Truthfully, sometimes a staff meeting can be a daunting task. You have to pry everyone away from their desks for one big family gathering. Maybe try using a team-building game to break up the normal meeting format or use one to end a meeting on a fun note.
Here are three games that promote creative thinking, require teamwork and help you get to know your colleagues better. You can check out the original When I Work blog article by the for the full list of 32 games.
What’s on Your Desk?
This game is meant to help people think quickly and creatively. To play, have everyone bring an item from their desk. You can break people up into teams or have everyone play as individuals (depending on the size of your staff, one of these options might work out better for you).
If you’re playing as a team, pick one of the desk objects as your designated product. You’ll have to create a name, slogan and marketing plan for your product. Set the timer for what you deem as the appropriate amount of planning time (maybe five minutes).
When the time’s up, each team will have two minutes to present their product in a way that persuades everyone to buy it. At the end of the presentations, evaluate which products were the most successful and why.
Scavenger Hunt
Who doesn’t like a good scavenger hunt? Create a list of items that you might find in an office. Here’s a free printable list to get you started. Using the time of year or upcoming holidays can help create a theme for your list. You can also make the hunt more challenging by only giving clues to what the items are.
Divide everyone up into groups and send them out to collect the items on the list. It’s up to you how much time to allow for the hunt. Whoever returns with the most items wins, and if possible, include some simple prizes for each member of the winning team.
Penny for Your Thoughts
This is an interesting get-to-know-you activity that can help you learn new things about your colleagues. This might be a good idea when introducing a group of new hires to the team, or just for fun at a weekly meeting.
Set up a jar or container where everyone can pitch in a spare penny/coin for the game. Make sure there’s enough so each team member gets one. Be sure that the years printed on the coins are within everyone’s lifespan, so there shouldn’t be anything dated older than the youngest employee.
Now, each person will randomly choose a coin out of the container. Go around and everyone will use the year on their coin to share something that happened to them within that year (e.g., high school graduation, birth of a child, visited Europe, etc.). However, please be respectful of people if they prefer to pass on their turn. This is activity is meant to be light-hearted, and nobody should feel forced into sharing something that’s too personal.
BONUS: Common Book
This is a bonus game to try if you have more time since it does require a bit more creativity. This will be an ongoing activity for as long as you’d like. You’ll need to create a blank journal/scrapbook with prompts for people to write, answer a question, draw, or share a quote or funny story. Leave the book where you know people will see it (maybe the break room), along with some writing utensils, tape or stickers for decoration.
This may go without saying but be sure everyone knows there shouldn’t be anything rude, offensive or graphic listed in the book, as it’s meant to promote creativity and positivity within your team. Encourage everyone to participate, and over time you will see an ongoing story created by everyone. If the book successfully fills up, you can start over and begin building a collection.
It’s important to make time for fun because it’s easy to burn out and lose sight of our goals. Implement one of these games, celebrate birthdays or share some donuts in the break room. Little things can cultivate bonding and comradery in the workplace to help your staff work better together.
