The purpose of this area is to provide practical exercises and games for supporting the team spirit in teams,
especially those working remotely. Their communication is mainly limited to
working issues and problems and the opportunity to small talk and connect with
other team members is minimal. We suggest starting this module with an Ice-break and Introduction to the
topic and conclude it with Assessment. In between, you can choose any of the
three Activities presented or the Test in any random order. See Additional
resources for more inspiration and information about the topic.
Ice-break
Source:https://shorturl.at/afhAM
Guess Who?
Purpose
Use this exercise at the beginning of this area. Its purpose is to create a safe environment for open communication among individual team members. This fact is very important for learning. The participants thus gain the courage to speak out loud in front of the audience. Also, during this exercise, the participants will learn more about their colleagues or team members. The result of this exercise is a pleasant, friendly and fun atmosphere.
Number of participants and duration
Ideally, work with 3 to 16 participants. In the case of a larger group, divide it into smaller teams, use different corners of the room or break-out rooms if you are online and always choose a moderator for each team upfront. Make sure your teams are not too small or too big, because the dynamics of the training will suffer.
This exercise takes approximately 15 – 20 minutes, depending on the size of the group. Give participants app. 2-3 minutes for preparation, to come up with the “fun facts” about themselves. Then move on to the actual activity. As for the realisation of the activity, you need to count with app. 1 minute per participant.
Description for the participants
(Tell participants the instructions)
“Write down 1 or 2 unique, interesting, fun and true facts about yourselves that others do not know.”
(Give participants about 2-3 minutes for this and ask them to send you the information via chat for online training or hand them over written on a piece of paper for in-room training. Then mix up the order and read each of the fun facts aloud to the group.)
“Now, I will read aloud fact by fact and your objective is to try to connect each fact to the correct participant. Please keep track of how many you were able to guess correctly.” (This can help you determine who knows the team the best.)
(If your virtual platform has a polling feature /see Online tools for coaches – link to online tools for coaches/, you can use it to make the exercise more engaging – e.g. give 5 names as options to choose from for each fun fact.)
Recommended training methods
Coach can use the following questions:
• Who was able to guess the most fun facts? What was your strategy?
• What was the most surprising fact for you?
• How has your knowledge of the team changed after this exercise?
• How difficult was it for you to come up with the facts?
• How did this exercise influence your mutual relations?
Learning outcomes
• Getting to know each other better in the team helps overall communication.
• Giving participants the space not to take themselves too seriously helps to openly present one’s opinions.
• Enhancing an atmosphere of trust can create a safe space for learning.
• Creating a friendly atmosphere makes it easier to apply the learning tools.
Source:https://shorturl.at/qrT38
Purpose
The purpose of the introduction to the topic of Practical exercises and games is to clarify the key concepts for the participants and emphasise the importance of trust, psychological safety as well as the never-ending attractiveness of play even in the lives of adults.
Number of participants and duration
You can work with 3 to 16 participants. If the group has more than 6 participants, we recommend dividing it into smaller teams for group discussions.
The introduction can take approximately 30 minutes, depending on the size of the group and chosen training method.
Description for the participants
(Tell participants the following information)
“In this module we will talk about the following key concepts (link to key concepts):
• Team building
• Team trust
• Team communication
• Team problem solving
We will also go over the fundamentals (link to fundamentals) of the topic such as the differences between highly performing and poorly performing teams and the importance of common positive experiences of the team members.”
Recommended training methods
Coach can use the following questions:
• What are the benefits of team building?
• Think of some activities and games, online or in-room, that could help you build your team? Think of your previous experience with team building.
• How can you strengthen the trust in your team?
• Think about the members of your team, what are their strengths when it comes to problem solving?
• Coach can divide the participants into 4 groups and let them work on the definitions of the concepts. Then ask them to share with others, add information if necessary.
• Coach can divide participants into 2 groups and ask one group to come up with the characteristics of highly performing teams, according to their experience. At the same time ask the second group to come up with characteristics of a poorly performing teams. Talk about their findings.
Coach can divide the participants into 2 to 3 groups and ask them to prepare presentations about what they have learned or about each of the concepts. Then let them present, give feedback.
Learning outcomes
• Understanding the importance of trust and psychological safety in highly performing teams.
• Understanding the key concepts: Team building, team trust, team communication, team problem solving.
