5 Minute Team Building Activities for Your Workplace
Team building activities give employees something to talk about other than work, breaking down communication barriers and helping teams work more efficiently. See some quick team building activities here.
5 minute team building activities give employees something to talk about other than work, breaking down communication barriers and helping teams work more efficiently (1). Collaboration is a great way to bring people together to accomplish something they may not be able to do on their own, making use of a range of skills, resources and perspectives to achieve better outcomes (3).
Team building activities don’t have to take a long time to be effective. Instead of setting aside a whole day, why not try some of our favourite quick team building activities in your workplace below? They’re simple and easy enough to be done over a coffee break.
Two Truths and a Lie
This game requires each participant to share two true events or facts about themselves and come up with one lie. The other participants then try to guess which one is the lie (2). This short game helps to build familiarity between employees and break the ice. Employees are encouraged to get creative and share surprising details about themselves, encouraging trust - an important part of working in a team.
Marshmallow Challenge
During this activity, participants are divided into teams and compete to build the tallest free-standing structure in 5 minutes. They can only use sticks of dry spaghetti, one metre of tape, one metre of string, and one marshmallow (4). This short team building activity emphasises group communication, leadership dynamics, collaboration, innovation and problem-solving strategies. It also provides a healthy dose of workplace competition while strengthening bonds between team-mates.
Lost on a Desert Island
This activity provides employees a deeper look at what their colleagues value, helping them better understand each other. Participants are told they are lost and stranded on a desert island. They must choose one item to bring with them and explain why they made this choice (2). This activity can be a funny icebreaker, and a way for colleagues to get to know more about what their team finds important, helping them to build connections.
Word Association
For this quick team building activity, participants sit in a circle and someone is chosen randomly to start the game. Going clockwise, they say one word and the person next to them must quickly say a word with a connection to the previous word. This game can be an excellent icebreaker and a way for co-workers to better understand each other, gaining insights into the ways others’ minds work through word association. Understanding the way their colleagues think can help employees when they collaborate in the future.
Year of the Coin
Bring a jar of coins in for the group, and have participants take one each. Each person then shares what they were doing during the year on their coin. For example, “My coin is from 2007, during that year I was doing…” This activity allows employees to open up to their colleagues about their life experiences, fostering trust and communication which are essential when working together on projects and shared goals.
Building a highly effective team that works well together can be challenging as it takes effort and consideration. Short team building activities can help your group feel more connected and able to collaborate more effectively. Additionally, team building activities can make all the difference in the workplace when it comes to job satisfaction, employee engagement and the overall success of an organisation (4). Whether you are working in a small team, or as part of a larger organisation, 5 minute team building activities like the ones we’ve included above can be an effective way to look after your employees and enable them to work more effectively in their teams.
Next, see our guide on other team building activities for workplace collaboration.
Sources:
- https://www.teambonding.com/6-reasons-for-team-building/#:~:text=The%20benefits%20of%20team%20building,connect%20in%20a%20different%20setting
- https://www.betterup.com/blog/team-building-exercises
- https://www.betterup.com/blog/collaboration-at-work/
- https://www.sessionlab.com/blog/team-building-activities/
Related Articles
Related Brand
