen already, miming actions is a common component of improv games. However, so too is imitating objects!

How to play Human objects

In Human objects, your employees have to use their bodies to impersonate a given item. You can be sitting in a circle or walking around the room – it doesn’t matter. The main thing is that there’s enough space for everyone.

From there, all you have to do is call out an object.

It can be anything you want! From vases and coffee cups to pairs of scissors and laptop computers, the items can be big, small, and everything in-between. Whatever you yell out, though, each participant has to put their arms, legs, and torsos into positions that resemble it.

As you can imagine, this game’s great fun. But it’s effective too. It forces your employees to think outside the box and displays how differently people can think about the same problem. The team will see how their colleagues approach the task, learning more about each other and forming closer bonds in the process.

That’s an invaluable lesson when it comes to collaboration. After all, it shows that not everyone thinks in the same way! If you’re going to solve problems and work well together, you have to play to people’s individual strengths, respect their perspectives, and empathize at every step.

Nothing brings people together like food. Feast & connect is all about gathering your team for a casual lunch, giving everyone a chance to chat, relax, and build relationships outside the usual work talk. No pressure, just good food and conversation.

This laid-back team-building activity is perfect for boosting morale, sparking new connections, and strengthening bonds over shared meals. It’s a nice break from the hustle and a great way to show appreciation for your team. Plus, who doesn’t love a good lunch?

How to play:

• Organize a team lunch with a relaxed, casual setting.
• Encourage conversation and bonding over food.
• Use the opportunity to strengthen team connections and morale.

How to play Panty Hose Game

Have you ever heard of “Minute to Win It” games? They’re exactly what they sound like! 60-second games that are over before you know it.

You can play for longer if you wish, but the idea is to keep things fast-paced and free-flowing. They’re ideal games for warming up, setting the tone for the day, or for whenever you want a quick-fire activity to fill a gap (or be part of another one – such as in a relay race or obstacle course).

Anyway, this Panty Hose Game is one example of a minute-to-win-it game that always goes down well. Here’s how to play:

• Lay rows of 5+ water bottles on the ground, with one row for each person/team
• Give everyone playing a small ball (e.g., a baseball) and some pantyhose
• Tell them to shove the ball into the foot of one pantyhose leg
• Tell them to pull the top of the pantyhose over their head, so the ball dangles at the other end like a strange antenna
• Their task is to move up the line of bottles, swinging the ball (no hands allowed!) to knocking each one over as quickly as possible
• The first person/team to knock their bottles over wins

How to play Stop and walk

This is a high-energy game that's great for groups. Use it to warm up large groups in a fun way or break up long periods of sitting such as during training. All the participants should “walk” and “stop” on the commands of a leader. The leader should repeat the two commands several times so everyone gets used to it - and then switch commands to “trick” people. For example, saying “stop” two times in a row. You can also add in other commands like “jump” or “turn around”. There’s no real winner, it’s just about everyone being silly and moving their bodies.

A simple and low-stress icebreaker game that gets the ball rolling can be done on large and small company retreats.

How to play: Break your team into small groups with no more than five people. Give them the prompt, a simple question, like, “how would you describe your work day?” Each team has five or ten minutes to develop a one-word answer that sums up their response. After the exercise is finished, each team goes around and reads their answer out loud, facilitating discussion amongst the group.

You can play this game as many times with as many questions as you can come up with!

Materials you’ll need: Just your team!

How many people: Small to mid-sized groups

Team-building doesn’t only need to be about silly games. Sometimes, you strengthen your team while contributing something valuable to your local community.

Great for: Company culture, company perception, job satisfaction

Duration: 2–3 hours

You’ll need: N/A

How to start:

• Consult your team about the type of community service they’d like to get involved with. It could be anything from a beach cleanup to helping out at an animal shelter.
• Once you’ve settled on an activity, reach out to your chosen organisation and inform them you’d like to offer a helping hand.
• Don’t forget to document the event by taking photos or making a video—these images will make additions to your employee breakroom!

An obstacle course is another crowd-pleaser that’s as versatile as relay races! It’s also a fantastic physical team-building activity that gets everyone moving, laughing, and working together.

