8 Quick 5 Minute Team Building Activities to Improve Productivity, right team building exercise is used at the right time, 40 Employee Engagement Ideas to Try in 2020, 15 Common Recruiting Mistakes HR Managers Need to Stop Making, 8 social media recruiting strategies that always work. While most of these games and activities will elicit some laughs from your team, they will all also teach valuable lessons about working closely with coworkers and handling a range of customer problems. Materials: A thin stick/dowel rod for each group of six to ten employeesStep 1. Divide the team members into even groups. You have entered an incorrect email address! By dancing around making silly movements, your team will naturally loosen up and share some laughs. Now that you know what team building stands for and how organizing some easy team building games can be a great help in the long run, it’s time to see what’s popular. Additional Team Building Activities Resources. Then the must throw the object to someone new. Me Too! To finish their puzzle, each team will need to find a way to work with the other teams to find and claim their missing pieces. Break employees up into groups and have each one come up with a cool team name -- that's important. It's preferable to select partners that don't know each other too well so that this activity gives them a chance to connect. In this activity, you will have each rep consider a positive customer interaction they had that week. In this game, the team must work together to get all individual employees through the challenge. The best part is that team-building activities don't need to be reserved for expensive, three-day office retreats. As one of many 5 minute team building activities for work, “Penny For Your Thoughts” can reveal commonalities between employees for further team bonding. Create a face with a random face generator. The human knot is a classic team-building activity that gets your team close -- in more ways than one. Now in its second edition, Quick Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers addresses the problems that drag down group productivity and helps teams: It can be easy when a customer is speaking to quickly say, "I understand, but … " but this sets you up for failure. Collaborative tools and flexible workspace design can contribute to a more efficient team dynamic, but there are also simpler solutions for quick team building, such as team building activities. Whether it … Steal this: 11 customizable employer brand templates for social media. That's why managers turn to these easy and effective activities for building camaraderie and cohesion. When working a busy schedule, it can be hard to find time to talk about our personal lives. For example, you as the organizer can participate and bond with your colleagues too. Don't let any balloons touch the ground. The team that keeps the balloons up the longest wins. Materials: String and tapeStep 1. You pass the jar around and each team member has to remove a lolly from the jar. They can be done anywhere,... 2. This game can be played until all players have had a turn guessing. Yes, and … is an improvisational game that exemplifies a positive mentality that professionals should always try to adopt -- especially those working in customer service. When it finally reaches the final person, that person must say aloud what they believe the message to be -- which is typically far off from the original message. 37 Best Virtual Team Building Activities (Ranked) The following is a short list of the best virtual team building activities for remote teams and employees. Here are some of our best team-building activities for customer support teams that don't ever require you to leave the comfort of your four walls. team-building activities - December 11, 2018 […] There’s more information about this … Calisthenics are exercises designed to achieve fitness and health. HubSpot uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. Maximize your time using these 11 quick and easy team building activities for small groups.Team building activities are great ways to create and strengthen bonds between groups. Display the completed Lego structure to all the groups for 30 seconds, then hide it from them.Step 3. Me Too!. The point of this game is to get your team to feel comfortable around each other. If you are looking for more fun ways to … Team building games are a fun and creative way to get your team connecting and working together. After a minute, give one team member from each group the opportunity to view the structure again for ten seconds, then brief the group on what they saw for 25 seconds.Step 5. Place one puzzle on each table. Instruct each person to reach out with their left hand and grab the left hand of another person in the circle who is not directly beside them. These games don’t have to take up a lot of time either; the following 5 minute team building activities can quickly create a closer work community. The coin logo game is a great way to engage introverted employees. This game is played by having your support reps stand in a circle, shoulder-to-shoulder. In this activity, you will split up your reps into partners. Once the teams are set, assign each one a color and give them matching balloons. One person is elected to think of a message that they'd like to pass on, such as "The customer is always right." The teamwork and team dynamics of your workplace, developed through exercises like these, is just one part of your employer brand. In my book about remote team building, I share the 1/6 Rule. Team bonding time sometimes has a bad reputation among employees, but they don’t have to be dull or pointless. Instruct the teams to build the tallest tower possible in the five minute time limit.Step 3. Additionally, they give you the opportunity to strengthen your team's collaboration and communication skills which will naturally improve your work ethic and customer conversations. Quick & Easy Team-Building Activities 1. The upcoming list gives you a quick peek into some of the most popular workplace games and activities of all times. teambuilding.com, tiny campfire and Tea vs Coffee are run by the same folks as Museum Hack. It’s a simple activity that requires only a few sheets of paper but can have a dramatic and immediate effect on your team’s collaboration and productivity. The group must find a way to untangle the knot without ever letting go of someone's hand. Make sure to obtain a helium stick, or otherwise a thin and light rod. Some companies like Zappos have incorporated a culture book. Team members are instructed to go to the wall that reflects their preferred mode of communication for work.Step 3. Use customer support phrases, such as "responding to an email" and "transferring a call." Running around and having some laughs is a great way to keep things casual and fun. Employees share something memorable or important that happened to them in the year on the penny. The point of this game is to show your team that everyone is connected. Provide each team with the appropriate Lego pieces to replicate the Lego structure.Step 4. Time Required: 30 minutes. Most of all, these teambuilding games: Materials: NoneStep 1. Time Required: 15-30 minutes. There are many ways to bond with your customer support team that don't have to involve listing a fun fact. