Library of teambuilding games & icebreakers

How to host Create emotion signs

Why not give everyone a bit of a heads up about the kind of moods they’ll be dealing with that day? Have a paper and some markers ready at each seat when people come into the room. Ask them to make a sign that would signal their mood to everyone around them, and then hold it up. For example, if someone is a bit out of sorts on a Monday morning, they might write “Tired”. If someone is really excited, they might write something like “Pumped!” If someone is anxious about presenting later, they might draw a nervous-looking face. Then, have each person stand and explain what’s on their sign and why.

Teams will navigate a web-like course blindfolded, guided only by verbal instructions from their teammates. This task sheds light on the importance of clear communication, active listening, and trust. As participants navigate the course, they'll realize that effective communication is the cornerstone of successful collaboration.

Instructions

• Set up a course with obstacles, twists, and turns.
• Divide participants into pairs – one blindfolded and one giving instructions.
• Teams take turns guiding their blindfolded partner through the course using only verbal cues.
• Encourage descriptive language, patience, and adaptability.
• Evaluate based on successful navigation and the quality of communication.

The rolling chair race is a great way to get creative and transform the office into a playful space for the Office Olympics. Using different rooms, furniture, and anything you can find, create an obstacle course that can be completed in an office chair. This means making sure spaces are wide enough for the chair to fit, and ensuring that team members can actually get through so all they have to focus on is winning the race.

Time each person completing the obstacle course and the team that makes it through in the least amount of time takes home the gold.

Explanation:

‍Teams take creative photos that capture the spirit and quirks of the office, like the breakroom plant or that one messy desk. The goal is to create a fun photo journal that showcases the character of the workplace.

For this hybrid setup, in-office workers can snap photos of the office environment—those little things that make the space unique. Meanwhile, remote workers can take photos of their home office setups or capture quirky things around their workspace. All the photos are combined into a digital photo journal that showcases both the in-office and remote workspaces, reflecting everyone’s unique style and creativity. It’s a laid-back way to celebrate both environments and have fun seeing what makes each workspace special.

Scavenger Hunt is an excellent opportunity for your team to escape the office while working on essential soft skills like teamwork, communication and problem-solving.

Great for: Teamwork, communication, problem-solving

Duration: 1–2 hours

You’ll need: A list of challenges for teams to complete.

How to play:

• Establish the boundaries of play, i.e. the confines of a large park.
• Create a list of things for employees to find, hear, smell or do. For example: Find the leaf of a maple tree.
• Teams will work through the list, ticking off challenges as they complete them.
• The first team that completes all the challenges (or the team that completes the most challenges after the time runs out) wins.

For this activity, your employees will get to grips with an online whiteboard and practice agile communication and visualization skills. A lot of agile skills can be honed with the right visualization methods, especially down complex ideas and practices into smaller chunks.

Set up:

Use an online whiteboard accessible to all (WebWhiteBoard and Miro will both do the job). You need to assign one person as the sketcher, give them a topic (like “project workflow”), and allow one minute to draw it silently. Team members guess the drawing, and then share feedback and annotations to enhance clarity and collaboration.

How to play:

Create a set of cards with safety-related images or terms and their corresponding definitions or explanations. Lay the cards face down and have employees take turns flipping two cards to find matches. The player with the most matches wins.

A safety memory match game is a fun and engaging way to reinforce safety concepts and terminology. It improves memory and recall while adding a playful element to learning. A simple game that can be enjoyed by everyone, making it a great addition to training sessions.

How to play Around the horn

About as simple and traditional as it gets, this icebreaker involves a facilitator simply asking everyone to introduce themselves to the group. Keep things concise by asking everyone to share their name, role, region, and maybe one fun fact or otherwise light-hearted bit of information. Some people have people state what they are excited to learn in the session or what is most on their minds, work-wise.

5-minute energizers don’t get much better than this one. Got Your Finger is fun, fast-paced, suitable for groups of all sizes, and sure to lift the mood. Oh, and it requires no prior planning or preparation either.

Here’s how to play:

Ask the team to stand in a circle, close together, and face inward. Next, tell each participant to stick their right hand out with their palms facing the ceiling. They then have to put their left index finger on the open palm of whoever’s standing to their left.

Now the fun can start! When you shout “Go”, each participant must try to close their hand around their partner’s finger before they escape. It’s multi-tasking at its finest – trying to stop the colleague to your left from catching your finger, while simultaneously trying to grab whoever’s on the right.

How to play Dice game

Sales is a numbers game, and the more thoroughly that your reps understand this, the more motivated they'll be to keep making calls and taking meetings. You’ll need teams of 8 players, so either keep your group small or break larger groups into smaller ones. Give each 8-person team one dice and a timer (set to 30 seconds). Have each person take a turn rolling and have one “secretary” in the group write down the results for every roll. In particular, they should write down each time someone gets a “6”, and record how many tries it takes to get that result.

