Getting groups to bond away from the meeting
room is easier said than done. Many team-building
activities require expensive equipment or accoutrements; others
might be too complicated or too athletic for the whole group.
Following is a roundup of simple, creative ideas that anyone
can handle, gleaned from leading team-building and special-event
firms, as well as from hotels and resorts. Best of all, they’re
easy on the budget.
TASTE-BUD TESTS
Just Desserts
Source: Interlaken Inn Resort & Conference
Center, Lakeville, Conn., and Operation Explore, a Palm Beach
Gardens, Fla.-based team-building firm
Needs: Compass, map and clues for each team; a
large table set with multiple desserts
Setting: Outdoors
Group size: 30 or more
Rules: Following a main course of lunch or dinner,
teams are given a brief lesson in orienteering and sent off to find
a secret enclave on the property where dessert will be served. To
reach the site, teams must sort through a series of complex clues,
solve riddles, read a map and use a compass as they explore the
terrain in and around the hotel. When they get to the final
destination, they’re rewarded with a spread of delicious
sweets.
World Wine Web
Source: Grand Hyatt Seattle
Needs: The hotel’s sommelier or other wine expert;
wines from around the world, prepoured into glasses; a display map
showing the countries that produced the wines; pens and pads;
crackers and cheese
Setting: Indoors or outdoors
Group size: 12 or more
Rules: Participants sample at least a half-dozen
wines and try to match them to their country of origin on the map.
The sommelier gives background on the wines, reveals their origin
and rewards the winning team or teams with bottles.
Chili Challenge
Source: Chaminade, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Needs: Chili ingredients, pots, aprons, chefs’
hats, felt-tipped markers
Setting: Hotel kitchen or other cooking
facilities
Group size: 10 or more
Rules: Teams must devise a chili recipe from 50
ingredients at their disposal and then cook the dish within one
hour. Each team also creates a team name and logo for aprons and
chef hats. Company VIPs award prizes based on flavor of chili and
creativity of team branding. Then everyone gets to celebrate at a
festive lunch where all the creations are served.
Soufflé Shuffle
Source: Resort at Squaw Creek, Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Needs: A professional chef, blenders, metal bowls,
whisks, cooking ingredients, baking ramekins, oven
Setting: Hotel kitchen or other cooking
facility
Group size: Four to 25
Rules: Following a lesson from the chef, teams
choose ingredients they will use to create their soufflés, then
whip up the airy desserts and leave them for the chef to pop in the
oven as they exit the kitchen to eat dinner. During the meal, the
chef and his or her staff judge the finished product and dish out
points for appearance, taste and consistency. The winning soufflé
can then be sampled by the entire group.
Menu Masters
Source: Indian Lakes Golf Resort and Conference
Center, Bloomington, Ill.
Needs: Cooking ingredients, dishes, menus, cooking
facilities
Setting: A ballroom or, for smaller groups, a
kitchen
Group size: 20 to 80; ideally, each team should
have four or five participants
Rules: Teams are given a box filled with
ingredients for a dish on the hotel’s menu, but they are not told
what dish it will be. Teams have 10 minutes to create something
with the ingredients (some items are precooked), after which
everyone eats both the attendee creations and the actual dish. The
winning team is the one that turns out a dish that most accurately
resembles the actual menu item.
CEREBRAL PERSUITS
Da Vinci Code
Source: Sense of Delight, Novato, Calif.
Needs: Ten “characters” (company officials or
planners can be tapped to fill the roles), clues, several prints of
well-known works of art, play money
Setting: Indoor or outdoor venue with enough space
to accommodate 10 stations hosted by characters
Group size: 20 or more, broken into teams of four
to seven participants
Rules: This scavenger hunt is loosely based on Dan
Brown’s bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Teams are
given clues to the whereabouts of characters (i.e., an art
historian, a docent, a monk and a security guard). The characters
provide clues to the final gathering spot, where an art “auction”
will be held. They also dole out “cash” when the teams solve
riddles. At the end, teams must use their cash to bid on the
painting. The winning bid determines the overall winner.
