50 Activities for Team Building Volume 1

 

Table of Contents/Introduction   


 

Activity 1: Tricky Tales: A Cross-Team Building Approach   

                To learn the difference between competitive and collaborative team behavior

                To learn the techniques of cross-team teamwork


 

Activity 2: Yea Team!   

                To open a team training workshop with an energizing activity

                To help participants who are unfamiliar with each other to get acquainted.


 

Activity 3: Bringing Up The Boss   

                To allow an interact work team to quickly become familiar with a new team leader.

                To allow a new team leader to lay a foundation for team effectiveness.

                To demonstrate the importance of open communication.


 

Activity 4: Robin Hood - An Empowerment Activity   

               To help team members identify those things they can do to help them be more effective.

                To make the group aware of the concept of work team self-direction

                To assist the leader in empowering their team


 

Activity 5:  The Ball Game   

                To reinforce the concept of continuous improvement

                To reinforce problem-solving techniques.

                To close a team building or training session on a positive note.


 

Activity 6: Really...But I Thought!   

                To clarify expectations and conceptions of team members.

                To renegotiate roles within/among a work team.

                To create awareness of the need for personal contracting.


 

Activity 7: Dealing With Problem People On Teams     

                To identify the types of behavior that interfere with effective team meeting.

                To develop specific techniques for dealing with problem people on your team.


 

Activity 8: Resolving Intergroup Conflict   

                To help two teams identify the sources of their conflict.

                To help two teams develop a plan for resolving theri conflict.


 

Activity 9: A Breath Of Fresh Air  

                To air issues and problems between two work teams

                To improve inter-team relations


 

Activity 10: Self-Renewal: An Activity For  A Mature Team   

                To help a mature team engage in self examination

                To provide a mature team with a process for renewal.


 

Activity 11: The Car Case   

                To teach quality and other problem-solving teams how to recognize a real problem

                To teach quality and other problem-solving teams how to write a clear problem statement


 

Activity 12: Why Are We Here?   

                To create an agenda for a team meeting

                To identify a set of commonly perceived issues facing a work team

                To develop team effectiveness skills


 

Activity 13: Skills For Sale  

                To critically review the skills, capabilities and potential of a team

                To develop a strategy for marketing the services of a team

                To explore a team's strengths and weaknesses.


 

Activity 14: TMS A Process For Role Clarification   

                To clarify the roles played in a team

                To clarify expectations help of other members and themselves

                To understand the process of role adjustment


 

Activity 15: Characteristics Of An Effective Work Team: An Assessment Activity  

                To assess the effectiveness of a team

                To plan for the improvement of a team


 

Activity 16: Drawings   

                To assess the current state of collaboration among teams in an organization

                To improve collaboration among teams in an organization


 

Activity 17: Communicating About Conflict  

                To share approaches to dealing with in a team setting.

                To learn alternative approaches to dealing with conflict.


 

Activity 18: Freeze Frame: Dealing With Problem Behaviors In Teams    

                To identify and describe behaviors that interfere with team effectiveness.

                To develop a set of interventions that minimize or eliminate the behaviors


 

Activity 19: My Team And Me   

                To help a team identify those factors that affect the degree of positive identification with the team and its purpose.


 

Activity 20: Mapping Team Success   

                To explore the past accomplishments and activities of a team

                To graph the successes and failures of a team

                To use the charts to plot a team's future.


 

Activity 21: Darts: A Get Acquainted Activity  

                To help workshop participants who are unfamiliar with each other get to know each other at the beginning of the program

                To set a positive, informal and relaxed learning climate.

                To have fun!


 

Activity 22: Project "OP"   

                To explore the dynamics of status, power and information in decision making.

                To explore the impact of inter-team perceptions on team effectiveness.

                To assess contributions to overall team effectiveness


 

Activity 23: The Victory Tour   

                To demonstrate the need for team goals.

                To demonstrate team meeting management skills

                To experience the impact of personal agendas on team effectiveness.


 

Activity 24: Creating A Team Mission   

                To develop a shared view of a team's products of services

                To develop a shared view of a team's customers

                To create a team mission statement

                To train participants in preparing a mission statement.


 

Activity 25: The Product Development Team   

                To experience a team planning process

                To design and implement a team project

                To learn to give and receive team feedback

                To learn factors that help and hinder team decision making


 

Activity 26: Transition Team Building   

                To smooth the transition of leadership in a team.

