Team building games that will not make your team cringe

Most team building games have one problem: you can feel that they are compulsory. Anyone who has stood in a circle naming their favourite animal knows the feeling. This list is made of games a team would start on its own during a long lunch break. They are grouped by size and time, so you can scan it when you have ten minutes before the next session.

Five minute warm ups

1. 1Two truths and a lie. Everyone gives three statements about themselves, the team guesses the fake one. Unbeatable with new joiners.
2. 2An impostor round. One phone goes around, everyone sees a secret word except one person. Three minutes and everybody is engaged.
3. 3One word check in. Each person describes their day in a single word. No explaining, no going round twice. It says more than you expect.
4. 4The counting game. The team counts to twenty with no fixed order, and if two people speak at once you restart. By the fifth attempt they are actually listening to each other.
5. 5Emoji weekend. Everyone describes their weekend in three emoji in the team chat. Works for remote teams too.

Team building games with no props

1. 1Impostor in the team. The uncrowned king of social deduction games. Everyone shares a secret word except one person, then you work out who is lying from the clues. With eight to ten people, run two impostors.
2. 2Who am I. Sticky note on the forehead, yes or no questions only. A classic because it works.
3. 3Reverse questions. Someone gives an answer, the others work out what the question was.
4. 4Charades, work edition. Use words from inside the company: quarterly report, coffee machine, hybrid policy. Far funnier than film titles.
5. 5Thirty second talk. Everyone gets a random topic and has to speak confidently about it for thirty seconds. The team scores it.
6. 6One sentence story. Each person adds a sentence to the last one. The goal is not logic, it is not being able to stop laughing.

The phone version

You do not need paper for the impostor round. The app deals the roles, runs the timer and handles the vote, so the team only has to talk.

Impostor Party Game

Download free

Games for large groups

1. 1Human bingo. Everyone gets a grid of statements like has been skydiving. Find someone it applies to and write their name. Thirty conversations in five minutes.
2. 2Impostor by table. Split a big group into tables of six to eight, each plays a round, then winners swap tables.
3. 3Silent line up. Line up by birthday without speaking. Simple, and it shows within ten seconds who takes the lead in a group.
4. 4Phone scavenger hunt. Eight tasks, forty minutes, photo proof. Works inside an office too.
5. 5Marshmallow tower. Spaghetti, tape, one marshmallow. Old, but still the clearest demonstration of how a team decides under pressure.

Games for remote teams

1. 1Virtual impostor. One person shares their screen, roles go out by direct message, the discussion happens on the call. It works surprisingly well.
2. 2Show us your mug. Twenty seconds each to show something on their desk and say why it is there.
3. 3Blind drawing. One person describes an image, everyone else draws it. Then you compare. The best possible lesson in how imprecisely we communicate.
4. 4Quiz about the team. Five questions, each about one colleague, answers collected in advance by the organiser.
5. 5One picture week. Everyone posts a photo from their camera roll that sums up their week.

How to pick one

Three mistakes to avoid

• Do not force anyone. Watching is participation too, and pressure achieves the opposite of what team building is for.
• Do not overrun. A good game ends while people still want to play. Stop after two rounds.
• Do not explain the rules at length. If it takes more than three sentences, you picked the wrong game for the moment.