10 AWESOME Tips to Get Your Team Members Laughing, Connected and Engaged
People that play together, work better together because games lead us to feel more connected to others, to feel emotionally safer and more regulated, and to broaden our mindset to creatively solve problems. All of these states leads us to be more ready to collaborate, listen and create with others. The games below also bring a little bit of vulnerability to the surface in a way that more deeply can connect your team members to one another, and make experiencing failure and being imperfect more safe. If you play the games below with your team members, they are more likely to admit when they’ve made a mistake, to be more present in your time together, and be more creative in finding solutions towards supporting your students in the best possible way.
Pass the Ball
Staff members stand in a circle. One person pretends to hold a large ball in their hands. They pass it to someone else with great eye contact across the circle. That person needs to pretend to catch the ball and then pass it to someone else. That person catches it passes it to someone else. Etc. After a minute or two, have staff members make a high pitched “boowoo” sound when they pass the ball. It’s a funny sound that people get giggles from.
After another minute, tell staff members to make whatever sound that comes to them (as long as it’s appropriate) when they pass the ball.
Plan a Party
Group staff members in groups of 3 or 4 and tell them that they are to plan a party. Tell them that they have an unlimited budget for this party. Each person at a time adds an idea to the party. In the first go around, when a person wants to add an idea they need to start their sentence with “yes, but…”. So one staff member might say “let’s have rockets with balloons on them” and the next student will start with “yes, but let’s also have video games…”. After a minute, see if any group if willing to share what their party is like. In the 2nd go around, have staff members do the same thing but instead of saying “yes but”, have them say “yes and” when they want to add an idea. They are going to see a dramatic shift in creativity and ideation. Have groups share their ideas.
Knife and Fork
Pair staff members up. Tell them that you are going to call to things and in 5 seconds or less, without talking, they are to transform themselves into these things. Shout out Knife and Fork, and see your staff members turn into that. Then shout something else, like salt and pepper, and wait until they turn into that. Be sure to tell staff members to look at other pairs as they turn into these things.
4 Person Titanic
This game is similar to Knife and Fork except that your staff members will be in groups of four and you will give them between 10 and 15 seconds to become what you decide to call (like the Titanic). Remember to tell them to do it without talking and to look at other groups once they are done. Ideas to call out are Titanic, a plane, a car, the zoo, a house, etc…
Counting to 10 in a circle
Staff members stand in a circle. At a random order people count digits up to 10. Each student can say only one digit at a time, and if two people count at the same time, the group starts back again at zero. If the group is successful, challenge them to do the ABCs.
Name It!
Have staff members walk around the room and every 3 seconds they should stop, point at something that they see, and name it with gusto! After doing that for a minute, have staff members walk around the room and every 3 seconds they should stop, point at something that they see and name it anything they want BUT what it actually is. This is surprisingly hard to do and you can have a discussion with staff members about why that is at the end of the game.
Walk Cool
Play a fun song that staff members can dance to around the room or at least “walk cool” to. After about 15 seconds, pause the music and tell your staff members that they need to freeze. Then they are to partner up with the person that is closest to them. If someone needs a partner, partner up with them. Instruct the pair to come up with the most amazing handshake in the world. Tell them that they have 1 minute to come up with it and practice it. They also need to remember the name of their partner. Play the music again for about 15 seconds. Freeze it and tell them to partner up with a NEW partner. They are to come up with an amazing slogan (like winter is coming). On the 3rd freeze they are to find a partner and give each other kind nicknames after learning a bit about each other (1 minute), and on the fourth freeze, they are to find a partner and give them a hug. After they did they handshake, slogan, nickname, and hug with 4 different partners, tell them that they have 60 seconds to find those four partners and do these again with them. Play the music as they do it. At the end ask if anyone is proud of their handshake, their slogan, the nickname they were given, or their hug.
Group Story
Group staff members into groups of three. The staff members will create a story together by having each person say one word at a time. The first person will say “once”. The 2nd person will say “upon”. The 3rd person will say “a”. The 1st person will say “time”. Then the 2nd person says whatever word comes to them, and the 3rd person builds off of that word with their own word, and so on. The group needs to bring the story to a conclusion of some sort.
The Realtor
Pair staff members and tell one of them that they will play the realtor and the other the home buyer. The person playing the realtor takes 2 minutes to interview the home buyer about what they love to do. Then the realtor takes 2 minutes to envision in their head the perfect house for the homebuyer. Then the realtor takes the home buyer on a tour of the house. The realtor “shows” the homebuyer the door and the beautiful ringer on the door, the amazing rug, lights, art work, and all the other ideas that they came up with. Important: the homebuyer has to be excited about everything the realtor says and ask the realtor lots of questions about the house. The realtor is to be fully confident about every answer they give. At the end of the game you can ask them - how did it feel to have someone agree with you and be enthusiastic about what you said? How did it feel to come up with answers on the spot?
Group rock paper scissors
Pair staff members up and tell them to play one game of rock, paper scissors. The winner gets to duel with a winner from another pair. The loser becomes the most amazing and loud cheerleader for the winner, shouting their names and encouraging them to beat their next opponent. After the next round, the winner will have three cheerleaders behind them to duel another person who won in the 2nd round. The game continues until one person wins. Important: Emphasize that the support, enthusiasm, and team effort by the cheerleaders is way more important than the winner of the game.
There are many other strategies beyond games that can deepen the emotional resonance of your team and lead your team have more fun, be more productive, and navigate difficult problems. If you want to learn more about how we can help your Leadership Team members work more joyfully as a team and lead more easily and with integrity, please schedule a meeting to chat with me, or email us at info@eqschools.com.
I promise to give you as much value as I can during our chat together.
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