11 May

Haven’t we all been there? 5-minute team building activities that were supposed to be “fast” but ended up taking agonizingly long periods? Let’s admit it. Such activities kick in boredom, and boredom is setting in widely among employees these days. Not just them; managers and bosses are losing patience too! Eventually, each party wastes nothing but precious time.

A team isn’t built in a single, extended session. It’s a voyage that is undertaken little by little. To improve team morale, bosses don’t really need to arrange a weekend getaway, a whole day of events, or a lunchtime. Over time, a consistent stream of 5-minute team building activities can make all the difference between a disjointed team and one that collaborates effectively and authentically.

5-minute Team Building Activities: Are They A Necessity?

It’s possible that your staff will roll their eyes consistently if you suggest an exercise or any team-building activity. This is because these events are frequently time-consuming and concentrated on providing insights that can be applied immediately. However, in actuality, some easy and 5-minute team building activities that try to break the ice, inspire creativity, and allow the team to interact more organically can do wonders.

One of the main attractions about all these games is that all of them work really well for in-office teams as they do for remote teams. When your workers work from home, you must provide opportunities for community development and growth because employee engagement is just as crucial, if not more so, for remote teams.

Below is a list that is brimming with 22 suggestions that your office will adore. These 5-minute team building activities can turn out to be extremely useful just before your meeting or during small breaks throughout the day.

Why Is Team-Building Important?

Every firm present on the planet necessitates team building. Some even argue that it’s the most crucial investment in your employees, which is undeniably true. The reason for this is quite simple. Participating in 5-minute team building activities offers a variety of amazing advantages, including,

Encouraging communication
Fostering trust
Expanding cooperation
Reducing hostility
Upgrading morale among employees
Enhancing corporate culture
Decrease employee churn

It may be enticing to try to include takeaways that are useful for the organization or managerial lessons when selecting 5-minute team building activities. But in practice, your team may find these to be less engaging activities, or you might not see them as being as helpful all around.

Consider putting more of an emphasis on spending time with each other and trying to get to know one another. With the help of the below-listed 5-minute team building activities, you can get your office group to cooperate on a project or share stories that will help relationships grow and foster in a more natural way.

1. The Birth Map

Your employees can get to learn one another better by making a birth map. This game is simple, quick, and enjoyable. You can accomplish this by nailing a world map to the wall if your entire staff is gathered in your workplace. Following that, each member of your team can attach their name to a slip of paper and pin it to the place of their birth.

If your team is dispersed, you can make a digital “birth map” using Google Maps. This is a great approach for anyone to get to know their colleagues and facilitate ice-breaking. At the very same time, seeing everybody’s birthplaces posted all around the world illustrates how diversified your workforce is.

2. Would You Rather

Would You Rather is yet another straightforward game wherein you create two options for your team to select from. The discussions will become more engaging and thrilling, as long as you make tough decisions! Playing this game at the onset of a meeting can get things going quickly and get people talking.

3. Twenty Questions

Playing 20 Questions is another fantastic method to have your team chat. Any individual, place, or item is suggested by one team member for this game. The other team members then can pose their questions, 20 in total, to determine who, where, or what the mystery object is.

4. Marooned on an Island

This is a fast game that helps your company get to recognize one another better. This one doesn’t require any extra materials, thus making it perfect for a quick break during the workday or an icebreaker right before a meeting. Everyone on the crew is asked to think of one book and album they would bring if they were aware that they were to be stuck on an uninhabited island. Both in-office and remote teams will benefit greatly from this little exercise.

5. Decorating The Office

Giving the office fresh decor, such as artwork, furniture, and trinkets, transforms the space. Team members can exhibit their uniqueness and feel more at ease at work when they personalize their workplaces. Although Christmas is the suitable time of the year to decorate your office, you may do it whenever you want throughout the year. Ideas for decorating an office space include miniature aquariums, framed photographs, potted plants, fresh flowers, plush toys, etc. All in all, a nice working environment makes you happier and increases productivity.