The key is that the players can roll as many times as they want in the 30 second interval. You’ll quickly see people moving a lot faster in order to have more tries at getting the “6” - just the way the overall sales process should work. The faster you move, the more prospects you have, and the more likely you are to get your desired result. It’s a quick visual representation to drive home what makes a truly productive sales person.

‍

How to play Facts only

An effective icebreaker for training sessions helps to energize everyone present while relating to the material. Start by narrowing down a topic that everyone should understand by the end of training. Then go around the room and have everyone introduce themselves, and give one fact that relates to the topic.

For example, if the topic is employee annual reviews, people could give a fact like “our review cycle begins in August”, or “the average for annual reviews ‘meets expectations’”. If you want to add another layer of complexity, you can have the group vote on if the statement is truly a fact (rather than more of an opinion). So if someone says “Employees don’t like annual reviews”, then the group would call out that it’s actually more of a personal statement and not a fact.

How to play Phone Booth

This game is great for small teams of 4-6 people, so if you have larger groups you’ll want to break them up. You also need to create separate “phone booths” for each team, where they won’t be in direct contact with each other. You can do this with various partitions or cardboard pieces. Ideally, the booths should fit everyone, and they won’t hear or be able to chat with the other groups. Set a timer for about 20 minutes, and give the teams a problem to solve. For example, you might want to say “Find some new ways to increase customer satisfaction.”

Each team will spend some time on this problem (remember, while not speaking to other teams). At the end of the designated time, have the teams come together and discuss their strategies. Then hold a discussion for everyone where you talk about what worked well and what didn’t. How did everyone work together? Did the best ideas float to the top? Did a natural leader emerge in discussions? If you want to enhance the team-building aspect of this game, you can have the teams work together to build their phone booth before getting started.

Instructions:

1. Divide participants into teams of 4-6 with puzzles and workspace.
2. Teams solve the puzzle within a specified time, demonstrating leadership skills.
3. Assign the role of ‘team leader’ and allow them to oversee progress.
4. Set a time limit for completion, emphasizing collaboration and effective communication.
5. Debrief and discuss team approaches, leadership qualities, challenges, and strategies.
6. Reflect on individual and collective leadership skills, share insights and lessons.

This game is no ordinary puzzle-solving extravaganza. It challenges teams to collaborate, communicate, and showcase their leadership prowess. By assigning team leaders, setting time limits, and emphasizing effective problem-solving, this game hones their ability to guide and bring out the best in your team. So grab your puzzle pieces and get ready to unlock your team’s inner leadership maestro in a fun and engaging way.

How to play Worst job ever?

Many icebreakers involve simply answering a question, and this is a fun one to get the responses to. As everyone introduces themselves, have them say what their worst job ever was, and why. Laughter is sure to ensue and you might find out some amazing backgrounds of your coworkers.

How to play Pitch tournament

An important part of selling is understanding customer needs: what they want or what drives them to buy something. Help your team to hone these skills by pitching items to you or another panel of judges. Pick a few regular objects, such as things from around the office. Then, pair people up (or work as individuals if your group is already small) and have them take turns pitching the item to your judges. Give everyone a few minutes to come up with a unique presentation and make sure they understand the product. Add a prize for the winner to up the ante a bit.

This game is about open and honest communication; even when it’s not an easy topic, teams that work remotely, or have been together for a long time, can take advantage of this game to avoid stagnant communication and encourage growth.

How to play:

‍Leaders hand out a sheet of paper or sticky note for participants to write down one issue, or “elephants in the room.” Those leading the game then ask participants to address their elephants by applying “control, influence and accept” (C, I, A), asking them to decide which method would best approach the problem.

After everyone writes down their elephant and decides how they would address it, the notes are collected and then separated.

• Elephants that are “accepted” are put into one pile and accepted
• The remaining elephants are then discussed in a moderate group discussion to address how they should be dealt with as a team

Team leaders should encourage players to answer questions about the elephants in the room, such as, “why is this an issue, and how can we solve it as a team.”

Materials you’ll need: Sticky notes.

How many people: Small to large teams (8-25+ people)

Here’s another awesome improv game that hones team collaboration through group interaction and shared contribution. This time, though, it involves storytelling.

Have you ever reminisced about a past event with a close friend or family member? Feels good, right? It sparks nostalgia, puts a smile on your face, and solidifies your bond with whoever you’re talking to in the process.

