7 Team Building Ideas To Create An Engaged Team Below is a list of ideas of team building events that are sure to keep your employees engaged.

New employees in a company are most likely hesitant to work hand in hand with one another. A lack of interaction can cause conflicts, miscommunication and inefficient work flows. This is the reason why team building is an integral part of any work environment.

Team building refers to unique activities done together by staff members to develop trust and improve their bonding. It allows them to realise how important it is to set aside personal interests and instead look out for one another to achieve a much bigger goal - that of the company.

Below is a list of ideas of team building events that are sure to keep your employees engaged:

1. Back-to-Back Drawing

The goal: Communication skills

Materials needed:

• Papers
• Markers
• Pictures of simple shapes

Proper communication in the workplace prevents confusion. This also strengthens the bond between employers and employees. Back-to-Back drawing stresses out the importance of communication at work.

In this activity, employees pair up with one another and sit back to back. Person A holds an image of a simple shape in his/her hand while person B holds a marker and paper. Person A instructs person B on how to draw the image without letting him/her know what the image is. At the end of the game, all pairs are to check which pair produced the closest replica.

2. 5K Charity Run

The goal: Bonding and stress reduction

One of the best team building event ideas that brings employees together is exercise. Why not organise a 5k charity run? This is a creative way to strengthen workplace relationships outside the typical office setting. Having a 5k charity run also allows your company to raise awareness for cancer or poverty - whatever the cause you're supporting may be.

Moreover, 5k charity run events promote better health for staff members. As a form of physical activity, such events reduce their stress and help them make better decisions at work.

3. Christmas Tree Decorating Contest

The goal: Co-operation and sportsmanship

Materials needed:

• Recycled plastic bottles
• Yarns/ribbons
• Paint
• Old, unused CDs
• Etc

During the holidays, allow your staff to experience an enjoyable, competitive activity such as a Christmas tree decorating contest. A holiday contest like this encourages employees to participate and exhibit his/her own creativity to produce a winning outcome.

In this contest, your employees will be subdivided into smaller groups. Each group will be decorating their Christmas tree out of any recycled materials. The winning team would receive a cash prize or get treated for free pizza.

In addition to fostering cooperation, this holiday contest emphasises good sportsmanship. Not everyone literally wins but the good part is that a wonderful accomplishment has been made.

4. Karaoke Night

The goal: Celebrate differences

Organising an exciting karaoke night for your team allows each member to let loose and celebrate everyone's individuality.

Some employees are simply hesitant to let their guard down for fear of unacceptance. However, being vulnerable isn't as scary as one makes it out to be.

After all, singing with team members from work is a great way to hang out. There are no rules and no pressure. And who knows, amazing talents get discovered. There's definitely something awesome to reminisce the next day at the office.

5. Scavenger Hunt

The goal: Collaboration, creativity, and efficiency

Materials needed:

• Different objects
• Clues or riddles

The Scavenger Hunt is another team building game that compels team members to work well together under time pressure. In this game, you'll be dividing your staff into subgroups. All subgroups are challenged to find a list of items within a limited time frame. Set your timer to a desired number of minutes.

You can leave clues and riddles to encourage your employees to use their creativity. The team that brings the most items on the list wins.

6. A Truth And A Lie

The goal: Get to know each other better

Materials needed:

• Pens
• Sheets of paper

A Truth And A Lie is a highly popular team building activity that enables members to get to know each other better so they'll feel more at ease with interacting at work. This fun game is usually organised for new team members to break the ice.

New employees are to gather together in one circle. Each one will write two sentences on a sheet of paper. These two sentences are anything employees want to say about themselves. Sentence one is a lie and sentence two is the truth.

Each employee will be saying out out what he/she has written on paper. The rest will decide which sentence is a lie and which one is not. Those who guessed correctly get one point. The person who gets the most number of points wins.

7. Human Shapes

The goal: Planning and creativity

Find an open space where your staff members can gather. Divide them into smaller groups. Their challenge is to form words (with three to four letters) using their bodies within a specified time.

A fast-paced and challenging activity, Human Shapes compels teams to produce great outcomes based on their planning. As we all can agree, planning in the workplace is essential to deliver good, timely results.

There are still more office team building ideas you can try out. These are just a few of the best ones. Indeed, team building is something that organisations, regardless of their size, shouldn't miss.

From enhancing communication to proper planning, team building activities bring out the best in every employee, break barriers, and bring success.