22 effective integration exercises

Team building exercises are like a shortcut - instead of gradually getting to know each other and building trust, your team will break the ice and start working together within an hour or a weekend. And that's what the office, company or any other team is all about. Below are 22 examples of team building exercises that build close relationships. 

Integration exercises for teamwork 

If there are conflicts in the group or the team does not know each other yet, you need to start by improving relations. The following integration exercises may be helpful: 

1. One group prepares the map and tasks, and hides the treasure. The other group must find him. 

2. Cocktail making workshops. At the end, the leader divides the participants into groups - each group has to come up with and serve an original, company cocktail. 

3. If your employees have dogs, organize a day at the park with activities such as competitions and photo shoots for the animals. 

4. Participants must come up with a way to raise money (for example, selling old stuff from the warehouse, a lemonade stand, cookie stand, etc.), raise money and donate it to the charity of their choice. 

5. Competitions in the field chosen by your team. Not a specific sport, but something less obvious like playing The Quake, riding a unicycle, blowing bubbles, origami… Competitions for integration events is one of the best examples of an effective team building exercise. 

Group integration. Exercises to help resolve conflict situations in a group

The main goal of each integration class is to improve and deepen relationships within the group. For groups of employees who don't know each other yet, it's mostly about establishing basic interactions. However, in teams and groups of employees who work together for years, conflicts and misunderstandings sometimes occur. Then all actions should be directed at determining the causes of the conflict and its resolution. 

Team conflicts

Let us remember that conflicts and misunderstandings are a natural part of life, including professional life. Don't run away from them and pretend they don't exist. Burying your head in the sand won't do anything. Let's just be good and friendly atmosphere at work. Organization parties integration events, company events and other forms of integration will certainly strengthen the team and build such relationships that conflicts, even if they arise, can be quickly resolved.     

So how do you resolve group conflicts? The basis is to create a field for dialogue and the possibility of releasing tension. All kinds work best office party. Especially during away trainings or company campfires, you can explain some things on neutral ground and quickly "clean" the atmosphere. In more difficult situations, you can always ask for help from people experienced in this field - psychologists or coaches. For more complicated situations group integration exercise they can consist of showing team members what negotiation, mediation and arbitration are all about.

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However, above all, it is necessary to find out the causes of the conflict and examine how much it affects the functioning of the company. It is also necessary to show a possible compromise and look for a solution to the conflict situation.

Integration exercises that are easiest to organize 

The easiest to organize are those integration exercises that require only the use of imagination. They can be carried out anywhere - in the park or in the office: 

6. On-line puns - there are even ready-made network games that make it easier to connect and organize teams integration games. 

7. Do you remember the TV show where millionaires evaluate business ideas? Divide the participants into groups and let each group present their idea to the others. You can introduce variations, for example, it must be a business idea aimed at employees of this company. Then you can try to implement it and see who earns the most. Or it could be an idea that uses only what is in the office. 

8. The leader states that he has no idea for teamwork exercises. Divides employees into groups of 4-5 people. Each team has an hour to come up with and present their idea for team building exercise. For the next hour, ideas are tested. 

9. Ask participants to use what they have in their pockets or on their desks to create a personal logo. In small groups, everyone can create their own, in larger groups, divide people into teams or let them arrange the logo of a department, department, etc. 

10. Memory game. First, participants prepare playing cards on cardboard. Among the pairs of pictures there may be, for example, the company logo, well-known symbols, dishes from the company canteen, etc. 

Group integration exercises

Various exercises for group integration are not only an opportunity to have fun, but also to learn about each other's capabilities. After all, the way of communicating or expressing personal expression varies from person to person. We can see, for example, that someone who seemed quite stiff at work is actually very likeable. Either he has similar hobbies to us or he likes cats or dogs, which immediately makes him more "human" in our eyes. Such closer acquaintance will certainly improve your relationship with this person. It will also allow you to communicate a little more directly and solve some problems faster.

Anyone who has ever worked in a team or tried to build a harmonious crew or managed a project realizes how important it is group communication. How important is the atmosphere in the team. Group integration exercises are designed to help build a strong and efficient team. They are an important element of directing and managing human resources. Properly conducted group integration exercises are also an opportunity for the boss to get to know his colleagues better. Perhaps there are hidden talents among them? Or people with abilities that they didn't have the opportunity to show on a daily basis. It may also turn out that an employee who seems a bit shy and withdrawn has very strong analytical skills. And you can and even need to use his skills without trying to make him, for example, a seller.

Team building - a way to integrate the team

Team building is purposeful, planned activities that allow you to integrate and strengthen a team of employees. Integration exercises, team games and activities, as well as all kinds of meetings and events are best suited for this company events. Team building activities allow you to build a harmonious team of loyal employees who can communicate and cooperate.

Artistic and sports integration exercises 

They say that everyone can sing... That's why integration exercises in an artistic atmosphere work so well. This could be, for example: 

11. Corporate karaoke.  

12. Preparing celebrity costumes from what is in the office, then Hollywood themed party. 

13. Shooting a film together, for example a promotional video for a company in the atmosphere of the one from the series The Office.

14. Making Christmas decorations together during Christmas party. 

15. Building with LEGO bricks. An example scenario of an integration exercise: the leader erects a structure of blocks and places it in the middle of the room. Groups of four have to replicate this structure, but only one member of each team is allowed to come up to look at it up close. He has to explain to the others what to do.