From crawling under chairs and jumping over cones to walking along zigzagging stretches of rope and squeezing through hula hoops, you can create an endless list of obstacles for participants to navigate, all while racing to the finish. The result is a fun-filled and exciting event with a nice dose of friendly competition thrown in.

Here are a few additional DIY obstacles course ideas to consider:

• Hang inflated balloons at different levels under a table – people must crawl underneath without touching them
• Make a laser-style course out of pieces of string for people to climb through
• Set up cardboard boxes with holes to throw beanbags into
• Create makeshift tunnels to crawl through by hanging old bed sheets and blankets over rows of chairs
• Lay hula hoops along the ground for people to hop between
• Lay rope on the ground in different patterns to walk along and test people’s balance
• Create “stepping stones” using circles of rope and play “the floor is lava” – if they miss a stone and touch the ground outside, they go back to the start

How to play Linkword

Here’s a letter game that has some great online worksheets to get teams started. This fast-paced brain teaser has teams thinking laterally. You might want to create teams for this one, as some examples can really get people scratching their heads.

Your teams will look at three words and have to decide on one word that connects all three. Common words are the aim of the game. Let’s say for example you show them the words “POINT,” “SAFETY,” and “CUSHION”. All three of these words can be connected with the word “PIN,” forming “pinpoint,” “safety pin,” and “pin cushion.” Try this one out with your teams.

How to play Custom Word Search

Word searches are common fun for people of all ages, but they can really help with word-play. A word search is perfect if you want to use a handout with a group. You can also play via teleconference using a whiteboard feature. Research some options online to come up with a personalized word search with words that apply to your business or industry.

If you're a younger team with an appetite for video games, this might be worth a try!

Among Us is an online game where an ‘imposter’ attempts to eliminate members of the ‘crew’ without being discovered.

How to play Among us

The game can only be played by a maximum of ten players, so you might want to consider putting together a league if you have a larger workforce.

Charades is a classic family party game everyone knows and loves. It also lends itself perfectly to online team-building events, although beware, the game can become considerably more difficult due to the limited view provided by the camera.

How to play Charades

Playing charades online also means you can eliminate any chance of cheating (all too common in the traditional game) by asking the performer to mute their microphone before starting.

Explanation:

‍Remote workers solve clues sent by in-office colleagues to identify specific office landmarks or objects, using virtual walk-throughs or photos.

In-office workers come up with cryptic clues about various spots or objects in the office (like a quirky poster on the wall or the location of the best coffee machine), and remote workers have to figure out the location using virtual office walk-throughs, photos, or even quick video tours. The remote team submits their guesses, and the in-office team reveals the answers.

It’s a fun, puzzle-solving challenge that makes both in-office and remote workers feel like they’re part of the same environment.

One of the most important skills to be able to iterate and improve work is being able to focus on reflection. A Focus Funnel activity promotes these core values and lets teams work with an agile mindset, asking clinical questions as they go. Here’s the setup:

Set up:

Each team member first needs to clearly write a list of their current tasks and goals.

The focus funnel comes when applying a series of questions to help you narrow down and prioritize their list. Some example funneling questions could be:

a. “Which task delivers the most immediate value?”

b. “Which of these tasks can be delegated?”

c. “What can be simplified and removed?”

As the questions are applied your teams practice agile prioritization and bring high-value tasks to the forefront.

Ah, Pictionary, the timeless guessing game that has brought joy and frustration to households for decades. But have you ever thought about playing it in the office? Trust me, it's not just a game for family game night.

How to play:

1. Split into teams.
2. One player draws a word or phrase from a container.
3. That player must draw the word or phrase, while their team guesses.
4. The team has a limited amount of time to guess correctly.
5. If they guess correctly, they earn points; repeat until all players have had a turn.

Not only does it encourage teamwork and communication skills, but it also allows for a fun and creative break from the typical daily routine. Plus, it's a refreshing change from staring at screens all day.

Discover more team building activities for work to bring energy and collaboration into your workplace.

Picture this: a chat where everyone's honest and open. That's open communication! It's like a recipe for trust and harmony, stopping confusion in its tracks and making the team feel like a united front.

Be transparent and open in your communication. Share your thoughts, ideas and concerns honestly and encourage your colleagues to do the same. Clear communication helps prevent misunderstandings and promotes trust.