Mission Impossible
Source: Sense of Delight, Novato, Calif.
Needs: Seven to nine characters (company officials
or planners can be tapped to fill the roles), clues
Setting: Indoors or outdoors
Group size: 30 or more
Rules: Teams are briefed about a jewel heist that
took place right before the meeting, and they have to figure out
who did it by solving clues and collecting information from
characters they meet at various stations. At the end, there is a
suspect lineup (i.e., company officials), and the teams vie to
guess the culprit.
PLAY WITH A PURPOSEHome Sweet Home
Source: The Laureli Group, Torrance, Calif.
Needs: The event host provides snacks, portable
bathroom facilities and hard hats.
Setting: A construction site affiliated with
Habitat for Humanity International (www.habitatforhumanity.com), which provides building
equipment and expert workers to help volunteers build a home for a
deserving family. The organization can refer groups to sites near
their company headquarters or meeting venue.
Group size: Varies; the Laureli Group has done
programs for 50 to 200
Rules: At the construction site, the group is
broken into teams, based on their talents and interests. Among the
assignments are painting, electrical wiring and roofing. The
activity lasts half a day (any further work is accomplished by the
Habitat professionals), with the group getting to meet the family
who will benefit from their teamwork. With this activity, everyone
wins.
Child’s Play
Source: Meeting Minds, Mt. Laurel, N.J.
Needs: Colored shirts for team members and
children, cameras
Setting: Parks, zoos, theme parks
Group size: All
Rules: Host underprivileged children from the
local community, found through groups like The United Way (national.unitedway.org) and the Police Athletic League
(www.nationalpal.org). Each child is assigned to a team
of three to four attendees, and all are let loose in an amusement
park for five hours. At day’s end, teams return to the hotel for a
party and dinner.
Bike-Building Blowout
Source: The Meeting Manager, San Diego
Equipment: Bike-building materials and tools; area for race
Setting: Outdoors
Group size: 50 to 800
Rules: Teams are told they are going to compete in
a bicycle relay race. There’s a small catch: They have to put the
bikes together before they can race. As they are building, they are
asked fun trivia questions based on anything from biking to company
information. Once the two-wheelers are ready, participants relay to
the finish line. Afterward, the teams present the bikes to a local
children’s charity.
FRUGAL FUN
Handshake Hoedown
Source: Catalyst Events, Alexandria, Va.
Needs: Instruction cards for five or six types of
handshakes
Setting: Indoors or outdoors
Group size: 10 or more
Rules: To get a group from different cultures or
different languages to bond a bit, Jim Waller, president of
Catalyst Events, says nonverbal, noncompetitive activities are
best. Attendees are given a card with instructions for giving a
certain type of handshake (double-fisted, two-fingered, etc.). They
are then let loose in a room or an outdoor area, where they must
shake hands and introduce themselves to everyone and find members
with whom they have the most in common.
Body Beat
Source: Catalyst Events, Alexandria, Va.
Needs: Facilitator
Setting: Indoors or outdoors
Group size: 10 or more
Rules: In this noncompetitive event, a facilitator
breaks the group into teams and instructs each to make noise:
clapping, snapping, laughing, clicking. At the end, he or she
conducts the teams to produce a catchy rhythm, which can be taped,
copied and given to attendees.
Jigsaw Jury
Source: Catalyst Events, Alexandria, Va.
Needs: Facilitator, large jigsaw-style pieces of
an image, camera
Setting: Outdoors
Group size: 50 or more
Rules: Everyone is given a jigsaw piece, part of
an image or word that makes up the company logo or name
(participants are not told in advance what the design is). With a
facilitator standing by to offer guidance when needed, participants
must arrange themselves in place so that when photographed holding
up their pieces, the design is revealed. Everyone gets a copy of
the photograph.
Junkyard Sports
Source: Teambuildinginc.com, Chadds Ford, Pa.
Needs: Old socks, stockings, boxes, wood boards,
tin foil, newspaper, etc.
