Team communication is increasingly essential in today’s workplace. The right games can improve employee morale, boost productivity and build stronger teams. They may even be utilized to engage remote workers, promote collaboration and teach team-building techniques.
Communication Games for Teams
Improving communication skills within your team requires giving everyone the chance to practice them regularly. Games are an excellent way to hone skills such as active listening and empathy, plus they provide fun ways for teammates to get to know one another better.
Team building games should offer some variety and be simple to play, so you don’t need to spend a lot of time organizing them. Here are a few ideas for fun team building activities:
Self Awareness and Work Environment Challenges:
One effective way to help your team gain insight into their own perspectives is by playing a game that asks them how they might interpret situations that arise at work. This can be especially valuable in an environment with many barriers to effective communication such as power dynamics.
One of the most prevalent issues within organizations is an imbalance in seniority and expertise. While this may seem inevitable, being aware of how your own status can impact how you communicate can go a long way toward improving communication channels within your team.
Robot training:
This game asks team members to share their computer screen and provide step-by-step instructions for a task. It’s ideal for team building as it hone’s communication and cooperation abilities, which will come in handy when working together in the future.
BS:
This classic game works great in most settings, but it’s best played in an office or group setting where there can be multiple players. Each player needs to play a card consecutively but they may lie about not having it if someone detects their falsehood and call out “BS!” which requires them to pick up the pile and play another card. This strategy works best when there are more than four players participating.
Stickers:
This entertaining game can be played in a variety of settings. Paste matching stickers around your office or even outdoors to keep everyone occupied. The objective is simple: find all of the stickers quickly!
Playing with Status:
This is an effective way to teach your team about how status can impact communication and how to be respectful at work. To play, pair up and roleplay a simple scenario with different levels of status. Afterward, debrief about what worked and didn’t work so that you can start having meaningful conversations about effective communication in any type of situation.
