Many companies use team building games to help establish trust, improve communication skills, and boosts morale. These activities are usually off-site and provide a space for employees to have fun and get to know each other outside of the work environment.
However, what if a company regularly works with temporary employees? How can they help them become part of a positive company culture? An affordable way that doesn’t require an organized outing is to implement team building icebreakers at your next company meeting or event.
Including an icebreaking activity encourages conversations and cooperation between coworkers. And, you never know, that temporary employee may be the right fit for a permeant hire and these icebreaking games are an excellent way to find out.
Icebreaker Team Building Games
1. Play Catch
Incorporate a water cooler chat into the first 10 minutes of your meeting, and give it direction with a moving ball. Have the group stand in a circle and toss the ball to a random person. The person who catches the ball – or perhaps doesn’t catch it – gets to share one experience from their weekend or brag about an accomplishment.
2. Discover Commonalities
We all have things in common and this game lets employees discover those commonalities. Create groups of four or five people that are picked by calling off numbers. Inform each group they have to learn 10 things they have in common with each person in the group and it cannot be work related. Afterward, compare notes to find 10 commonalities with the entire group. At the end, one person reads the group’s final list.
3. Ask a Question
Asking questions can invoke laughter, create a space to discover personal interests and encourage more in-depth conversations. Sample questions can be simple or challenging. Topics on the silly side could be, “What type of candy bar would you be and why?” Or, more personalized, like “What worries or excites you about your job this month?”
4. Share a Moment
Throughout our lives we experience moments of recognition, and for this challenge, participants are asked to reflect on their career and share one shining moment. For employees new to the workforce, suggest an accomplishment at college or a part-time job. Before sharing begins, ask the group to look for similarities or themes from each person’s experience. (If your group is large, break them up into smaller groups.)
5. Pick 5
In this team building game, participants form into groups and from a facilitator’s prompt, share a list of five favorite things, like their favorite vacation destinations or unusual foods they’ve tried. Employers may also use this game as a way to improve office culture with more thought-provoking questions, like asking to list five things that motivate you at work and qualities that make a team unsuccessful.
If you are looking to hire temporary employees, let us take care of the recruiting! Josephine’s Professional Staffing has been helping companies find top employees for over 30 years! Contact us today to get started.
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