Guys, this is hard. We need fun now more than ever.
Funworks was founded on the belief that fun brings out the best in us, and we’ve committed to living that value in every way — whether it’s the comedians we bring into our client workshops or our 3 minute office dance parties.
And with each passing day, we’re discovering that fun holds more power than we ever imagined.
Robert Krulwich, former co-host to the popular podcast Radiolab, is no stranger to dealing with heavy topics. To get through it, he believes fun is essential. He describes fun as “a small, quiet, grab of the hand. Like, under the table. Like, it’s okay, or we’ll do this together. And laughter is just such an enormously powerful part of that.”
So today, we want to share with you three of our favorite team building exercises that are just pure fun.
Exercise 1 Set the stage with Zoom Backgrounds
We’ll start with the easiest. Encouraging your team to express themselves through a Zoom background is a great way to start off with a bit of fun. A simple prompt can go a long way, such as “show us your current mood with your zoom background.”
We’ve also found fun in using event-specific backgrounds, whether that’s surprising our coworkers on their birthdays with backgrounds just for them, or surprising our clients with a fun project-specific theme.
Exercise 2 Random Object Prompt
Start with a simple prompt and give your team 30 seconds to 2 minutes to find an object that answers that prompt. For example, you could ask your team to find an object that describes your brand’s personality.
The key is the strict time limit; the goal is not to find the perfect object, but to force us to stretch our imagination and pull out key insights. Plus the frantic scrambling is part of what makes this fun.
Exercise 3 Cacophony of Sound
This one is a great mid-meeting palette cleanser — encourage everyone to turn off their video and spend 30 seconds just making noises together.
A fun follow up: Guess That Sound. One participant turns off their camera and makes a sound, and everyone else guesses how they’re making that sound. Turn the camera back on for the reveal.