Setting: Indoors or outdoors
Group size: 12 or more
Rules: Half the fun of this exercise is for teams
to create equipment for the sport of their choice: softball,
basketball or field hockey. The catch: All items, including baskets
or bases, must be fashioned from stuff found in a junk pile. The
teams then indulge in a game.
Junkyard Scooters
Source: CRG Total Event Solutions, Seattle
Needs: Thrift-store items such as toys, ironing
boards, wheels, tarps and tool kits (power screwdriver, hammer,
roll of duct tape, nails and screws) for each team; one station
with saws and drills
Setting: Indoors or outdoors
Group size: 40 or more
Rules: Teams of eight to 10 are assigned to piles
of “junk,” then given directives to create a working scooter in an
hour. Afterward, the teams have a scooter race, amid prayers the
vehicles don’t fall apart at the word “go.”
Electric Maze
Source: Catalyst Events, Alexandria, Va.
Needs: Rugs (8'x 10') fitted with electric sensor
squares (team-building firms like Catalyst Events have them
custom-made)
Setting: Indoors
Group size: 10 or more; two teams of five can play
on one rug; numerous rugs can be used for large groups
Rules: Teams must traverse the rugs by avoiding
the unmarked electric squares; stepping on one causes a buzzing
noise. The team that gets all members safely across first wins.
ARTS AND CRAFTS
The Big Picture
Source: Catalyst Events, Alexandria, Va.
Needs: Facilitator and assistants, 3' x 3' pieces
of canvas emblazoned with stenciled outlines of images (animals,
buildings, people, cars, company logo, etc.), paint buckets,
paints, brushes, sponges. For extra creativity, teams can be
supplied with glue, sparkles, shredded bits of colored paper and
anything else one can glue to canvas.
Setting: Indoors or outdoors
Group size: 40 or more
Rules: The group is broken into teams, each of
which gets one canvas by random selection. Teams must paint and
otherwise decorate their stenciled images. When finished,
participants head to another activity or meeting. While they are
gone, the facilitator and assistants piece together the various
canvases to create a poster, headed with the company logo, and
freckled with buzzwords used during the meeting. When the group has
reassembled, this object d’art is unveiled for admiration by
all.
Sculpture Vultures
Source: Catalyst Events, Alexandria, Va.
Needs: Tape, glue, welder, items participants can
bring from home (see below)
Setting: Indoors
Group size: 20 or more
Rules: Attendees are asked to arrive at the
meeting with something that represents the company: a hat, a mouse
pad, a golf ball, letterhead, a product manufactured by the company
or even photos of themselves. After dividing into teams, they are
instructed to piece the items together as a sculpture. When the
teams are done, the organizers then piece the various sculptures
together to make one large work of art, which is unveiled at the
end of the meeting and can be displayed at the organization’s
headquarters later.
Go Fly a Kite
Source: Cosmo Cool Concepts Inc., Houston
Needs: String, kite frames, paper, tape, glue,
felt-tipped markers, glitter, fringes and other materials to
decorate kites
Setting: Ideally at a park or beach
Group size: 10 or more; teams should have five to
eight people
Rules: Teams have to design and decorate a kite
within a limited time (i.e., 30 minutes). They are then judged on
creativity, whether the kite actually can fly and how high it can
go.
Sand Castle Soiree
Source: Cosmo Cool Concepts Inc., Houston
Needs: Sand and kiddie pools (if not at a beach),
measuring cups, shovels, molds, pastry knives
Setting: Outdoors at a beach or park, or indoors
with pools of sand
Group size: 10 or more
Rules: Teams vie to create the most distinctive
sand castle using whatever they can find in the vicinity (i.e.,
shells, seaweed, jellyfish, driftwood); they then celebrate with a
beach-themed party. Hint: Tell attendees in advance to wear clothes
they can soil and get wet, recommends Leatha Brown, president of
Cosmo Cool Concepts.
Additional reporting by Jonathan Vatner