Team building exercises are used frequently by teachers or managers as a way to unite and improve the morale of a group. According to the website MindTools.com, the best team-building exercises are those that have a real purpose and are strategically planned and carried out. After considering a team's strengths and weaknesses, a leader can devise team-building exercises to address specific problems, such as improving communication or establishing trust.
Survival Scenario
This exercise demands communication and consensus in a group. The group is told to imagine that they are survivors of a plane crash in the ocean. A lifeboat is available to take them to a nearby deserted island, but the group can only take 12 items with them. The team must jointly decide which 12 things they will choose.
Spider Web
This team building activity promotes group problem solving, and requires a large ball of yarn or string, a roll of duct tape and scissors. The object of the activity is to earn as many points as possible by passing team members through holes in a "spider web" without touching the web itself. Choose two fixed objects -- if outdoors, you can use two trees; if indoors, two walls or a hallway -- about 8 to 14 feet apart. Using one long piece of yarn and the tape, string together a web-like structure with holes of varying sizes, ending up with at least two more holes than there are participants. Each time a person goes through a hole without touching the web, the team earns a point. After a hole is used, it cannot be used by anyone else. If one person touches the web, all the participants must return to the starting side of the web, and the score returns to zero. A team's final score is the number members have earned at the end of 25 minutes.
Fast Team Building
Executive educator and coach Marshall Goldsmith suggests a process he calls "team building without time wasting." Tell the group to rate both "how well are we doing?" and "how well do we need to be doing?" Each person answers the questions silently, on paper, using a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. Assuming that there is a gap between the two numbers, ask team members to list two key behaviors that could help the group achieve the higher number. List all the behaviors on a flip chart and have the group jointly choose one as most important. Each team member then meets one-on-one with every other member for three minutes, soliciting advice for ways to individually help bolster teamwork. A regular monthly follow-up process helps team members stay focused on improvement.
Human Spring
This activity promotes trust within a group. Group members face each other in pairs, with elbows bent and palms facing toward each other. After touching their partner's palms with their own, participants gradually lean toward their partners, so that eventually, they support each other. Ask each person to move his feet farther and farther back, so that her weight is supported by the other person.
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