How Can I Plan an Exciting Office Activity to Motivate My Young Team?

Hi everyone, I have a young workforce in my office, all between the ages of 25 and 35. It has been some time since we have done something exciting to motivate the employees. The last activity I organized was called "Find a Gift for Yourself." We had a few small but unique gifts hidden in the office premises, along with a few fake wrapped gifts. The gifts belonged to those who found them, and it created excitement and was appreciated by everyone.

I would like to plan a similarly exciting activity to uplift my employees. Could anyone please help me with some suggestions? Thank you!

Regards

Really a nice one, Jyoti. We will also try this out.

Valentine's Day Game

We played this quick game on Valentine's Day - everyone was given a pack of Frooti/juice, and underneath a few packs, we had made some symbols. The game was to go and find your partner. Someone who had "LOCK" as a symbol should find the one who had "KEY" as a symbol on his/her pack.

This game did not take too long but was really enjoyed.

Hey Vinove,

Indeed, a quick and interesting game (find your pair - symbols)! The ones who found their pair were given some prizes, or was it just finding your pair?

Hi Jyoti, they were given gifts on Valentine's Day. We distributed heart-shaped chocolates to all these pairs and organized a movie show for the first pair that found each other.

Similarly, during the last monsoon season, we played another game. We printed several pictures of things related to the monsoon that could complete a scenery representing the season. These pictures included raining clouds, raincoat, umbrella, pits with muddy water, swings in farms, kids playing in the rain, a tea cup, and more.

The pictures were then hidden in various corners/areas of our work premises. Teams were divided, and they had 10 minutes to search the entire office area for these pictures. The first team that could complete the scenery was declared the winner.

Regards,
Bhavna

Balloon Tower

For a large number of people, in teams

Equipment: About 20 uninflated balloons per person, plenty of tape

Optional: Stopwatch or timer, tape measure

This is a great game both for team-building and just for fun. Separate players into, preferably, 3 or more teams of about 3-10 persons each. Each team is given a pile of uninflated balloons and a few rolls of clear tape. Instruct the teams that they are to build the largest free-standing balloon tower possible in a certain amount of time. Give no further restrictions on the game. Start the clock, and everyone begins building the towers. When time is called, look at the towers (measure if necessary) and declare whose tower is tallest. If at a leadership retreat, you can go on in detail about what went well and what didn't and shock (and slightly annoy) the players by suggesting that it would not have been against the rules to combine resources with each other to make a much taller tower. Note on location: Be advised that carpet works quite well, but surfaces like concrete tend to pop the balloons. Experiment ahead of time to make sure the surface is satisfactory.

Blindfolded Mobile/Bag/Shoes & Sandal Shuffle

Required: Blindfolds and Mobiles/Bags

Players: Medium to large groups

Each person puts on a blindfold and will give their Mobile to the instructor. The instructor then keeps them on the table, jumbles them all, and then shouts GO! The first person to find their Mobile by touch will be announced as the winner.

Team-Building Workshop Activities

We conducted a team-building workshop at our college, which comprised six different team-building activities. We divided the students into groups of eight, resulting in six groups. The activities were as follows:

1. **Mega Jigsaw:** Arrange the Mumbai map jigsaw in three minutes.
2. **LEGO:** Construct a model in three minutes using the given LEGO pieces.
3. **Team Drawing:** Each team receives one sheet of paper. Each participant has 20 seconds to draw and then pass the paper to the next team member, who continues the drawing. This continues for three minutes.
4. **Absurd Storyteller:** Team members are given a scenario and must pick chits with pictures of random objects and famous people to create a meaningful story.
5. **Trip Planner:** Participants are given a budget, places to visit, and activities to complete within a week. They must plan the trip with many specifications. If you want, I can email it to you.
6. **Continuous Passing:** Team members pass a ball, allowing it to bounce only once before passing it to the next member. Each member can touch the ball only once at a time.

Due to time constraints, each activity was allotted three minutes. You can allocate 5-10 minutes as per your wish.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
ihmbond.

For any queries, please revert to: [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Hi Jyoti,

Please find herewith games which I have found on CiteHR only.

Yeah, Giridhar... I have that on my list... or to ensure the answers do not leak out, make teams of the employees (like we used to make houses in school times).

Childhood Pictures Activity

Get the childhood pictures of the managers. This would even help in maintaining healthy relations between managers and the executives/associates.

I have some more ideas... will put them here shortly...

Dear All,

Perceived VS. Real SWOT

This is a game for interaction and awareness that we have conducted with our MBA students. It is a simple Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Trait identification game.

Ask the participants to first write down their own SWOT openly and simultaneously ask the other participants to give their opinion without mentioning their name. Collect all the feedback and shuffle it (so that the participant could not guess who may be the person behind each feedback). Pass it to the intended person.

