How to use short games or icebreakers to enhance your team culture
Veronica Brundle - May 28 2025, 8:52:40 PM
What are team-building games?
I am sure you have been on a call or at a meeting where everyone has their screen off or is muted. Even when you are in-person, it can be hard to get team members to lift their eyes off of their computer to participate in the group discussion. Having a deliberate, interesting icebreaker or team game to get everyone participating and engaged will change the flow of the meeting and set a tone that everyone needs to be engaged and participating. These games don’t need to be long, even just a few minutes engaging the group can be all your group requires.
There are many benefits of the incorporating a team activity or game
As discussed, you are setting the tone that everyone needs to participate as an element of the team culture, but you are also creating opportunities for team members to share about themselves. This is where team bonding over shared experiences comes into play. A team that learns about each other and has a better understanding will communicate and work together more effectively. An icebreaker, trivia or a get-to-know-your-team game is all it takes to start to develop this deeper bonding. In surveys, employees consistently say that they like their job and stay at their company if they develop friendships with their coworkers. This will improve morale and an ability for the team to work together to solve problems.
What are some creative game ideas?
With team games and icebreakers you don’t want to reinvent the wheel. There are many games and activities that all or most of your team knows but have never done in a professional setting. Here are some ideas:
Pictonairy
A game where players take turns drawing pictures while their teammates try to guess the word or phrase.
Two truths and a lie
A game where one person shares three statements about themselves and the group has to choose which two are true and which one is false.
Trivia
This could be something fun like animal trivia or create something more related to your group
Jeopardy
Create categories based on shared knowledge with your team.
Family Feud
This is a classic gameshow where you create teams and have to answer popular survey questions
Office Olympics
Create your own version of the olympics with events like trash can basketball or who can type the fastest.
Baby Picture Match
Ask everyone to bring in a baby picture and the team will try to match who is who.
All of these ideas you can create yourself or you can hire a company to help facilitate in-person or virtually.
How to incorporate successfully
Incorporate these games and activities into your culture is seamless as long as you take a few easy steps:
Communicate in advance: If you are incorporating the team game into your weekly meeting, make sure that everyone is aware. You don’t want to suprise someone as they may not know how to play the game. In addition, sharing the game and how to play before the meeting can be very helpful.
Make sure it is during work hours: Don’t schedule a team event or activity outside of work hours. Some teammates have other responsibilities outside of work so doing it during work hours will make it much more enjoyable and less stressful for everyone.
Don’t let it get boring: There are lots of options so don’t just do the same thing every week or month. Feel free to switch it up and even ask on of the team members to prepare to run the icebreaker so you don’t have to each time.
It really works!
Having worked with 80 of the Fortune 100 companies, incorporating a teambuilding activity or game into your culture is a must. The fortune 100 companies have done over 10,000 events with Elevent and have reported an increase in employee satisfaction and morale.
At Elevent, team-building is in our DNA so don’t stress if you need help planning an event. We have thousands of expertly curated virtual events and customizable in-person events in 36 cities in the US. Elevent offers something for every team and can help you transform your workplace culture today!
Originally published at May 28 2025, 8:52:40 PM.