Free Team Building Activities

Team building activities are a great opportunity to motivate staff, stimulate "out of the box" thinking  and solve problems by recognizing challenges and building on strengths. The following is a selection of free team building activities that involve outdoor and indoor exercises.

Free Team Building Activities - Outdoors:

A good activity is using sports as a means of building team unity. Bowling or any team sport like softball, builds good will and a sense of togetherness. You want to pick a venue that is easily accessible by everyone involved so that stress is kept at low levels. After making sure everyone is comfortable with bowling, meet together at the alley, and do one game of normal bowling. Then, have them switch to their non-dominant hands and try to bowling that way or playing softball by swinging the bat from the other side. This will cause them to try to learn to work with their weaknesses. 

Another good game is using golf as a team building exercise. You can divide your team into groups, have them all hit their golf balls in unison, then, after deciding which ball is the farthest, best choice, have them keep trying to work together to get the ball into the hole. The same rules of golf apply where the person with the lowest strokes wins, but in this case, the team with the lowest strokes wins.                                         

free team building activities

Free Team Building Activities - Indoors:

Thinking as a group - have each member take out the change from their pocket. After each co-worker has counted their change, have them combine the money and find something to spend it on. This is hypothetical, so there will be nothing actually bought, but it will enforce decision-making and will let you gauge the way the teams work together. Afterwards, evaluate and assess how each team member felt, and how much they personally believed they could influence the outcome.

Rope Square - the purpose of this activity is to explore how a group works as a team on a difficult task and how people assume and fulfill different roles in a group. Get a piece of rope that is tied so that it forms a circle, sufficiently long so that half the total group can hold onto it with both hands. divide the group into two subgroups - the silent observers and the square-formers. Lay the rope in a circle on the floor, in the middle of the room. Ask the square forming group to stand in a circle around the rope. the observers should stand back and watch in silence. Ask the square-forming group to pick up the rope circle with both hands then ask them to close their eyes and walk around in a circle a couple of times so that they become somewhat disoriented. Then ask them to form a perfect square with the rope( without looking). The other group should only observe the dynamics without commenting. Change the roles of the groups and then debrief. Use the discussion to draw points as: Who felt frustrated? Why? Who took the lead? Why? When?

Remember: The intention of these free team building activities, it's not to make the evaluation personal, but to point out the range of qualities of members of a group and how they interact  in completing a difficult task.

Team building Activities should be non-stressful and fun, but managers should plan out activities with the good of the group in mind. Always build in a mechanism where the group can give feedback, and management can give constructive feedback to the group.

                                       FREE GIFT!!

More Free Team Building Activities? Subscribe today to our free newsletter, Management Skills Resource, and gain immediate access to download to our free Big Book of Team Building Exercises!

MORE RELATED ARTICLES:

Team Building Strategies

Team Building Skills

Ice Breaker Games

Team Building Ideas

Team Building in the Workplace



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