Continue the same for all. It's better to do with average-sized (7-10) teams.

The instructor plays a significant role in adding humor to the training hall. Otherwise, the work may be monotonous. Remember to add your experiences (stories may be interpreted as your experience, tactfully). This will help in overcoming the weaknesses in the participants.

The instructor may keep track of what development is coming because of this game. It works amazingly...

Thanks a lot for this discussion to all the participants. Expecting we will have more sharing...

Regards

Team Building Game: A4 Paper Challenge

Try this one: Only 2 players at a time, 2 A4 papers, and a stopwatch. One player will be the runner and the other will move the A4 paper.

Rules:

1. Every step the runner takes has to be on the A4 paper.
2. If the runner steps out of the A4 paper, the team loses.
3. If the paper tears, the team loses.
4. The runner has to complete a specific distance within a specific time.
5. You can have 6-7 teams competing, and the team that takes the least time to cover the specific distance wins. Once one team finishes, the next starts.

Disadvantage: The player changing the paper may end up with a backache. However, this game brings in high enthusiasm and motivation to complete the task in a short span of time.

Hi All,

Really interesting thread... Recently, we played some very simple games, and the response was really good. Here are a few:

1. Connecting Straws
2. Building Bridge with Cards
3. Making a paper hat

Regards,
Shrithi

Very useful sharing. We can send our employees the message or stories related to mothers and encourage them to surprise their mother with gifts and thanks on Mother's Day.

Neetu

Here are a few more ideas:

1. Celebrate Twin's Day: Ask the employees to choose their partner and try to match as many things as possible. The best twin would be rewarded.

2. Give some pictures to the employees and ask them to make a story out of those pictures. The best story will win.

3. Best Workstation Contest: Let the employees demonstrate their innovation.

4. Celebrate Teddy Bear Day/Mickey Mouse Day or a Soft Toy Day: Ask the employees to bring a teddy, Mickey, or a soft toy. The employee having the cutest toy wins a prize.

5. Celebrate Appreciation Day/Week: Ask employees to appreciate their colleagues, managers, HR, or admin—whosoever they want to. The employee or department having the maximum number of appreciations wins a prize.

6. Mark a day in a week as a Tricky Day: Try to do things in a tricky way. Post a tricky question on the bulletin board. The first correct answer wins a prize.

Hope you will like the ideas. Feedback or comments are welcome. 

Happy working!

Would like to share an activity that we have done multiple times with different teams, which has unfailingly provided a lot of fun and learning for participants. We call it FOOTZA :-). I will try to give as many details as possible so that you can run it the right way. Here goes—this is straight from our internal activity manual. Hope you find it useful.

This activity demands the team to design and build the tallest tower made only of humans. To make things challenging enough, the highest point must be a human foot or feet, plus there is a time limit. Without a doubt, the members must put their heads together to come up with methods that will give them the tallest human tower. Some desired outcomes are:
- Creativity
- Execute according to plan

Equipment

Prepare sufficient equipment according to the number of activities required for each run. The guide is below:
- Props are not absolutely necessary

Select a piece of open area that is free from potential hazards. Knowing its size, prepare enough props and position them strategically to maximize the activity's learning value. Ensure all participants are aware of the potential hazards around them. Generally, the facilitator should take note of common environmental hazards like steep drop-offs, exposed drains, the presence of dangerous insects and animals, ambient temperature, etc. Always stay alert to the general readiness of the participants, like proper attire and having sufficient rest after any physically demanding activities.

Instructions To Participants

- Each team is required to build the tallest human tower
- The highest point of the tower must be a foot or feet
- Purely human-powered, no external aids are allowed
- The team has 10 minutes to design and build
- The official execution will commence after the given 5 minutes
- One attempt is granted for each team to execute their method
- On safety:
- If any lifting of personnel is required, the lifted person must be supported at three points, i.e., head/neck, lumbar, and legs
- The rest of the members must be alert and offer spotting (hands up) when anyone is lifted

Conduct Of Activity

By structuring the Footza into stages, the participants will likely learn at a deeper level. The general readiness of the participants should be noted by the facilitators. Success breeds confidence, and progression will allow it to happen. Physical safety, emotional safety, and skill competency are just some aspects for the facilitator to consider when organizing Footza. Cover the safety pointers before they begin. Highlight to them the proper technique of lifting a person if there is a clear intention to do so. Cover the dos and don’ts of the activity. Elevate their environmental awareness by pointing out certain areas or fixtures in the room that have potential hazards.

Round 1

Get them into pairs and deliver the instructions and necessary demonstration prior to its commencement.