6. Two Truths and a Lie

A quick practice called “Two Truths and a Lie” might help your staff feel more at ease and strengthen relationships. Each member of your team discloses two facts regarding themselves, one of which is accurate and one that is untrue.

The other members of the team must determine who among the three claims is false. Teams who have been working together for years as well as brand-new teams that are just beginning to know one another, both benefit from playing this game.

7. Draw the Mood

Here is one of the best go-to 5-minute team building activities if you really want to promote team-building while inspiring everyone’s creativity.

Everybody on the team should draw their mood after receiving a sheet of paper and some drawing tools. You’ll discover that the concluding photographs elicit fascinating discussions and provide everyone with a glimpse into one another’s characters. Another suggestion is to have everyone on the team draw what they have planned for the weekend.

8. Praise Time

For worker motivation to remain strong, employee recognition is highly essential.

The praise time session provides a chance to applaud and acknowledge the efforts and accomplishments of employees. Asking participants to assemble in a circular path is one technique to conduct a time of appreciation. The team leader will pick one person to recognize for an accomplishment. The chosen participant will then follow suit with a different player before taking a seat. The action continues until the final participant takes a seat.

9. Team Stretching

Most of us spend innumerable hours sitting at work, which can inhibit our capacity for effectiveness, efficiency, and engagement. You can squeeze in a short five-minute yoga session in your workplace if you have the room. If the room is limited, think about performing a few quick standing stretches to stimulate blood flow before continuing with the day. Stretching as a team can be a little awkward at first, but it’s a great way to get everyone at ease with one another.

If it seems like your staff is revitalized and motivated by your stretching sessions, you can think about making this a morning habit for the office.

10. Paper Tower

This engineering feat is yet another one of the top 5-minute team building activities which will aid in the growth mentality development of your team. Teams have 5 minutes to construct the tallest paper tower using only a few bits of paper by folding or ripping them. They are not allowed to use any additional supplies, such as tape, glue, stapling, etc. The three-minute and one-minute marks should serve as reminders to keep track of the time. After the activity has been completed, you can ask your team members to share what they learned.

11. Secret Office Friend

One of the top 5-minute team building activities fostering friendship in small groups is the Secret Office Friend game. The team captain will list each player’s name on a sheet of paper, wrap it, and shuffle it throughout this activity. From the shuffled pieces of paper, each participant will choose one. Each participant will keep their chosen friend’s identity a secret and watch out for them.

This activity may continue during the allotted time, let’s say, a week. Every day, the secret pals will spend a short amount of time writing an anonymous word of support. For instance, a team member could write, “I observed how difficult it was for you to settle the upset customer today. You’re doing a fantastic job.” Employees who have friends at work engage more fully at work.

12. 5-Minute Trivia

Everyone enjoys trivia, right? A fast five-minute trivia game can be the best thing to lift everyone’s spirits if you think your workplace is feeling or getting a little flat. However, this game requires some advanced planning because you’ll need to think of engaging themes and a few queries for each. You can think about including a mixture of inquiries about your company mixed in with amusing general information.

13. Show and Tell

Whether you manage an office-based or virtual team, people might work with each other for ages without ever experiencing how their coworkers know them. Playing 5-minute team building activities like a game of “Show and Tell” is a time-honored approach to encourage employees to introduce themselves.

Asking your employees to bring a sentimental item from their residence or place of employment several days in advance will help you prepare your team. Each person can present their object and explain why it is significant to them and what it means, as well as how it relates to the group.

14. The Worst Job

Here’s yet another entertaining exercise that will be enjoyed by your staff and shouldn’t take too long. After the staff has been divided into smaller groups, have each person walk around the circle and describe their worst job. The responses would surprise you! This five-minute team building activities/ icebreaker game’s goal is to get your team talking about something private or embarrassing to an extent.

15. Dance Session

It could be difficult to involve your employees in a dance session if they are reclusive introverts who need their own space. But dancing offers so many advantages for both the body and the mind! Isn’t it? It is hence difficult to leave it out of the list of the top 5-minute team building activities.

