Leadership Activities: Games to Build Teamwork

Many of us are quite enthusiastic about planning leadership activities and team games but we often neglect the fact that organizing team-building games requires thought and effort. It is important to choose those leadership activities and games that are well-suited to your team. See that the team members are comfortable participating in them.

It is best to begin with identifying your objectives as a human resource person or team manager. Ask yourself whether you intend to build leadership qualities among your team members or aim at identifying the hidden leaders in your team. Ask yourself; if each of your team members is willing to participate in the games you organize for them. Evaluate your objectives and choose the team activities accordingly. You might like to go through the following leadership activities and include some of them in your next team-building endeavor.

Games to Build Teamwork

Leaders’ Questionnaire: This game provides the participants with an opportunity to judge their leadership qualities. Give each of the team members a set of questions, which will help them analyze themselves. Give them survival scenarios and hypothetical situations and ask the participants to resolve them. Once they complete their questionnaire, discuss the answers with the rest of the team. Exchanging answers will help the team members in analyzing each other’s ways of handling problems. Reward the best or the wittiest answers as a recognition of their problems solving skills.

Group Activities: These activities help in bringing the team members together to achieve a common goal, thus fostering their team spirit. Split the team into groups of 5 or more, depending on the size of the team. Give each team a set of tasks to be carried out in a stipulated period of time. The activities can involve a variety of tasks like solving a jigsaw puzzle together, solving questions collectively or carrying out certain other physical tasks that require teamwork. See that the group activities you plan require the team members to communicate with each other and work in unison.

We Trust You: Trust is a vital component of leadership. To be an effective leader, it is important for a person to build trust in his/her followers. You can expect people to follow you, only if you can build trust and a mutual understanding between you and your team. The game deals with this very aspect of leadership. For this game, split the group into teams of at least 5 or 6. Ask each team to elect a leader for their team. Blindfold all the members of each of the teams except for their leaders. Assign each leader a path to be traced. Now, ask each of the team leaders to direct their blindfolded team members along the path. Effective communication, a sense of responsibility and trust are of immense importance in this team activity.

Sports: Outdoor games and sport activities are an all-time hit. Most of us enjoy team outings, picnics and gatherings. And sports are a must-have on any of these occasions. Yes, outdoor games like handball, volleyball, soccer, cricket and several others help in keeping the team spirit alive. The way the team members organize themselves and compete with their opponents, speaks a lot about their teamwork and leadership. It is not about who wins or who loses; it is about how each team plays!

Team games can prove to be a sheer waste of time if not planned well. And you cannot afford to compromise on employee productivity in the name of team-building and leadership activities. However, if planned meticulously, team-building games can serve to be an effective means to accelerate team formation and keep the team going! Leadership activities can serve as the best tools to identify leaders and team players in your team and bring out their hidden potentials.