• Being aware that the good team spirit is not everlasting, it constantly needs to be worked on.
• Getting participants to think more about how to keep making new positive experiences together, as a team.
Activity 1
Last picture/ Favourite song
Source:https://shorturl.at/afhAM
Purpose
These are two simple activities that can help the teams jumpstart their mutual communication, energise the team members and get to know each other better. Overall, their purpose is to lighten up the atmosphere in the team and strengthen trust among the team members.
It is important for each team member to be open and sincere and share with others, in order to understand each other better. It is necessary to be mindful, be present and listen actively.
You do not need any other equipment for this activity, just the mobile phones of each of the participants and the atmosphere of respect and mutual trust.
There are two alternatives for this activity: Last picture and Favourite song
Both of them can be used online as well as in-room activity.
Number of participants and duration
You can work with 3 to 16 participants. If the size of the group is more than 16 participants, we recommend dividing the group into smaller teams.
Start by giving instructions to the whole group and then you divide it into smaller teams, each taking a different corner of the room or different break-out room if you are working online. Always agree on one moderator in each of the smaller teams.
Both of these activities can take approximately 20 – 45 minutes, depending on the size of the group and chosen training method. You need to count with app. 3 minutes per participant.
Description for the participants
Last picture
(Tell participants the instructions)
“Please, take out your mobile phones and find the last picture you took. Show it to the rest of the group and tell them a story behind it.
The rest of the team, try to create an accepting and supportive atmosphere, an atmosphere of trust. Do not interrupt the speaker, just listen actively and patiently. Afterwards you can ask questions about anything in the story or share your similar experience.
You will be taking turns.”
Favourite song
(Tell participants the instructions)
“Please, take out your mobile phones and find your favourite song on Spotify or YouTube. Play a sample of the song, for about 1 minute, to the rest of the group and tell them the story behind it, e.g. how is the song connected to you, whether you like the music or the words.
As for the rest of the team, try to create an accepting and supportive atmosphere, an atmosphere of trust. Do not interrupt the song, just listen. Afterwards you can ask questions about the song or the story or share your similar experience.
You will be taking turns.”
Recommended training methods
Last picture
Coach can use the following questions:
• How did you feel when sharing a personal photo?
• How did the atmosphere in the team change after this game?
• What surprised you or what was it that you did not know about your colleagues?
• How is the information you found out about other team members useful for your team communication and team relations?
Favourite song sharing
Coach can use the following questions:
• Why did you choose this song?
• How is the song connected to you?
• When do you listen to this song? On which occasions?
• How did the atmosphere in the team change after this game?
• How is the information you found out about other team members useful for your team communication and team relations?
Learning outcomes
• Increasing the feeling of trust and psychological safety within the team.
• Practising active listening.
• Showing interest and respect to other team members and thus expressing that we care about them.
• Raising awareness about the importance of talking regularly also about non work-related stuff so we can get to know each other better.
Acitvity 2
Source:https://shorturl.at/BORV7
Telephone
Purpose
The purpose of this activity is to understand the principles of communication and information sharing in a team. Participants can experience how the information can be skewed in the process and how our own perceptions differ. It is a fun activity with a strong learning momentum.
There are two alternatives of this activity: one that can be played online and one that can be executed in-room.
You do not need any equipment for this activity, if you are executing it in-room. As for the online version, you will need to use the website: https://garticphone.com/en.
And, of course, you need to emphasise the importance of respect and mutual trust among the team members during this activity.
Number of participants and duration
For online version, you can work with 3 to 16 participants.
If the size of the group playing the game is larger than this, then the game may take too long. If you have a larger group, we recommend dividing it into smaller teams.
You should give instructions to the whole group and then you divide it into smaller teams, each going into a different break-out room. Always agree on one moderator in each of the smaller teams, who will also be creating the game for the rest of the team.
The game takes approximately 30 minutes, when you have up to 16 participants, plus you need to add some extra time, app. 5 minutes, for the instructions and organisational issues.
For in-room version, you can work with 4 to 16 participants.
The size of the group playing the game is larger, then the game may take too long. If you have a larger group, we recommend dividing it into smaller teams, each operating in a different corner of the room.
You give instructions to the whole group and then you divide it into smaller teams, each going into a different break-out room. Always agree on the person starting the game in each of the smaller teams, who will also prepare the first pantomime.