You’ll probably discover that your team is energized and a lot more talkative following the dancing session, even if they initially perceive the activity to be weird and stupid. They’ll eventually advise you to take quick dance breaks during tense meetings.

16. Blow Your Trumpet

With the help of this game, team members can practice self-appreciation and learn that it is OK to highlight their own accomplishments. Each player on the team must share a personal accomplishment for this game. The manager is only required to list accomplishments that are directly related to the job at hand. Members ought to feel free to explain the incentives they’ve earned.

As an illustration, a staff member might claim, “I got promoted to be a sales manager as I brought on many more clients and boosted sales by almost 46% last year.”

This activity is overall meant to help participants recognize their abilities. The game also pushes the other members of the squad to attain comparable results.

17. Word Association

Another one on the list of 5-minute team building activities is Word Association. This activity improves communication with your team. This activity might help your organization relax or prepare for a crucial meeting by providing a mental break.

This game is incredibly fun and simple at the same time. Giving your team a prompt word and asking individuals to interact, and sharing a term they identify with the prompt is all that is necessary. Each member of the team can give a succinct justification for why they made that connection.

18. What’s My Name?

If you’ve been looking for one of the best 5-minute team building activities for people on your team who don’t recognize each other quite well, this is a great approach.

All you require is a pen, some pieces of paper and maybe some tape. Sticky notes can be used as an alternative to paper and tape. Write the names of well-known individuals who should all be familiar on sheets of paper or sticky notes. Then, utilizing one sheet of paper for each team member, you will adhere them on their foreheads.

Pairing everyone off with a companion is the following phase. These two people can then start asking one another yes-or-no questions to try to decipher what is written on the piece of paper that is affixed to their foreheads.

19. Helium Stick

Another popular 5-minute team building activities include the Helium Stick. It measures how well your team works together and has good hand-eye coordination. The guidelines are straightforward: Your staff should be categorized into two parts, each of which should stand up facing the other (at arm’s length). Then, request that they extend their arms and make an index finger gesture. Put any metal rod, including a helium cylinder, on their fingertips. The rod must be placed on the floor gently and without falling.

20. Bucket List

The bucket list is one of those 5-minute team building activities that is a speedy and simple approach for people to express what is important to them through the bucket list game. The only thing you need to do is ask each member of the team to disclose one item from their “Bucket List” (the list of things they want to do before they pass away) and briefly explain why they are drawn to completing this task. The main issue with this activity is that it will probably be tough to limit the talks it starts to only 5 minutes.

21. Playing with Possibilities

To begin, gather a few random items from all over the office, preferably 1 or 2 for each team member. Give each participant an item to utilize in an alternative manner when it is their turn to speak. For instance, a player could pretend to use chopsticks or salad tongs while holding a stapler. The other members of the team should determine the object’s alternative purpose without hearing from the participant. Employers can foster innovation by asking staff to come up with novel uses for everyday objects.

22. Never Have I Ever

Here’s one of the most well-known and all-time favorite 5-minute team building activities. Each participant lists a former activity they haven’t engaged in while playing, starting with five fingers up. Anyone else on the team who engaged in that behavior will place one finger on the ground. When a player touches the ground with all 5 of their fingers, they are out of the game.

The corporate variant of this activity will undoubtedly need to be sanitized and suited for the workplace. You may ask participants to list an office-related or, for remote employees, a work-related behavior they have never engaged in before.

Wrapping It Up

Employees who enjoy their jobs work harder. When your team is pressed for time, 5-minute team building activities can come in handy. It only takes 5 minutes of icebreaker games or activities to motivate your staff. During hectic days, these exercises revitalize teams and boost energy and focus. At times, it can be difficult to complete these tasks in even less than five minutes. As a result, you should prepare and gather the necessary materials before the activity.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What do 5-minute team building activities entail?

Activities for swift teams that last five minutes or less are known as 5-minute team building activities. Teams engage in these activities to boost morale, teamwork, and trust while lowering anxiety and fatigue. The terms “five-minute games,” “five-minute energizers,” and “five-minute icebreakers” are also used to describe these activities.