Effective Team Building Activities

Team building activities must be discussed with the team and planned carefully.  A clear time table, budget and goal have to be established.  A process and roles and responsibilities need be defined and followed.  The objective is not to create a team but to help build rapport amongst team members.  Effective team building activities are:

Not so easy ones:

1. Family Day Event
2. Half Marathon, Walk a Mile
3. Tree planting, Earth Day, clean beach/street - pick up trash day, etc.
4. Outing, sport games, golf, pizza party, workshops outside work
5. Visit a senior homes, schools, community service places
6. Etc. etc…

Relative easy ones:

7. Weekly Safety presentation by a team member – at or outside workplace safety topics, alternate among members
8. Monthly non-work related topic of member’s choice presented by a team member - hobby, passion (race cars or a specific charity), technical knowledge you are good at but others may not know you known, even projects from college, etc. etc.
9. Educational sessions about stocks, mutual funds, retirement plans and financial dos and don’ts - many people would be interested in these topics
10. Just talk about you and your family for 10-30 min – especially for a new team, it’s an ice breaker.  Ask them to prepare a 5 page presentation and be humorous – you will be surprised.
11. Get together lunch/dinner every now and then
12. Create a pseudo problem, encourage them to solve it.  Problem solving are very simple practical activities which give a chance for informal exposure to each other.

Involve the team in team building, engage all team members during the activities, let them be part of the fun and solution.  Do not force them to participate.

BOOKS

1. The Big Book of Virtual Teambuilding Games: Quick, Effective Activities to Build Communication, Trust and Collaboration from Anywhere. Mary Scannell. McGraw-Hill Education, 2011.
2. The Big Book of Team-Motivating Games: Spirit-Building, Problem-Solving and Communication Games for Every Group. Mary Scannell. McGraw-Hill Education, 2009.
3. The Big Book of Icebreakers: Quick, Fun Activities for Energizing Meetings and Workshops. Edie West. McGraw-Hill Education, 1999.
4. The Big Book of Team Building Games: Trust-Building Activities, Team Spirit Exercises, and Other Fun Things to Do. John Newstrom, Edward Scannell. McGraw-Hill Education, 1997.

Reference:  http://www.projectmanagement.com/

以上是我看了他们讨论的总结：-）