                To quickly integrate a new team leader.


 

Activity 27: Forming New Teams   

                To quickly form new teams with strangers or people who do not usually work together.

                To learn factors that help and hinder team problem-solving and decision-making

                To get acquainted with other participants at a conference or company meeting.


 

Activity 28: Linking Team Problem Solving With Corporate Strategy   

                To learn a structured team problem-solving process

                To align team problem-solving with current business strategy.

                To solve an actual business problem


 

Activity 29: Team Building Interview Guide  

                To collect data on the strengths and weaknesses of the team

                To collect data to plan a team building intervention

                To explain the team building process to the participants.


 

Activity 30: Visioning A Vision   

                To create a future focus for the team

                To develop the first step in strategic planning process

                To create a vision statement for the team


 

Activity 31: Rx For Team Effectiveness  

                To provide feedback to each team member

                To develop an action plan for self-development for each person

                To close a team building session


 

Activity 32: The Team Of Your Life   

                To share positive experiences as a member of a team

                To develop a shared understanding of team success factors

                To develop a list of team norms.


 

Activity 33:  I Think I Make A Contribution   

                To expand team members' awareness of their contribution to the team

                To experience feedback on personal contribution.


 

Activity 34: Team On Team   

                To develop skills in team process observation

                To develop skills in giving and receiving feedback in interdependent team situations.

                To become more aware of key communication skills required of all successful teams


 

Activity 35: Team Development: A Grid Perspective  

                To diagnose and evaluate the stage of development of an intact work team

                To compare team development with performance independence.

                To compare team members' perceptions of team development at a given time.


 

Activity 36: Selecting A Problem Solution   

                To teach a team of team leaders the factors that should be considered in selecting the best solution to a problem

                To teach a team or team leaders a process for deciding among various alternative solutions to a problem.


 

Activity 37: Selecting A Team Problem   

                To teach a team or team leaders the factors that should be considered in selecting a problem to solve.

                To team a team or team leaders a process for deciding which problem the team should try to solve.


 

Activity 38: Project Rescue   

                To explore the dynamics of problem solving and decision making

                To become aware of team planning and role clarification

                To become aware of cross-functional interdependencies


 

Activity 39: Roadblocks: A Constraint Activity   

                To become aware of the various roadblocks that can constrain team effectiveness.


 

Activity 40: The Quality Case: An Ethical Dilemma   

                To teach an ethical decision-making model for teams

                To explore the factors involved in resolving an ethical dilemma


 

Activity 41: Tuff Jobs   

                To assess the degree to which members of a team can agree on a data set.

                To teach the process of consensus decision-making.


 

Activity 42: Questions We Ask Ourselves   

                To help a team reflect on their purpose, structure, and rewards.


 

Activity 43: Team Conflict Mode  

                To learn the five modes for dealing with conflict

                To identify your team's dominant conflict mode.

                To improve your team's ability to use the collaborative mode.


 

Activity 44: That's Me: A Get Acquainted Activity   

                To help team members interact by sharing values

                To help participants get acquainted quickly

                To introduce the characteristics of team players


 

Activity 45: The Effective Team Member: A Consensus Activity  

                To learn the characteristics of the effective team member

                To learn the techniques of reaching a consensus decision

                To learn how to observe team dynamics


 

Activity 46: Creating A Team Logo   

                To initiate or conclude a discussion of team values and purpose.

                To open or close a team building or training workshop with an energizing activity.


 

Activity 47: I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter   

                To summarize the key learnings from a team building or team training session.

                To close a team building or training session on a positive note

                To provide the basis for on-the-job follow up of a team building or training session


 

Activity 48: Interdependent Images   

                To understand the interdependences between work teams

                To explore the perceptions that interdependent teams have about one  another.


 

Activity 49: SOS: An OD Intervention   

                To assess the degree to which your organization supports teamwork as a business strategy

                To identify the supports required for the success fo teamwork as a business strategy.

                To develop a plan for enhancing the organizational supports for teamwork as a business strategy.


 

Activity 50: Improving Team Meetings  

                To learn the factors involved in a successful team meeting

                To assess the current strengths of your team meetings

                To develop a plan for improving your team meetings


 

About the Authors   

     
© 2004 Human Resource Development Press, Inc.