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. Instead, you can get employees up and active by setting up a scavenger hunt within your office or workspace. Afterward, employees can share what they created and what it says about them. A Round Of Drinks. What should result is a "human knot" of intertwined arms and hands. This activity can take some time to put together, but it will yield hours of fun for your team. Divide the team members into even groups.Step 2. The point of this activity is to help your team grow closer and respect that everyone has good days and bad days. By analyzing what factors of a customer support interaction might be considered satisfactory to a customer, your reps can remind themselves to include those factors in every single support session. To save you some setup time, be creative when selecting items for the list. For more information, check out our privacy policy. One person stands up and makes three separate statements. Paper Tower is another fun game that can be used to spark innovation and creativity in your team. It’s a great way to get everyone’s juices flowing. The following 5 minute team building activities help your employees identify and use their best talents as a team. For example, you could ask people to describe their last week/month, current team atmosphere, what they appreciate most about the team, how their day is going, what mood our customers in, etc… It is a quick way to start a discussion about culture, detect possible shifts in the atmosphere, and reasons to appreciate each other. One-by-one, team members list a "rose" -- a positive work experience that happened to them that week -- a "thorn" -- a negative work experience that happened to them that week -- and a "bud" -- a work experience to which they're looking forward next. These quick games are designed to get your small groups or large groups talking, which is especially important for your company’s newest hires. There will be times when customers complain about things that seem ridiculous, but it's important that a rep remains cool and collected. Bring the entire team to a conference room or a large room enough for everyone to move freely, make sure to lock the door. Amongst the team member, choose … hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(53, '4bbcf7f8-3c11-4d5b-b284-c5f6a9d419c9', {}); Originally published Sep 20, 2018 8:00:00 AM, updated November 14 2019, 13 Quick & Easy Team-Building Activities for Customer Support Teams, 18 Customer Service Interview Questions and Answers, The Great Manager's Guide to Time-Off Requests, 14 Tried-and-True Ideas to Improve Team Communication, Writing Letters from Customer Perspectives. Stay up to date with the latest marketing, sales, and service tips and news. If you're looking to push employees out of their comfort zone, the game of possibilities is a great way to inspire creative thinking. Make sure they keep it realistic -- while customers are usually thoughtful in thank you letters, they probably won't go overboard with the compliments. Provide each team with a “helium stick” at chest height, and have participants each hold the stick with their index finger.Step 3. For example, a scenario may include a customer who complains that their product arrived too early. Another great team-building exercise is Knot My Job. Instruct the team to choose one person who is responsible for selecting the order and hole for each team member, one member who is allowed to speak, and one person who is allowed to touch and move one string at a time. Step 2. Then, have them to do the same with their right hands. The point of this game is to teach creative thinking and collaboration. Nobody wants to spend time doing awkward activities with coworkers, especially so if it feels pressured. Communication is at the heart of any team’s productivity—or lack of productivity. A timer is then set and teams set out to find all of the items on the list. This game is played by having players sit in a circle. The point of this activity is to help your customer support reps put themselves in their customers' shoes. I have personally tested them and refined them to function in a professional context, and I will give you step-by-step instructions for each one.. Rose, Thorn, Bud. This teaches employees the value of working together towards a common goal. The only materials your reps will have during this activity to help them find a solution is their voices. […] and arrange, plus most team building take care of everything so the hard part is out of your hands. If you wanna shake things up on a slow Friday, gather your team into a large open space like your office lobby or the parking lot. This will encourage them to listen to each other, collaborate, use trial and error, and work as efficiently as possible to find a quick solution, which are necessary steps when trying to do the same for a customer. If your balloon supply is limited, split employees up into smaller teams and play multiple rounds. Remove five pieces from each and place them on another table.Step 2. Quick team building activities bring groups together to make this possible in a casual setting without a lot of pressure. Step 3. This game is played by inviting two people up at a time to perform. This person will start listing fun facts about themself, such as "I'm from Chicago," or "I like to snowboard." Request a demo. Give each employee an A4 sheet of paper, and give them five minutes to create the tallest free-standing structure possible. The point of this game is to build relationships between teammates. Divide your team into even groups of six to ten employees.Step 2. Materials: One 100-piece jigsaw puzzle for each small groupStep 1. Allow the reps playing the customers to be as ridiculous as they want, but to a reasonable point. While this is important when speaking with customers, this is equally as important when communicating with coworkers so as to never belittle someone's thoughts or ideas. But the thing is – team building doesn’t have to be boring or unpleasant. Effective collaboration not only affects productivity directly but also impacts employee satisfaction. Some may view traditional team building games as disruptive and ineffective—especially when they are used without context or strategy. To successfully complete the challenge, team members will need to work together using their various skills in different roles. Part 2 of this series will focus on 10 more short team building activities, and each will focus on project planning skills and building trust amongst a team of peers. Trust-building activities help the team members become team players and trust one another. Split your group into smaller groups of three team members and provide each team with paper.Step 2. They then whisper that message into the ear of the person to their left. