SLU HRL Student Staff: Team and Training Resources

Team Building

Ice Breakers

Human Knot

Time: 15 - 30 minutes

Number of Participants: 8 - 20 people

Tools Needed: None

Rules: Have everyone stand in a circle facing each other, shoulder to shoulder. Instruct everyone to put their right hand out and grab a random hand of someone across from them. Then, tell them to put their left hand out and grab another random hand from a different person across the circle. Within a set time limit, the group needs to untangle the knot of arms without releasing their hands. If the group is too large, make multiple smaller circles and have the separate groups compete.

Objective: This game for team building relies heavily on good communication and teamwork.

The Perfect Square

Time: 15 - 30 minutes

Number of Participants: 5 - 20 people

Tools Needed: Long piece of rope tied together and a blindfold for each person

Rules: Have your coworkers stand in a circle holding a piece of the rope. Then instruct everyone to put on their blindfold and set the rope on the floor. Have everyone take walk a short distance away from the circle. Next, ask everyone to come back and try to form a square with the rope without removing their blindfolds. Set a time limit to make it more competitive. To make it even more difficult, instruct some team members to stay silent.

Objective: Focuses on strong communication and leadership skills. By instructing some team members to be silent, this game also requires an element of trust across the team, allowing team members to guide each other in the right direction.

The Mine Field

Time: 15 - 30 minutes

Number of Participants: 4 - 10 people (even numbers)

Tools Needed: Various handheld objects, several blindfolds

Rules: Find an open space such as an empty parking lot or a park. Place the objects (cones, balls, bottles, etc.) sporadically across the open space. Have everyone pair up, and make one person on from each pair put on the blindfold. The other person must lead their teammate from one side of the open space to the other without stepping on the objects — using only the verbal instructions. The blindfolded person cannot speak at all. To make it more difficult, create specific routes the blindfolded team members must walk.

Objective: This game focuses on trust, communication, and effective listening. This activity makes a great team building beach game as well.

The Barter Puzzle

Time: 1 - 2 hours

Number of Participants: Four or more small groups

Tools Needed: Different jigsaw puzzles for each group

Rules: Have everyone break off into small, equal-sized groups. Give each group a different jigsaw puzzle with the same difficulty level. The goal is to see which group can complete their jigsaw puzzle the fastest. However! Some pieces will be mixed around in other group's jigsaw puzzles. It's up to the team to come up with a way to get those pieces back — either through negotiating, trading, exchanging team members, etc. Whatever they decide to do, they must decide as a group.

Objective: This activity will rely heavily on problem solving and leadership skills. Some team members might stand out and some might stand back, but it's important to remember that the entire team must come to a consensus before a decision is made.

Blind Drawing

Time: 10 - 15 minutes

Number of Participants: Two or more people

Tools Needed: A picture, pen, and paper

Rules: Divide everyone into groups of two. Have the two individuals sitting back-to-back. Give one person the pen and paper and the other person the picture. The person with the picture describes the picture to their teammate without actually saying what it is. For example, if the image is a worm in an apple, do not say, "Draw an apple with a worm in it." The person with the pen and paper draws what they think the picture depicts, based on the verbal description. Set a time limit for 10 - 15 minutes.

Objective: This is an activity that focuses on interpretation and communication. Once the drawing is finished, it's always interesting to see how the drawer interprets their partner's description.

This is Better Than That

Time: 15 - 20 minutes

Number of Participants: Any

Tools Needed: Four or more objects

Rules: Pick four or more objects that are different (or the same objects that look different). Split all your participants into even teams. Describe a scenario where each team has to solve a problem using only those objects. This can be anything from "You're stranded on a desert island" to "You're saving the world from Godzilla!" Have each team rank the objects based on their usefulness in that specific scenario, along with their reasoning.

Objective: This exercise inspires team creativity in problem solving. The idea is to not make the scenarios too easy so it becomes obvious which objects are most useful.

Link

Time: 15 - 20 minutes

Number of Participants: Any

Tools Needed: None

Rules: One person starts at the front of the room and begins to list personal interests. The group listens until they hear something they also hold an interested in and when they do they shout LINK, and go link at the elbow with the person at the front. Only one person can do this at a time, so even if 5 people share the interest only one person goes up and links. The person who then adds at the front lists their interests until someone else yells link. It goes on until the last person links, and they list their interests until they have something in common with the first person. We often play twice in a row having the last person start. It is helpful to negate certain answers that the whole group may have in common i.e. "I'm a staff member in X building" " I am a SLU student" etc.

Objective: Helps the team find common interests.

Blind Retriever

The goal of Blind Retriever is to guide a blindfolded person to a certain point or a hidden object.

The game is a great way to test how your employees work together under pressure and how well they respond to instructions.

To play, split your team into small groups, blindfolding one person on each team. The first team that can successfully direct their blindfolded colleague to a hidden object wins. (link)

Group Juggle

Ask your team to form a circle.

Then, throw one staff member a ball. From there, have them say their name and then throw the ball to the next person, who says their name, and so on.

To make things interesting (and challenging), keep introducing new balls into the circle.

Circle of Appreciation

Have your team stand in a circle.

Then, tell every person to share one thing that they appreciate about the person standing to their left.

Once the circle is complete, go the other way by telling everyone to share something that they appreciate about the person to their right.

Group Bonding Activities

Battle of the Airbands

Move over karaoke. It’s battle of the airbands time!

First, split your team into groups of four. Have them pick a song and do their best impression of performing it with air instruments and lip-syncing.

You can also get props and costumes to make things even more exciting.

Though it's super fun, frequently carrying out such activities is one way of helping employees be okay with being out of their comfort zone.

Potluck

Let your staff show off their cooking skills—or at least their skills at tracking down delicious food.

Don't have enough kitchen access in your building, see if you can pop over to Spring (1 Kitchen) or Grand (Every other floor kitchens) to use some of their space!

Show & Tell

It was awesome in elementary school.

Now that we’re all adults, and we have cooler things, it should be even more interesting.

Have your staff bring in a prized possession and let them tell a story.

Community Service

No matter where your office is, there are undoubtedly people in your community who are less fortunate.

Pick a deserving cause, rally the troops, and give back to the community whenever time allows for it. Team building, and for a good cause.

You could volunteer at a local kitchen, offer your services at an old folks’ home for a day, or raise funds for a charity that your employees care about.

Karaoke Night

Do your teammates have a knack for singing?

Bring out the microphones and find out.

A karaoke night is a great way to make your team members bond over their favorite songs.

Staff Dinner

Order in or eat out, staff dinner is a great way to bond and boost morale!

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