The game takes approximately 10 minutes per round, depending on the size of the group, plus you need to add some extra time, app. 5 minutes, for the instructions and organisational issues. You can go for more rounds, depending on the time you want to invest in this activity.
Description for the participants
Online
(Tell participants the instructions)
“One of you must click on the following link (It can be the coach, if only one group of participants is playing, however, if there are more groups, the coach has to choose one volunteer for this task).
Then, you need to create a game for the rest of the team and invite them to play along. In the game, you keep taking turns in either writing the sentence you are provided with, drawing the sentence or reconstructing the sentence from a drawing. You can all see how the communication of the sentences work or do not work.”
In-room
(Tell participants the instructions)
“All the team members stand in a row, facing each other’s backs. The last person in the row must come up with a pantomime, a series of movements of legs, arms and head for about 10 seconds. Then, he/she needs to tap the person standing in front of him/her, who turns back, and show him/her the pantomime. After that, the new person must tap the person in front of him/her and show the remembered pantomime, and so on, up to the last person in the row.“
Recommended training methods
Coach can use the following questions:
• What did you realise during this activity?
• What did you find out about yourself?
• What caused the distortion of information?
• What affects your interpretation of information?
• Where do you see the parallel of this activity to your working environment?
Learning outcomes
• Coming into contact with principles of communication and information sharing in a team.
• Increasing the need for feedback and asking questions in order to clarify received and/or transmitted information.
• Experiencing how the information can be skewed in the communication process.
• Raising awareness about how our own perceptions differ.
Experiencing fun and thus creating a positive mutual experience.
Activity 3
Source:https://shorturl.at/cfY18
Moon Survival
Purpose
This activity can positively influence team problem solving skills. It has a positive impact on team creativity, communication as well as group decision making. It can be also used as an energizer.
It can be used as an online or in-room activity.
It has two parts. The first part is individual, each team member has to prepare their answers individually and then the team part where the team has to reach a common conclusion through discussion and argumentation, not through voting or statistical calculations.
For this activity, you only need the instructions, as for participants, they only need pen and paper.
Number of participants and duration
You can work with 3 to 16 participants. However, if the size of the group is more than 6 participants we recommend dividing the group into smaller teams. In groups larger than 6 participants there is the risk that more shy or introverted participants will not contribute to the discussions.
Give instructions to the whole group and then divide it into smaller teams, each taking a different corner of the room or different break-out room if you are working online. Always agree on one moderator in each of the smaller teams.
This activity can take approximately 30 – 45 minutes, depending on the size of the group.
Description for the participants
(Read the following scenario to the participants or ask them to read it on their own)
“You are part of the spaceship crew heading for the moon. Your original mission was to land near your mother ship on the moon’s surface and join the team there, but you experience severe mechanical problems which forced you to land about two hundred kilometres from the mother ship. Your ship and many of your supplies were damaged in the landing, so it’s up to you and your team to decide what to bring with you as you attempt to make the journey on foot.”
(As for the online version, ask participants to look at the list of items from the ship that are at their disposal. For in-room version show them a slide with the items, or print out a document with the items.
The items from the ship can be found here: (link to the Guide on team management – Activity Moon Survival).
After reading the scenario and the list of items, ask participants to order the items from the least to the most important for survival. Give them time for individual ranking (about 10 minutes).
After the 10 minutes, divide them into groups and ask them to agree on a team ranking now. Emphasise that the team has to reach a common conclusion through discussion and argumentation, not through voting or statistical calculations.
Agree on a time limit for group decision (about 30 minutes). After the team makes a group decision, read the reasoning from the NASA experts to the group. (link to the Guide on team management – Activity Moon Survival)
Ask participants to compare their individual scoring with group scoring and with NASA scoring to see how close they were able to come up to the correct solution as individuals and as teams.)
Recommended training methods
Coach can use the following questions:
• How did your individual choices differ from your group choices?
• How were you able to persuade your team members about your opinions?
• How would you evaluate your team communication?
• How effective was your group decision-making process?
• What are the main take-aways from this activity for your team problem solving at work?
Learning outcomes
• Practising creativity and imagination.
• Practising communication skills and argumentation.
• Showing interest and respect to other team members by listening to their arguments.
• Showing the benefits of team problem solving vs. individual problem solving, where you can dip into knowledge and different viewpoints of group members.