Remember When takes that idea and puts a new spin on it…

How to play Remember when

Sitting as a team, you go around the group “remembering” an event that you’re actually making up on the spot! Begin the game by introducing a make-believe memory that the team experienced together. For instance, “Remember when we went to see the Super Bowl together?”

Each person then adds another detail, creating a story of your time together as you go. The more creative, random, or outrageous the details, the better! Taking left turns and adding funny nuances to the “memory” helps bring out people’s personalities, sparks giggles, and brings the team closer together.

Want to add a twist to this improv game? Why not make a rule that you have to keep a straight face throughout it? If you smile, laugh, or even chortle to yourself – whether you’re adding the detail or hearing someone else’s – then you’re out!

As you’d expect, adding this competitive element invites employees to say funnier and more outrageous things in a bid to up the ante and make their colleagues giggle. It should also lead to greater engagement and a more enjoyable experience overall.

Bingo blitz turns your workday into a game by creating Bingo cards filled with everyday office tasks or events—like “send an email,” “have a meeting,” or “drink a coffee.” As these things happen, players mark off their Bingo cards. First person to get a full row or column wins!

It’s a simple, fun way to make the office day a little more engaging and adds a bit of light competition to the regular routine.

How to play:

• Create Bingo cards with common office tasks or events.
• Players mark off tasks as they happen during the workday.
• The first person to get a full row or column shouts "Bingo!" and wins!

How to play Sound and movement

Have everyone stand in a circle. One volunteer should go into the middle of the circle and make a sound and a motion. For example, they might stop their feet and say “clomp, clomp”. That particular sound and movement should be repeated by everyone in the circle. Then a new person should enter the circle and do the same thing, until everyone has had a chance to come up with their own sound and motion for people to repeat. It’s usually easiest to go in a clockwise order, but you can also have people volunteer for a turn at random.

This game is all about mental energy. Easy to play and can be done anywhere from a break room, to the office common space, mental gymnastics can be any type of quick trivia game, even including Pictionary if you have a lot of artists on your team.

Perfect for teams, trivia encourages employees to work together, relying on their smarts and pop culture knowledge. You can even make the game workplace specific and test how much your team knows about one another, ultimately bringing them closer together.

If you want to kick off your virtual team building event with some light-hearted fun, try this!

How to play the ‘Ruined paradise’ game

After splitting the group into two teams, each team will be assigned a role. A member of team 1 will start by describing ‘paradise’ in one sentence, using only positive descriptions. Then, a member of team 2 will attempt to ‘ruin paradise’ with a negative sentence.

Play continues like this until everybody has added a sentence. A judge then determines which team has won by deciding whether ‘paradise’ has been ‘ruined’ or not.

How to play Review lottery

If customer service is part of your company culture, reviews are important. One fun way to incentivize more positive reviews and reward your team for great performance is by holding drawings of reviews. Every week, pick the new reviews submitted and print them - both bad and good - and then randomly draw one. If the review is positive, reward your team with a pizza lunch or other small prize. If the review is negative, share the feedback with your team and host a discussion on how to improve.

You might even add some low-stakes repercussions such as having to take out the trash or replace the water filter for non-stellar reviews. Note: this sort of contest tends to work better than simply encouraging employees to ask for reviews. In those cases, the most outgoing and charismatic staff tend to get the most reviews, not necessarily the ones who serve customers best. A random drawing rewards the entire team while still highlighting individuals that might be mentioned. Getting more positive reviews can become an important goal for everyone in the department - more positive reviews equals more chances at fun perks.

How to play DIY Disc Golf

Disc golf is a sport where you sling flying discs (AKA Frisbees) at special targets made of metal chains and buckets. Like golf, the idea is to get your disc in the target in the fewest possible throws.

When it comes to Field Day games for adults, disc golf is awesome. But unless you have an actual disc golf course on-site, you’ll want to do things the “DIY way.” Create your own course by making targets out of big buckets of water (washing baskets also work) and placing them at different points around a playing field. You can then proceed around it, taking turns throwing Frisbees at the targets.

The goal? Get your Frisbee in the bucket with as few throws as possible! Each throw represents a “stroke.” Keep track of how many strokes it takes to hit each target, and then add them up at the end. The lowest score wins.

Here is an exercise that will challenge participants and help them to think on the spot. Start by picking a poetry style, like a sonnet, haiku, or limerick.

How to play:

1. Give everyone vocabulary words to use within the poem.

2. Set a timer for five or ten minutes for the groups or individuals to complete their verses. You can also do this online via meeting software by using breakout rooms to work in private.

3. Have your brilliant poets read the masterpieces aloud.

You might want to come up with some extra fun by having judges rate poems, or coming up with awards for the best poem, worst poem, most creative, etc. If you want to enhance the improv component, have players finish each others’ phrases on the spot.