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(53, '3f403048-fd8e-426f-bddd-4fce020ae24b', {}); This is a great, low-energy activity that requires nothing but your team's presence. Sometimes being productive as a team means coming up with creative new ideas. Step 1. Rather than being personally offended by rude comments, your reps can learn to treat them as that customer's "thorn" of the day. Messy on the surface but high on collaboration and engagement, Egg Drop is a classic team building game that unites groups on creative problem solving. Corporately speaking, it is so important to have fun team building activities and games are such a powerful “commercial breaks” for teammates so that breathe out from the usual work routines and concentrate on what is most important to life and commercial success – RELATIONSHIPS!. This is a great, low-energy activity that requires nothing but your team's presence. When someone in the group hears something to which they can relate, they must say, "me too." Whether you’re meeting virtually or at the office, doing activities together can energize your team and brighten their day.. Finding the right exercise can be challenging, since not every team is comfortable with certain types of activities. February 26, 2019. During this game, the host selects a random item. It is then the team's job to act out the phrase and get the player to guess what is written. For many new employees, breaking the ice can be difficult. Sometimes employees just need to let loose and blow off steam. The challenge is for them to find creative ways to share the information needed to complete the task. Divide team members to each table and assign them to complete the provided puzzle.Step 3. If one does touch the ground, your team is out. When everyone has completed their letters, have them read them aloud for the group to hear. Materials: 18-20 pieces of letter-size paper per teamStep 1. Looking for 10 of the best team building activities? Six Word Memoirs is a stellar icebreaker game for team building guaranteed to spark discussions. Online Office Games (Facilitated) Sometimes, working with an event planner to run your activities can be a big win. Whether you’re looking to improve your team’s communication or boost creativity to generate new ideas, you’ll find a five minute team building activity below to fit your needs. (Here's the game in the App Store if you'd prefer to play the original with your team, too.). Pose the question, “What is the least and favorite part of working remotely?” It also teaches them the value of body language. On the other side of the room set up bowls of candy with spoons. See all integrations. 3. You won't need to purchase many materials or even leave the office, but you'll still maximize the fun. Materials: A completed Lego structure, plus enough sets of Lego pieces for each group to recreate the structureStep 1. Only paper can be used to build the tower, but it can be folded or torn to create the structure.Step 4. If you are looking for even more ideas to make your team more efficient through a more positive work environment, you can also check out our list of 40 Employee Engagement Ideas to Try in 2020. The second player continues, and the players keep going back and forth until the time is up (typically one minute or so). There are a lot of reasons to play games in (and out of) the office: getting to know each other, practicing communication skills, exercising problem solving skills. We can use team science to build trust in a team. One popular virtual team building activity of this type is Online Office Games. This is a great activity to get your team thinking. Every customer support rep should be there to support their coworkers, just as much as they're there to support their customers. Label each of four walls with one format of communication: face-to-face, phone, email, and text/chat.Step 2. Team building activities that involve a range of tasks can help team members better understand their individual strengths and how those strengths contribute to the larger group. This is an easy activity you can assign to your team to do on their own time. The simple materials and constraints of this exercise mean employees will need to look at everyday items in new ways to be successful. The message is repeated around and around the circle, and it's okay if it sounds a little muffled as the point is for it to get lost in translation. Each team member draws a penny from the jar.Step 2. Team members are to rearrange themselves in order of their birthdays (month and date), without talking. An easy way to build rapport among individuals in a group setting is through the use of quick team building activities. Materials: Paper, tape to stick the paper to wallsStep 1. Every employee has a unique skill to offer to your business; however, they may not have the chance to showcase it regularly. The team building games below will have your team looking at both problems and opportunities in new ways, within the five minute time limit. This sharing game is often used as an icebreaker and provides a unique way for your team members to learn more about each other. Written by Swetha Amaresan By talking out these scenes, your reps will get practice and know how to respond to a similar situation when it inevitably comes up. Quick Team Building Activities 1. Yet when the right team building exercise is used at the right time, it can help your team learn more about each other and work more effectively together. Set a time and have each team try to put the most candy in their stocking using the spoons. Instructions. Problem-solving activities help the team members learn how to plan, think ad organize as a team. Keeping that interaction in mind, the rep should craft a thank you letter from the perspective of the customer. Whoever is the tallest, wins! At the end of the time limit, measure the towers to determine the winner. While the actual game allows playing with a variety of themes -- from movies to animals -- this version will focus on customer support. The point of this game is to teach your team the importance of clear communication. 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