3 Teambuilding Activities You Can Do During Your Next Meeting
Teambuilding should happen everyday. Beyond the usual main event where we gather everyone together for a day or two of fun and learning, what happens next is absolutely crucial in sustaining the teambuilding high.
One question that is often asked is: “How do we keep building the team especially when we go back to our regular routines and we’re working in smaller teams once more?” One of the best ways to do this is by starting to introduce teambuilding activities in your meetings.
Now, these activities don’t have to be overly physical, nor do they need to take up 30 minutes or an hour of your time. It’s important to understand that teambuilding can be done within a few minutes and well within the confines of a meeting room. Here are three quick activities you can do during your next meeting.
1 - CHECK IN
When to do this: Before the start of the meeting
How does this build the team?
Gets members to open up about current emotions and mindsets.
Promotes openness and compassion because it allows the team to support each other during the meeting.
Sets the tone and grounds everyone in preparation for the meeting.
Allows members to reset and settle down. Especially if they just came from a previous meeting.
Instructions: Once everyone is settled in their seats, ask one (1) question. The question could be formal or informal and depends on the objective you want to meet. Do you want to lighten the mood? Do you want to know how everyone is feeling? Do you want to draw something inspirational from your team? What’s important is to stick to a single question that everyone can focus on. Give everyone a minute to think of their response.
“What’s one emotion that you are feeling right now?”
“In a sentence, how are you feeling?”
“How was your sleep and what was the first thing you did when you woke up?”
HINT: If you can’t think of new questions and ideas, try using THIS FREE CHECK-IN GENERATOR.
2 - INTENTION SETTING
When to do this: Before the start of a meeting, before a feedback or coaching session
How does this build the team?
Reminds members of their purpose of being in the meeting and therefore helping increase their focus.
Helps members settle down and mindfully prepare them for the meeting.
Creates a sense of unity and clarity to the meeting which fosters a more open and collaborative environment.
Instructions: Once everyone is in their chairs, ask “what’s your intention for this meeting?”
3 - RETROSPECTING
When to do this: Before the meeting ends
How does this build teams:
Brings awareness of the positive behaviors that the team demonstrated and should repeat during succeeding meetings.
Surfaces points for improvement so that meetings could be more efficient and effective.
Builds trust and openness within the team as it allows a safe space for members to give feedback to help the team improve its performance.
Creates a culture of learning and continuous improvement.
Improves the way meetings are being run.
Instructions: Allot time before the meeting ends to ask the members the following question
What did we do well in this meeting?
What could be better?
If it helps, do set aside out 5-10 minutes when preparing the meeting agenda to do a retrospective activity. That way, there is more intention to the action and the team can avoid forgetting to retrospect especially when everyone needs to rush to a next meeting or go back to their work areas.