Oh no! Not another boring meeting. Is this what your staff is thinking? Let me help you turn your meetings into a look forward to event. The way to do this is by playing.
Yes! You heard me correctly. In order to make your employees feel valued while reinforcing company values in an engaging manner play the 5-minute team building games for meetings.
By playing these 5-minute games for meetings you will find that communication and problem solving will be much improved in a relaxed atmosphere.
Some of these games are quite easy and amusing while others may be more challenging. You be the judge of your 5-minute team building choices.
1. Pipe Cleaner Team Building Activity
What you will need:
15 pipe cleaners x number of teams.
This is a low cost 5-minute team building activity for adults and it is a lot of fun but difficult. First begin by splitting your people into groups.
This is a quick 5-minute exercise in which the teams are challenged to build the tallest free-standing structure as possible with only 15 pipe cleaners.
After 2 minutes announce that there is a budget cut and they will have to do this 5-minute team building game with one hand behind their back! One minute later announce that there is another budget cut and they can no longer speak! In the last 2 minutes announce that business is booming, and they can now speak. After each team has completed their pipe cleaner structure have a debrief.
Ask questions such as: if they all had similar ideas at first; how they came to agreement; how they developed a process for building; how they could do a better job; what roles they did each play; was it helpful or detrimental to have (or not have) a leader; etc.
This 5-minute team building exercise would be perfect for an engineering firm
2. The Candy Stick Team Building Activity.
What you will need:
• Wooden skewers
• 1 pack of Lifesavers x number of participants
This 5-minute team building activity for the workplace is a bit simpler but great fun. The bonus is you get to eat your candy afterwards! Each employee is given a wooden skewer and a cup filled with life savers.
I’m sure you can guess where I am going with this. The first one to get all the Lifesavers on the skewer without touching the Lifesavers is the winner and he/she is rewarded with a small prize.
3. The Ninja Team Building Challenge
What you will need:
• 1 table x number of teams
• 1 Deck of playing cards x number of teams
• Paper cups
This is a game of tremendous skill and a perfect 5-minute game for adults! Break your group into teams of 4. You will need enough tables for each team.
A deck of playing cards is handed to each team and the team captain will distribute them equally. Paper cups will be set in a row on the edge of the tables and the players must throw the cards one at a time like a ninja would throw a star.
The first team to knock off all the cups is the winner. Don’t be surprised if there is a lot of screaming going on! This is good to release pent up anxiety prior to your meeting.
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4. Mummy Wrap 5 Minute Team Building Activity for Small Groups
What you will need:
• 1 Roll of toilet paper x number of teams
I love this simple but hilarious 5 Minute Game for a Meeting. This is a great exercise for smaller groups. Break into teams of 2 people. The participants must decide who is going to be the “wrappee” or the “wrapper”.
Each team gets one roll of toilet paper. When the buzzer goes off the fun begins. The first team whose Mummy is completely wrapped from head to toe in toilet paper are the winners.
This 5-minute game for adults is great as an icebreaker before an important meeting.
5. The Elephant March Team Building Activity for the Workplace.
What you will need:
• 5 x bottles of water per team
• Panty hose for each participant
The first time I played this game was at my brother’s annual Thanksgiving Day party. It was hysterical! Split the group into teams of 4. Each member of the team gets a pair of panty hose with a tennis ball in the bottom.
They must put the open side of the panty hose on their head. 5 bottles of water are placed in a line with at least 2 feet between them. The object of this raucous 5-minute team building activity for the workplace is to knock over the bottle using only their heads.
The first team to knock down all the bottles is the winner. This game helps to loosen inhibitions and encourages people to support one another.
6. Building a Castle as a 5 Minute Game for Adults
What you will need:
• 1 Deck of cards x number of players
I remember spending countless hours up at the cottage building not sand castles but card castles.
It still holds its fascination! Here is another 5-minute team building game made to start off constructing a high level of enthusiasm. Divide the group into teams.
Ask the teams to place bids on their members. One from each team comes up and builds a card castle. The member with the largest castle wins a point for his team and gets double the bid amount.
Steps 3 and 4 are repeated for all the team members. In the end, the team with the maximum points wins a prize.
7. A Five-Minute Team Building Exercise to Find the Pirates Treasure
What you will need:
• One chair
• Blindfold
• Treasure box filled with goodies
This is a game that people flat out enjoy mainly because everyone gets involved at the same time. It is a perfect team building game for the office and lets the staff cut loose while at work.
It requires concentration and focus from the pirate and the Captain amidst chaos. Here’s how to play. Select a volunteer (the captain) to be blindfolded and sit them on a chair in the middle of a circle with the treasure box located under the chair.
Get the group running around in a circle, then point to someone (pirate) in the group to move as silently as possible as they try to capture the treasure. If the captain points in the direction of the pirate, the pirate is then out of the game.
If the pirate successfully retrieves the treasure without the captain noticing (for ten seconds), both participants switch places. This is a group activity to help develop mindfulness and the ability to focus in the workplace.
Oh, I forgot to mention that the winning team of course gets the treasure.
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8. 5 Minute Team Building Activity Round Robin
What you will need:
• 4 giant games
This may take a bit more time than 5 minutes, but it is well worth the investment of time. There are many ways you can utilize this awesome team building event.
Ideally it will work more for a team building activity for smaller groups. Divide your group into teams of two making sure that each player comes from a different division. This will encourage friendly competition between departments.
For instance, have a member from the warehouse partner with someone in sales. Set up four giant Party Games such as Jenga, Checkers, Connect Four and Plinko.
At the count of 3 each team starts to compete, and the winner of each game is recorded. After all teams have played all four games the score is calculated and the team with the most wins are declared the champions!
9. Split the Uprights is a Fast 5 Minute Team Building Exercise
What you will need:
• Plastic cups (depending on number of players)
• Ping pong balls
• Baskets
This is a really fast paced 5 minute fun office game to play before the big meeting. Each participant in the game must build two towers of plastic cups and place a basket in between the towers.
Ping pong balls are given to each player who must flick the balls into the basket in one minute. After the minute is up the player with the most ping pong balls in the basket is the winner.
10. Build Listening Skills in a Five-Minute Team Building Activity for the Workplace
Pair off into teams of two and have them sit back to back. Give one of the players a page with an object drawn on it and the other player a blank piece of paper with a pen.
The object of this five-minute team building exercise is for the player with the blank page to replicate the image that the other player is describing without saying what the image is. The players can talk freely but cannot look at each other.
Very few pairs manage to get the picture exactly right and some very funny results emerge! This exercise generates some great discussion around the importance of listening skills, questioning skills, paraphrasing, interpretation, giving accurate instructions, having a clear voice etc.etc.
It’s particularly effective for staff who customarily talks to customers over the phone.
So, there you have it folks. These are great fast paced team building activities that can be fun, motivational and inclusive.
Try some of them out at your next meeting and I can guarantee that your employees will come into your board room with a smile on their faces and renewed enthusiasm for the tasks ahead of them.
You may want to check out my other Team Building Blogs for more ideas and watch for my next exciting Casino Themed Events blog post.
Take the first step to having a team building event that will be remembered for years to come!