Open communication activity - Honest feedback board:

• Create a physical or digital board labeled "Honest Feedback."
• Provide sticky notes, pens and markers nearby.
• Encourage colleagues to anonymously share constructive feedback, ideas, or concerns related to work on the sticky notes and attach them to the board.
• Designate regular intervals (e.g., weekly or monthly) for team members to review and discuss the submissions collectively.
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This team building activity promotes transparency, builds trust and establishes a platform for open communication.

How to play Top ten things

In this quick and easy exercise, you simply go around the (virtual) room and have everyone list the first ten words that come to mind based on a prompt. You can pick really straightforward subjects or get more creative. For example, if the topic is “Top vacation destinations”, have each person list their top ten places they’d like to visit. Or, maybe you ask for top ten names for a new puppy, or the ten worst date night destinations.

Extreme rock, paper, scissors takes the traditional playground game to a new level. This time, Instead of battling it out in pairs, your employees will attempt to overthrow the competition in teams.

Great for: Energization

Duration: 10 minutes

You’ll need: Plastic hula hoops (approx. 15)

How to play:

• Lay the hoops in a line on the ground and leave a gap of 50cm between each one.
• Divide your group into two teams and position them at either end of the line of hoops.
• When you shout “Go!” one player from each team starts hopping through the hoops towards the opposition.
• When they meet in the middle, they play rock, paper, scissors.
• The loser exits the hoop and jogs back to their team. Meanwhile, the winner continues hopping forward towards the opposition and a player from the other team steps in to replace their fallen comrade.
• When the two players meet, they play rock, paper, scissors again.
• Play continues until a player reaches the opposing team’s starting hoop. The first team to land in their opponent's starting hoop wins.

‍How to play:

Ask team members to individually envision and design their ideal workspace. Provide art supplies and encourage them to create visual representations of their dream work environment, including furniture and decoration.

Materials needed: Art supplies (paper, markers, colored pencils, etc.)

Benefits:

• Visualization for inspiration: Let imagination take the lead as your team members sketch out their dream workspaces. This activity transforms ordinary offices into extraordinary spaces, all while inspiring a culture of creative thinking.

• Alignment of values: Take a tour through the team's creative designs and uncover the common threads that weave their visions together. This activity fosters a sense of shared purpose, creating an environment where everyone's design dreams harmonize, resulting in an inspiring and collaborative workspace.

How to play New brand manager (teams)

In this game, you can break a group of 10-20 people into smaller teams. Give each team a product (you can keep it simple by grabbing things from around the room like a pencil sharpener or a soda) and ask them to be brand manager for a day. What is the overall business plan for this product? How about marketing strategy and tactics? How are they selling this product, and to whom?

This is a good activity for teams that need to improve their marketing and sales mindsets. Have each team present the plan for their brand and conduct discussions as a larger team.

How to play Ranking race

Thinking critically - and quickly - is a highly coveted skill in the professional world. This game calls for creating a ranking system, which is a natural way of thinking through information and categorizing it. It’s a really versatile exercise since no materials and very little prep time are required. Start by getting people into groups of no more than 10. Then, set a timer and give each group a list of items to rank, such as the best local restaurants or top movies of the year.

Task each group with coming up with their own ranking system. When the timer goes off, everyone should present their final rankings. They can describe to the group how they came up with their ranking system and why the items are weighted the way that they are. Have teams make notes if they find a certain ranking system particularly helpful - maybe that’s a matrix that more people can use in the workplace going forward.

Imagine your team venturing into the wilderness, not just for a casual hike, but for an exhilarating Outdoor Survival Race. You'll rely on each other's skills to navigate the wilds, decode puzzles, and conquer challenges. This is more than teamwork; it's about trust, communication, and strategizing under pressure. As you tackle Mother Nature's obstacles together, you'll find yourselves delegating tasks, sharing ideas, and building unbreakable bonds.

Instructions

• Create diverse teams for varied perspectives.
• Equip each team with maps and survival tools.
• Progress by solving puzzles at checkpoints.
• Delegate tasks based on strengths and communicate clearly.
• Prioritize safety by sharing essential survival tips before setting off.