Log in
Book Demo

5 Minute Team Building Activities for Work

Team Fun
feature-img

Making sure that your team has as much fun as possible and making interactions between employees natural will help to bring the team as a whole to the next level. However, this is easier said than done. Employees are usually focused on their work and are not too enthusiastic about engaging in team building activities (unless they get time off of work for it!).

As it is hard to come up with team building activities that will work, we have put together some of our favorite 5 minute team building activities to help you and your co-workers bond. We love these because they are energetic, fun, and help to break the ice and connect everyone. We hope you love them too!

Blind Drawing

What it is: This game challenges the team’s creativity and encourages them to bond one-on-one with each other.

How to play: As previously stated, this is a creative activity that requires a pen and paper (or markers and whiteboards if you have them), and pictures. Form teams of two and have each team sit back to back. One team member is given the picture, and the other the drawing materials.

Each round will last one minute. The team member with the drawing cannot directly describe what they are seeing, and can only use adjectives like “scary, big teeth, wild, etc.” When the round is over all of the teams must compare their results. The drawings are mostly hilarious and definitely help the team to focus on how important communication is.

Paper Tower

What it is: An activity for developing a growth mindset through an engineering challenge.

How to play: This is an extremely simple game that just needs a few sheets of paper to play. Each team (of how many members you deem appropriate) have exactly five minutes to try and build the highest paper tower that they possibly can. No outside or adhesive materials can be used, strength of the structure must be obtained by folding and tearing the paper.

5 Minute Team Building Activities for Work - 2

There are many ways that this can be played, as some teams can use up to 20 sheets of paper, and others challenge their creativity even more by using just two! Reminders at the three minute mark are a good idea to let the teams know how they are doing, and another reminder at the one minute mark.

Ninja

What it is: A fast activity to give the team energy and cohesiveness.

How to play: The principle of this game is to become the ultimate ninja, i.e. the member of the team with quickest reflexes. This activity should be carried out in a large space, and form a big circle. Once in the circle, they shall space themselves out by one “large step” away from one another. When everyone is ready, the team leader will shout out “Ultimate Ninja!”, and all team members must get into a ninja pose as fast as they can.

From here, starting in a clockwise direction, the first player must decide to either try to strike the player’s hand next to them, or move their body positioning. After this the next player will make the same decision, and the opposing player is allowed to move to dodge their strike. Bear in mind that your “movement” can be a step away from the circle, so strategy can come into play here! Go around the circle until one player is left, the Ultimate Ninja!

Frustration

What it is: A funny, challenging challenge to promote team bonding.

How to play: This 5 minute team building activity needs a healthy amount of chopsticks, and candy! Sweets that are small and round are best for this game, think M&Ms, Skittles, Smarties etc.

Split the ground into teams, and give each team two bowls. Put the sweets into one bowl, and leave the other empty. The premise is simple: move as many sweets from one bowl to the other using the chopsticks. The active player must also keep one hand behind their back and cannot touch the bowl. The rest of the team will watch while one player attempts to move one piece, and everyone will get a try.

The team that manages to move the most candy wins!

Will you be implementing some of these quick 5 minute team building activities into your training program? Clinked would love to hear your thoughts and input, and also if you have any activities that you think belong on this list!

Learn about Clinked


Read more about team building:

Related articles

feature image
Problem Solving Team Building Activities
Problem solving team building activities listed in this article will help improve your team's efficiency and...
feature image
Teamwork Quotes: Funny and Original Team Building Quotes
Team building quotes are a great way to bring all of your colleagues together. Funny teamwork quotes can help...
feature image
Best Work from Home Memes of All Time
Here are the funniest and goofiest work from home memes that will be sure to brighten up your day! Working...
Did you find what you were looking for?
    CTA blog footer image

    Find out how Clinked can help you achieve your goal

    Book a Demo