Team Building Activities for Leaders in the Post-COVID Era — Part 1

Team building can quickly turn into team "disassembly" as one frustrated Reddit user showed when they asked other Redditors if it was reasonable for them to leave their job due to "excessive team building activities."

Thankfully, team-building activities don't have to be a horrid all-day affair.

Yet with many teams working remotely, communication and bonds between colleagues are now strained. New challenges abound for companies and their employees to solve.

It's now more important than ever to reinforce positive employee engagement and morale.

After all, attitude and mindset ultimately determine the outcome of all results. 

So what activities can you use to organically grow the connections between your team members and encourage personal development?

Here are 3 team-building activities for leaders to build fun (not forced fun), creative, and engaging team-building activities for leaders:

1. Piece the Puzzle Together

If your team is already back in the office, a traditional puzzle is a timeless yet fun leadership activity you can use.

It doesn't have to be a big puzzle. Puzzle sets with 250-500 pieces work. However, if the team is too big to work on it altogether, split the team into smaller groups and set a timer so that everyone gets to contribute.

Still in the virtual world? There are online virtual puzzles you can work on together as a team.

Do you have a hybrid or virtual team?

Try having your team play WORDLE or classic rebus puzzles, then ask them what their strategies were.

Highlight unique perspectives among the team to grow their confidence at the same time.

2. The Leadership Race

"Leadership is not an achievement, nor a destination, but rather a practice that you will adopt for life."
- Jeff Gibbard

All your team members are leaders in some way, whether it's in the workplace or in their personal lives.

Explore your team members' ideas on leadership with the leadership race: 

1. List a few leadership qualities down on a piece of paper.

2. Read them out loud.

3. Invite participants to step forward if they feel they hold that quality of leadership.

This leadership exercise inspires members to question themselves and converse with colleagues.

When colleagues question how a leadership quality shows itself in their team member's life, it further builds authentic connections as everyone now understands where action and behaviours originate from that person's point of view.

As individuals, it encourages personal leadership development through self-insight and analysis.

3. Colour Together

Colouring will simply never be out of fashion. And there are tons of adult colouring books on the market to prove it.

Sometimes, the simpler the activity, the more enjoyable it is.

Find a big-ass colouring sheet online for a wall or large table, and grab some markers (keep cleaning wipes close by because we are still in a pandemic).

Encourage team members to take a break from their computers to colour throughout the week.

This helps as a good reset practice, helping the team to de-stress as needed. And everyone feels super proud of their finished product at the end of the week!

Have a virtual team? Choose an adult colouring sheet to send to all team members and have a colouring contest because — Why not?!?

Keep The Team in Team Building

It's the perfect time to boost employee interaction and productivity, while (more importantly) doing what makes employees happy about their work.

In our team-building exploration, we focused on activities to build healthy leadership and create a culture that is:

●      Fun

●      Understanding

●      Enjoyable

●      Trusting

●      Perfect for the post-COVID era

Keep in mind that while you might want all team members to take part in these activities, different personality types mean differing energy levels.

Plus, everyone can tell when management is trying too hard.

Don't... try too hard.

Stay balanced in your team-building endeavours and your company will thrive. Remember, you're not doing it for you or for company points, but for your team to truly grow and, in turn, grow your company as a whole.

And if you need help, I can change your outlook on personal leadership to guide you to expand the leader within. Need help with your entire team's personal leadership development? I've got a workshop for that.

Let’s chat to see what works best for you!

Janic