One of the most common reasons why those who lead teams give for not implementing any team building ideas is that they do not have enough time. This is truly unfortunate and a missed opportunity to create teams that are bonded and will go the extra mile for their teammates, regardless of the scenario.
The question must be that if you are a team leader who does not believe they have the time for team building, how much of an advantage is that giving to your competitors whose team leaders, managers, and coaches have managed to found the time for building their teams?
The answer to that is a huge advantage, but it need not be that way. The fact is that even for those of you who genuinely have few opportunities to build your teams, particularly with regards to time, there are several team building ideas you can still employ. At most these require no more than 30 minutes, and in some cases can be done in less than 10. Do you think you can spare just 10 minutes to make your team a better one?
We hope so, and so here are some quick team building ideas from www.teamworksdevelopment.com.au that do not require a lot of time…
Better Or Worse
Time: 20 minutes
Split the group into teams of four or five people and then show everyone four very different objects. One example would be a drumstick, a frying pan, a baseball cap, and a cuddly toy. Now you give them a scenario and ask the teams to rank each of the objects in the order that they would be the most useful and why.
The scenarios can be as silly and weird as you like so ‘You are saving the world from an alien invasion’, and ‘You are alone in a train carriage with an escaped gorilla’ are perfect as they require high levels of creativity to resolve.
Perfect Square
Time: 30 minutes
A physical team building activity that requires a blindfold for each person, and a long piece of rope. The team stands in a circle and holds the rope. They then drop the rope in order to put on their blindfolds and then walk backwards for a few steps. The task is for the group to pick up the rope and form the shape of a square. This requires great teamwork and communication skills and can also show who has leadership skills.
Paper Towers
Time: 10 minutes
That is towers, not towels. This is best in small groups where each person is given a single sheet of paper and collectively then are given no more than 10 minutes to create or build the tallest tower they possibly can. It must be free-standing so it cannot be supported by anything else. This task requires planning, teamwork, and some creativity.
Three Balloons
Time: 20 minutes
You want to have lots of balloons in different colours, and ideally 10 balloons of one specific colour. Split the group into teams of at least three and working as team, they start with four balloons, try to keep them in the air. Add an additional balloon, at 15-second intervals until they have at least 10. The team’s score is when the time when one of their balloons hits the floor.
For even more fun, have two or more teams playing this within the same area at the same time. You can make this ultra-competitive by offering prizes for the winning team.