Here’s a list of some of the best team building problem solving activities to start getting the best out of your team. Having a great team of professionals is not enough unless you start getting them to solve complex problems and bring out the best to the desk as a team. Whether it is a specific project you are targeting or just to keep the team on their toes for an unexpected crisis management, team building exercises work the best to produce quick results and get a good look at where the team stands.
There are specific areas that can be targeted to develop when planning your team building activities including, communication, planning, adaptability, decision making and problem solving. And, today we are targeting at the problem solving activities. Problem solving processes include detecting the core of a problem, planning different courses of actions and choosing the best way to tackle the problem. This requires some amount of skill and practice from the team while working together. The idea of the exercises is to build solid skills and familiarity with the complex processes of problem solving while keeping it fun and interesting for the team. Any business organization, big or small, can successfully employ them without any major worries of spending too many work hours.
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These best team building problem solving activities can be extremely helpful in creating a strong team of professionals who are able to put their heads together as a team to target and solve specific problems. They are also great for improving communication and team bonding. Check out our list of 6 Best Company Team Building Activities to Build Workplace Camaraderie, for some other quick activities that can help build a friendly and well-connected team of employees.
For some fun and effective activities for problem solving to try at your next team building event, try out the following:
10. Legoman
All you need to undertake this activity are some sets of children’s Lego building blocks. The overseer is required to build a random structure using the blocks and the teams are required to replicate it exactly, including the size and color. Only one member from the group can check out the original structure at a time and go back to describe it to the team while they try and build the structure.
9. The Great Egg Drop
One of the classic management activities where the teams are split into smaller groups to complete the task of building an egg package that can sustain a 8ft fall of the egg. Variations can include creating an advert for the egg package by each team to increase the complexity.
Disclaimer: This can get a little messy sometimes.
8. Human Knot
The group stands in a circle and each person is required to hold hands with two persons who aren’t directly next to them. Now that they are all tangled together the next step is to untangle them into a perfect circle without letting anyone’s hand go. Requires quite some strategies, this one!
7. Survival
The teams are posed with a situation of a plane crash, and they have 12 useful items with them which they can use for survival. Now the groups are required to rank them according to their survival value. The answers are compared against expert opinion and the one closest wins! Your team has just solved their first problem, and all you needed was a pen and a paper!
6. Shrinking Vessel
This is an exercise with a simple concept but extremely effective for problem solving as well as building camaraderie. The teams are required to occupy a space that keep decreasing over time. As time goes the team would be required to come up with more creative and strategic ideas to last in the shrinking space.
5. Mystery
Who doesn’t love a good mystery? Give each member a numbered clue and ask them to solve the clues in order. As they start moving around the room, more clues get uncovered! In this game you get to play Sherlock and Watson while quickly solving problems, and that definitely qualifies as the best team building problem solving activity!
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4. Toxic Waste
The team is required to work out how to transport a small bucket of “toxic waste” into a larger “neutralization” bucket using only the tools and equipment provided. The equipment can includes ropes and cords, and the idea is to not drop any toxic waste and get it neutralized within a time frame.
3. Reversing Pyramid
Have the group stand in a pyramid shape, horizontally. Now ask them to flip the base and the apex of the pyramid by moving only three people! A quick exercise and works best for a very large group which can be divided into smaller groups to undertake the activity.
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2. Zoom
For this activity you will need the wordless sequential picture book “Zoom” by Istvan Banyai. Hand out one picture to each participant. Make sure to use pictures in a sequence. Now ask the participants to study their pictures and then create the sequence without looking at one another’s pictures, only by talking to the others.
1. Create Your Own!
And, when all else fails, you can ask them to create their own problem-solving activity! Smaller groups of 3-4 people are created and each is required to come up with unique, self-created, problem-solving activities, which is the problem they are faced with. This can actually be one of the best team building problem-solving activities which can help in fuelling creativity as well!
