In the world of team building, one size does not fit all. For small groups, be it a group of new start-up employees or a department within a larger organisation, the key to success lies in tailoring team-building activities to meet their unique needs. This article covers team-building ideas ranging from 5-minute activities to online activities, helping you to tailor your activities to suit your business needs.
Easy, 5-minute team-building activities for small groups
Team building doesn't have to be complicated or require a massive budget. In fact, some of the most effective team-building activities are simple, easy to organise, and perfect for small groups. Simple, classic games such as two truths and a lie, riddles and puzzles are highly cost-effective and engaging. Other ideas include:
Human knot: get into a circle and reach both your arms out to two other people across the circle to hold hands. You must work together to untangle the human knot without letting go of anyone’s hands.
Chinese whispers: sit in a circle and have one person start by whispering a message into the ear of the person next to them. This second person then whispers what they heard to the next person, and so on, until the message has travelled the entire group.
Word association: start with a single word or phrase, and the next player continues by saying a word or phrase associated with the previous word. For example, if the previous word was ‘ocean’, the next player might respond with ‘beach’.
In-office team-building activities for small groups
In-office team-building exercises are particularly advantageous for small groups due to their intimate nature. Ultimately, in-office team-building exercises contribute to a more cohesive and harmonious work environment within small teams, as well as being cost-effective, convenient and customizable to the specific needs of the team. Ideas include:
Office trivia: prepare a trivia quiz related to a specific theme of interest, for example, your company and its team members, divide the group into two quiz teams and test their knowledge. This encourages friendly competition, and is suitable for groups as small as 3!
Board game and mind puzzle break: keep a selection of board games and mind-testing puzzles in the office and encourage employees to make use of them during their breaks. Games such as Scrabble, Jenga and Chess are great for developing team-building skills.
Desk swap: Encourage team members to switch desks with a colleague for a day. It's a fun way to experience different parts of the office and develop relationships with other departments.
Communication team-building activities for small groups
Communication team-building activities are essential for small groups because their success is often dependent on effective communication. In smaller teams, interactions are more frequent and vital, so developing these skills helps team members understand each other's communication styles, encourage active listening, and promote clarity in conveying ideas and information. Ideas include:
Feedback circle: arrange everyone into a circle, and get each person to give one positive piece of feedback and one constructive piece if feedback to another person in the room. The feedback can be related to recent projects or teamwork. This encourages open and honest communication within the team, improving the quality of work.
Role reversal: Have team members temporarily switch roles. For example, let someone from the technical team lead a marketing meeting, and vice versa. This helps staff understand other team members' perspectives and communication challenges.
Listen and draw: This game has a fun approach, where the team is given a picture or object, and the drawer is given a blank piece of paper. The team describes the image to the drawer, who must recreate the image based solely on verbal instructions.
Free team-building activities for small groups
Free team-building activities are particularly advantageous for small groups due to their cost-effectiveness and accessibility. Small teams often operate on tighter budgets, and promote resourcefulness and creativity, as teams need to harness their collective talents and existing materials to accomplish tasks or solve challenges. Ideas include:
Paper tower challenge: Have any scrap paper that needs to be recycled? Provide each team with equal sheets of paper and tape, and challenge them to construct the tallest freestanding tower within a limited time frame.
Paper aeroplane contest: Using scrap paper, teams compete to craft the furthest-flying paper aeroplane. It’s a fun challenge using common office supplies.
Scavenger hunt: create a list of clues or riddles that lead teams to different locations or objects. Participants work together to solve the clues and find the objects, promoting collaboration and problem-solving skills. This can be carried out on a small scale, such as in the office, or on a larger scale where people may require forms of transport.
Indoor team-building activities for small groups
Indoor team-building activities offer a controlled and comfortable environment allowing activities to be customised to address specific team dynamics. Additionally, these activities are not weather-dependent, ensuring that they can be conducted year-round. At A Day in the Country, we offer a range of indoor team-building activities, such as:
Unlock the box: Split into teams, each team is presented with a locked box within which are a series of smaller locked boxes. Once the clock has started, teams must work together to solve a series of puzzles and clues in order to discover the code to each combination lock. This is a competitive, high-energy event which has teams scratching their heads trying to solve the cryptic puzzles.
Crystal challenge: Based on the popular TV series, The Crystal Maze, teams compete across a wide range of slightly crazy 5-10 minute team building challenges, all in a bid to earn as many crystals as possible to take forward to the Finale. How many challenges can your team get through before your time is up?
The Office Games: In this interactive game show, you’ll compete in teams of up to 8 people with the aim of winning the most points and taking home the coveted ‘Office Games’ trophy. All of the rounds have been inspired by the very best shows from the past 30 years, think Countdown, Family Fortunes, Taskmaster and many more!
Visit our Indoor Team Building Challenges page for more information.
Outdoor team-building activities for small groups
Outdoor team-building activities offer a refreshing change of environment, fostering a sense of adventure and exploration. Additionally, outdoor activities can boost team morale and overall well-being by promoting physical activity and providing a break from the typical office environment. At A Day in the Country, we offer a range of outdoor team-building activities, such as:
Go-kart team challenge: Thisinvolves guests being split into teams and rotating around a series of team-building exercises. The team’s goal is to complete the exercises and earn parts for their go-karts. After successfully completing the team building exercises and winning their go-kart parts, teams will return to their garages where they will be given 30 minutes to build their go-kart and design a name and logo for it. After the go-karts have been built, guests will race them – however, these go-karts have no steering and no brakes, therefore relying on the team’s ability to manually steer and stop!
School sports day: All the games we offer are exactly how you remember – just without the grumpy teachers and the school bully. So, this is your chance to take part in some competitive sporting activities with the aim of winning medals, prizes and pride.
- Blindfolded Driving: Guests are blindfolded and rely on their colleagues to verbally navigate them through an obstacle course – an excellent exercise in trust and communication!
Visit our Outdoor Activities page for more information.
Online team-building activities for small groups
Online team-building activities are a fantastic option for small groups, especially in today's digital age. They offer the flexibility of remote participation, making it easy for small teams to connect and collaborate regardless of geographical distances. Additionally, online team-building activities encourage the use of digital tools and communication platforms, helping team members become more proficient in remote work, a skill increasingly valuable in today's work landscape.
Digital board games: Play digital versions of the most popular board games like UNO, Monopoly and Scrabble.
Online bingo: Create or download virtual bingo cards and send them to the other participants; the winner receives a prize, such as a digital gift card.
Language exchange: If your group is multicultural, organize virtual language exchange sessions where members can practice different languages.
