Office Games and Activities to Build Stronger Employee Engagement

Office games and activities to build stronger employee engagement 

It might sound cheesy, but having fun and playing games with your team is important. Investing in your team’s wellbeing and making sure they get to know each others’ strengths and abilities can deliver great dividends, no matter how big your business is.

First things first: don’t worry!

Don’t worry — we get it. A few of them are pretty cringe-worthy. You might have seen (or even tried) the cliche trust fall exercise, or spent far too long trying to think of a fun fact about yourself to share in a circle. 

While those exercises have some value, smart companies are investing in the right types of team building to help their people get to know each other and find better and more efficient ways to work. 

What to do

Here’s your Planday guide to our seven favourite office games and activities — some that even have chocolate!

Dare Jenga

Here’s a fun team-building activity that’ll also break the ice and help your team stretch beyond their comfort zones. Write a dare on the surface of each Jenga block. Make them fun dares that can be completed in the office setting, such as “do 15 pushups,” or “sing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ out loud.” Once each block has a “dare” written on it, stack them up as in a Jenga game. When a person pulls out a block, they have to perform that dare.

• Type of Equipment needed: Jenga kit, papers, markers
• Participants: Groups of different sizes (min. 5 people)
• Source: The Wrike Blog

Legoman

In this problem-solving activity, you’ll need nothing more than a few sets of Legos™ (a Danish favourite for this Danish company!) The leader creates a small sculpture, hiding it from the group. Small teams of three to six are then given enough of their own materials to replicate the original — but only one person from each team is allowed to view the structure, who must then go back and instruct his or her team accordingly. This game helps teach players how to strategise, communicate well, and solve problems as a group.

• Type of Equipment needed: Building blocks
• Participants: Teams of 3 -6, multiple teams (min. 6 people)
• Source: Virtual Workspace

Mars Bar Eating

(You may need a few Mars Bars — but that’s a good thing!)

Who doesn’t like chocolate? (First, make sure no one is allergic!) Have your group sit in a circle, in the middle of which have been placed the following: a Mars bar (or other chocolate bar), knife, fork, hat, scarf, coat, shirt and trousers. 

Each participant rolls the dice — if they roll a six, they have to run into the middle of the circle, don all the clothing, use the knife and fork to open and begin eating tiny pieces of the chocolate bar until someone else rolls a six, when they change places.

• Type of Equipment needed: Mars bar, knife, fork, hat, scarf, coat, shirt, trousers, large dice
• Participants: Groups of different sizes (min. 10 people)
• Source: Venture Team Building

Name that song (or movie)

Make a list of several lines from either popular movies (or well-known song lyrics), then cut the list into individual pieces of paper — one line per slip of paper. Separate your group into teams, then have each team take turns drawing a slip of paper, then reading (or singing) the line in question. Each team then has thirty seconds to guess the name of the film (or song); if they’re unsuccessful, another team can steal the chance to win the point.

• Type of Equipment needed: Paper, pens, markers
• Participants: Groups of different sizes (min. 5 people)
• Source: Teambonding

Office Celebrity

Like the popular party game Celebrity, this version is lots of fun and a great icebreaker. It’ll help participants get to know each other better — and when that happens, the team tends to work more efficiently and harmoniously together. It’s a simple game that involves each participant pulling a name of a coworker out of a hat, then trying to give enough hints about the person’s identity to teammates so they can guess the “office celebrity.”

• Type of Equipment needed: Papers, pens, markers
• Participants: Groups of different sizes (min. 6 people)
• Source: Refresh Leadership

Paint-balling

By now it’s almost a cliche, but that’s because it works: Paintball is a great way to build team rapport. It’s active, highly competitive, and a great way to break the ice. After all, it’s kind of hard to be formal and aloof when you’re covered in paint!

• Type of Equipment needed: Paintball gear
• Participants: Groups of different sizes (min. 20 people)
• Source: Virtual Workspace

Tyre Pass

You’ll need strong rope, a sturdy branch, and a tyre for this one. Tie the tyre about five feet from the ground, secured so that doesn’t move much. The goal is for everyone to work together to pass each other through the tyre as quickly as possible, without touching the sides. Instruct the group that they must come up with their own strategy for getting everyone safely through the centre.

• Type of Equipment needed: Rope, tyre
• Participants: Groups of different sizes (min. 10 people)
• Source: SmallBizTrends

Making sure you take the time to team build is one of the best investments you can make in your business. Every step of the way, Planday has you covered with our guides to building better employee engagement and happiness in your team, the complete guide to team building and even more team building activities.

What’s your favourite team building activity?

Share on LinkedIn and let us know!