• Raising awareness about the importance of talking regularly also about non-work related stuff so we can get to know each other better.
Blob Tree Test
Source:https://shorturl.at/cet46
Purpose
This activity helps strengthen trust among the team members by opening the communication about emotions and emotional states team members may experience.
This activity is important because it helps to build a team where everyone feels safe and is able to share deeply hidden emotions.
It is important to create an atmosphere of trust, so each team member can be open and sincere and share with others. This test can make participants understand each other better.
It is necessary to be mindful, be present and listen actively.
Number of participants and duration
You can work with 4 to 16 participants. If the size of the group is more than 10 participants, we recommend dividing the group into smaller teams.
You give instructions to the whole group and then you divide it into smaller teams, each taking a different corner of the room or different break-out room if you are working online. Always agree on one moderator in each of the smaller teams.
This activity takes about 3 minutes per participant, plus you need to add some extra time, cca 5 minutes, for the instructions and time for choosing the „blob“.
Description for the participants
(Tell participants the instructions)
“The Blob Tree Test was inspired by the theory of Pip Wilson, British behavioural psychologist. It is a picture of a tree with many illustrated figures representing different moods, actions and positions.”
(Show them the slide with the Blob Tree Test or on the e-learning platform (link to the Guide on team management – Test Blob Tree Test). The test is also available on this link: https://themindsjournal.com/choose-a-blob-figure/)
“Your individual task is to take a good look at the tree and its figures. Then carefully choose two figures:
• One figure whose mood/activity resembles you the most
• Second figure you would like to resemble, be like in the future”
(Give participants about 3-5 minutes to take a good look at the figures and choose the two.
After everybody has chosen two figures you can tell them that their team task now is to share their choices with the rest of the team.)
“All team members take turns, each team member will share which two figures they chose, also stating why they chose those figures. It is essential for the rest of the team to create an atmosphere of absolute trust by listening actively to every team member.”
(After participants state the figures they chose, you can read aloud the interpretations for those figures available on the e-learning platform (link to the Guide on team management – Test Blob Tree Test) or on this link: https://themindsjournal.com/choose-a-blob-figure/). You can lead the discussion towards how accurate the interpretations are.)
Recommended training methods
Coach can use the following questions:
• What did you learn about yourself with this test?
• What did you learn about others?
• What was it useful for?
• How did the atmosphere in your team change after sharing your emotions?
Learning outcomes
• Increasing the feeling of trust and psychological safety within the team.
• Practising active listening.
• Showing interest and respect to other team members and thus expressing that we care about them.
Raising awareness about the importance of talking regularly about our emotions and how we feel.
Source:https://shorturl.at/sHI05
Purpose
The purpose of this exercise is to monitor how were the participants able to grasp the importance of the topic Practical exercises and games
Number of participants and duration
You can work with 1 to 16 participants.
This exercise can take approximately 10 minutes, depending on the size of the group and of the type of training methods used.
If the coach has to give some explanations, or feedback during this activity, it will take longer.
Description for the participants
(Tell participants the instructions)
“You will be divided into smaller groups (up to 4 participants) and you will discuss the answers to the upcoming questions. Try to come up with the correct answers. If your answers differ, try to exchange arguments to come to a correct answer.”
Recommended training methods
You can implement this activity with the whole group at once with the help of a presentation, or you can formulate the questions in one of the apps like Sli.do or Kahoot (link to Online tools for coaches). Or you can print out the questions on paper like a document and participants can fill them out.
Learning outcomes
• Consolidating the acquired knowledge and skills in the area of Practical exercises and games.
• Helping participants realise that having fun together, as a team is possible even necessary to keep good team spirit.
Finding feedback for what was more and what was perhaps less clear for the participants.
Pantomime telephone
The blob tree test
https://themindsjournal.com/choose-a-blob-figure/
Appreciation poncho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwBP2FQv5Pk
22 Team-building Activities Your Co-workers Won’t hate
https://www.themuse.com/advice/team-building-activities-games-for-work-office
8 Icebreakers for meetings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZMg5JyL0fc
Virtual teambuilding activities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj2EckhLg20
In-room and online activity – rock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfmI14IcI7w
Reverse charades, in-room and on-line
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmzCwGIN72k
Build a tower, build a team
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0_yKBitO8M
Energizers