Process Debrief

It is predictable what results can be produced by just two persons. The height they can achieve is conceivable, and they should not be surprised by the outcome. The “Ah-ha” feeling is not expected to be aroused from the first round. As a guide, facilitators could use some of the debriefing questions listed below:
- What are the main considerations for your team (pair)?
- What are the roles created during the process?
- Are you surprised at the outcome? What makes it surprising?

Round 2

With the experiences from round one, challenge the group by asking them if they could break the current highest point. Predictably, the response is asking for more manpower resources, like combining pairs. For this round, two pairs will combine to form a small team. Adhering to the same safety instructions and time format, start them off. As the group size increases, emphasizing safety awareness is paramount. The facilitator should pre-plan the activity and decide the number of rounds to be conducted. The underlying reason for structuring the Footza into stages is to create multiple levels of challenges for participants to handle, thus generating numerous possible learnings from the activity. Multiple rounds also mean progression.

Debriefing Questions Used

Debrief
- How would you describe the activity in short?
- Recall the “Ah-ha” moments. Share with the rest what and why makes it your “Ah-ha” moments.
- What are the insights you have gained from the “Ah-ha” moments?
- What are some helpful behaviors you have observed?
- Can we identify the areas for improvement?
- Identify one insight that might be useful to you.
- To make the insight more relevant, can you point out some application areas that will augment your work performance?
- What would you change to make it better?
- As a team, what is possible to be done to improve the current situation?

Possible Presentations, Storyline, and Metaphors

It is common for teams to choose the tallest person to be at the highest point. A tall person should be reasonably heavier than shorter persons. However, our thinking almost did not register the weight factor; we simply chose to focus on the height due to the requirement of the activity. Some teams will select the shortest person to be at the highest point. The unobvious advantage of a shorter person is easier handling and balancing when elevated, which is not obvious to most teams. Selecting the shortest person can create paradigm shifts for those who harbor no such thoughts at all. Considering a short person as the highest point is simply not conceivable at all. Let's not wait; get the paradigm shifting.

Hope you like it. You can pick up a few more ideas from our website.

Cheers,

Arun Rao
www.focusadventure.in

Hi Jyoti, we went for outdoor training. There, they had different small sheets with names of people from various industries like cinema actors and actresses, politicians, cricketers, swamijis, and whoever is famous; you can write their names. Each person had to select one sheet containing the name of an individual. The task was to group them, mixing people from all departments with at least 3 to 4 persons in a group.

After grouping, the participants had to combine the character on the sheet with everyone within the group. They had to perform an activity based on the character and within the group. It was a fun and creative experience. We did a lot and enjoyed the day so much.

Try this activity in your office too!

Goodbye,
Priya

Hi, I am working on an HR generalist profile in an ayurvedic manufacturing company. We have around 40 doctors working in our company. Kindly assist in suggesting activities we can conduct to motivate them. They are all young, between the ages of 20 and 30.

Thank you.

Hi All, One more game that you may try is called "Tapping the Numbers." Spread the numbers from 1-50 [you may increase or decrease] on the floor in a random manner. Divide the group into team sizes of 3-5. In a given time, they have to tap on all the numbers with their foot in ascending numerical order. The rules are:

1. They cannot speak. Sign language is also not allowed.
2. After tapping, they should remove their foot immediately from the number.
3. In case the sequence goes wrong, for example, after 5 they tap on 7 instead of 6, the team is disqualified.

Each team may be given 1-2 minutes to complete the exercise.

Thanks All.

Hey everyone, ideas are really good and appreciable, but can anyone help me with more games that can be understood by lower-level employees?

Thanks.

Regards,
Ninu

Maybe these gaming ideas can help you more. Based on the budget given by your company, you can choose which one to go for:

Indoor Activities:

1. Name the Colleagues
2. Truth & Lies
3. Observe the Team
4. Join the Pieces
5. Creative Skit

For a full description, please read from the link: http://www.fastcollab.com/blog/6-eff...ee-engagement/

Outdoor Activities:

1. Treasure Hunt
2. Sports Competitions
3. Fitness Sessions
4. Annual Events
5. Social Responsibilities
6. Outbound Training

For a full description, please read from the link: http://www.fastcollab.com/blog/6-bes...nt-activities/

Snowman Slam
Team game: Build a snowman and collapse it by throwing paper balls. The team that collapses the snowman the most times in a minute wins.

Snowball Toss
Team game: Players stand behind a designated line and have one minute to toss paper balls through a wreath and into a cup. The team with the most snowballs in the cup wins.

Wreath Relay
Team game: Participants will pass the wreath from one team member to another using only their heads to transfer the wreath while moving in a line. The team that covers the given distance in the shortest time is the winner.