Team building activities are one of the most important and crucial steps to be taken if you wish to enjoy being a part of a productive, happy and closely knit team. To become the productive A-team at your work place is not an arduous task when you have individuals who together as one team. And the easiest possible way to get all the individual team members to work like a team is by organizing team building activities. By enjoying the company of the team mates and spending some good time together, you can be rest assured that there will be no communication gap between any of the two members. This will make their bonding stronger and thereby lead to an efficiently working happy team. So, what are these team building activities like? Here are 10 top team building activities that you can organize activities to create some fun moments and great memories to share at all times –

1. A Truth and A Lie – This activity takes about an hour where every team member gives an introduction along with one truth and lie about his or her personal self. Once every member is done, it is time for a quick open conversation amongst all the team members present. The motif behind this conversation will be to convince the opposite person to believe that the lie is a truth. Every member is then asked to vote for the number of lies that are guessed right. This activity can be played as two or more groups depending on the number of members in each group. This activity helps to improve communication between the team members and also understand each member in a better way.  How about increasing the level of difficulty with 2 truths and 1 lie or vice versa? You can also minus the open conversation if there is time constraint.
2. Power Poker – This activity takes anywhere between 15 minutes to half an hour. It is quite an exciting activity to indulge in. All that you need is a pack of poker cards and a pair of scissors. To begin the activity, you need to divide the team into 2 or 3 or more groups (depending on the number of members present in each group). The idea behind this activity is to ensure that the winning team is one that builds the tallest poker tower using the poker cards given to them. You can also add few more materials to add more fun to the activity. This activity encourages team building skills and also creativity in each of the team member.
3. Legoman – This is one of the most creative and interesting team building activities. It also helps to improve problem solving skills, communication and strategist skills amidst the team members. All you need to play this activity is building blocks (remember as kids, you used to build sculptures of different sizes and colors). Divide the team into two groups and have an instructor build a sculpture with the building blocks. A member from each of the team gets about 30 seconds to watch the sculpture closely and memorize the built, colors and other specification. He/she then needs to get back to the team and help them rebuild the same structure. The one who builds the duplicate sculpture with the closest similarity wins.
4. The Mine Field – This activity takes about 30 minutes and helps to build trust and communication in the team. Conduct the activity in an open space or hall. Divide the team into two groups. You can place small items like bottles, cones and balls in different places of the open space, in the form of a mine. Blindfold one team member and ask the other member of the same team to guide him/her through the mines to the other side. It is all about verbal communication by one partner and the trust put forth by the other partner.
5. Zoom – This is again an interesting team building game that improves effective communication between the team mates. You can kickstart the game with the help of a picture book “zoom” by Istvan Banyai. This book features 30 sequential pictures that form a story. You can also draw up your own set of pictures or collect it from the internet. The activity starts by distributing one picture to each team member and allow them few minutes of time to read and understand the picture. The game begins when each member has to place himself/herself in the order of the narrative story behind the sequential pictures. The team members are allowed to talk about their picture and not show it to anyone.
6. Boat Rides – Team building activities need not be just indoors; in fact outdoor team activities are fun to be a part of. Why not give it a try? Maybe kayaking, double kayaking, dragon – boating and many more such boating activities can be initiated. You can also give it a form of race to enhance the team work efficiency.
7. Salt and Pepper – How about an ice breaker exercise? Think of different pairs like salt – pair, micky – Minnie, male-female, shadow – light etc. Give one name to each team member by writing the name on a paper and sticking on to his/her back. Ensure that the other people can read the name. The idea is to ask the right questions in order to know what name each team member is assigned and then, find his/her partner.
8. Talk in Circles – The idea is to communicate effectively without seeing. All that you need is a string that is tied to its end, thereby forming a circle. Now, the team members are required to hold the string and form different shapes like squares and rectangles without seeing.
9.  Egg drop – This is a messy yet very interesting activity. The idea is to keep the egg intact even from a 2 storey drop. Divide the team into groups. Give the team about 20 minutes to create a package with the help of balloons, plastic, rubber bands, straws and more. Once this is done, let the team take turns to drop the egg from the 2nd storey. The one who creates a good package is the winner. Increase the height for more challenging activity.
10. Win, lose or draw – This is quite a classic game to execute. You would need a flipchart/white board, paper and a pen. Think of different categories like food, travel, and team or work related ones like computers, sales etc. Divide the group into two teams. Each team nominates a member to be the artist. The hint given to the team members is the category. The artist needs to draw as many items corresponding to the category and the team members need to identify the drawings. The one who identifies the most number of items in the categories is the winner.
These are a just a few of the many activities that can be organized in order to break the ice. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and plan to execute them at your work place.