16. Silent disco, a disco where participants dance with headphones on. Two teams can get blue and red headphones to hear different music. The practical aspect of this exercise is that you can throw a really crazy DJ party without disturbing your friends in the next room. Participants can also create a playlist in advance, to which everyone will add one song. 

17. Talent competition - participants can perform solo or in groups. 

The value of employees

 

Your employees are the showcase of the company. By investing in them, you invest in the development of the entire organization. A well-coordinated and motivated team is worth its weight in gold!

 

Charity integration games

Team building exercises can involve working together to do something good. Something of value that will benefit other beings, other people or the entire planet. The point is to, for example, protect something or help someone. It also integrates around specific values, shows our sensitivity - as a team and as individuals.

For example, you can jointly come up with an action for homeless animals or feeding birds or hedgehogs. Or make an appointment to move frogs closer to water reservoirs during the breeding season. You can also plan cleaning of the forest, lake or meadow near the company's headquarters. By the way, we will gain a great space for integration games. Such activities really bring the team together. They show employees that they share common values and make them feel like better people. Doing good has been scientifically proven to improve your mood!

It is worth remembering that such actions fit into a broader context, i.e. management in accordance with the strategy of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Taking care of social interests or environmental aspects is especially important for the new generations, who are much more sensitive to the fate of weaker beings, the fate of the planet or ecology.

Integration fun

Of course, you can also reduce the idea of helping to the level of fun and, for example, agree that we will save an egg from breaking. The fun is that we divide the team into groups and give each group a raw egg. Together, we set the time for such an egg packaging with available means so that it does not break when dropped from a certain height. The group whose egg survives the test wins. This team building exercise is really easy to prepare. It teaches cooperation and creativity, and at the same time guarantees a lot of fun.

Integration exercises on the go 

What if you organize integration exercises outside the company, for example on a trip to the mountains? People experienced in organizing this type of event will help you choose attractions to meet the needs of the participants. What's more, they will take care of the entire setting of the event, i.e. the menu and accommodation. What integration exercises will work during your stay in the mountains? Below are some ideas: 

18. Beer brewing, including joint tasting of craft beers, or culinary workshops for companies, combined with a culinary tournament.

19. Guided tour in the mountains. 

20. Survival or paintball in teams.

21. Integration in the rope park. 

22. Military maneuvers.

Integration meetings

One of the more effective methods of corporate integration is organizing meetings and integration trips in such a form as to ensure the greatest possible freedom of expression. These can be, for example, external training, conferences or others company events. The idea is for employees to feel that they have been given a chance to exchange views and share ideas for improving cooperation in a non-committal form. And also to jointly develop a more effective model of operation and communication.

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Examples forms and methods of employee integration found in many management textbooks. Depending on its model, you can choose, for example, the method of autonomous groups or the MAPS technique or product workshops, or another. It is important for employees to feel that their work also affects the performance of other team members. And also make them understand how much effort and work their colleagues put into achieving the company's goals.

Group integrating exercises - a way to increase engagement

The research shows that the approach to professional work is changing. Especially the younger generations, just entering the labor market, set themselves slightly different goals than their parents or grandparents.

Their most important goal is no longer to have a job and a full-time job at any cost. Work is not the greatest value in life for them. These young people, millennials and people from generation Z, value flexibility and an atmosphere conducive to self-development and the pursuit of passions much more. And if these goals cannot be achieved at work, they treat it only as a necessary evil and a means to an end, which is living in accordance with the values they profess. That is why it is so important to build an environment in which they will find themselves and a team in which they will want to fulfill themselves and give the best of themselves.

Group integrating exercises they generally require at least minimal involvement from the participants. It is thanks to them that we will be able to unleash the potential of our employees. Well-chosen exercises integrating the group will certainly strengthen team motivation and can contribute to an increased sense of loyalty. If our employees understand that they themselves create their working environment, they will start to get involved in improving relations in the company or improvements that will allow them to work more comfortably and achieve their goals more easily - both their own and the company's.

Forms and methods of integration

We all know that team integration is very important. So how do you go about it effectively? What forms and methods of integration employees to choose to achieve the desired interpersonal effects? How to choose the best group building exercises? First of all, we should define the main characteristics of our team. For example, is it a new team or do we want to refresh and motivate a team with many years of experience. It is also important what tasks the team performs on a daily basis and what business goals we set for it. Its size and structure are also important when selecting exercises for group integration. Once we define the most important features of our team, the next step is to choose the appropriate forms and methods of integration.

Integration stages

Like any planned activity, team integration can be divided into stages. After all, a group of people who start working together is not a team at all. In order for them to become not just a group of people accidentally employed in one department, but to create a real dream team, it takes time and some effort, both from the management and the employee group.   

1st stage of integration

The first stage of employee integration consists mainly in enabling them to get to know each other better. It's about remembering names and having a general idea of who's who in an enterprise or company. And also what is the assignment of tasks. This stage of integration is mainly about enabling face-to-face meetings and joint training with the elements team building. Integration exercises should be selected so that the participants can learn as much as possible about each other. Get to know each other and develop some channels of direct communication.

This is the moment when we shape the right habits and learn to follow the rules in force in the company. Employees should know and understand the mission and goals of the company already at this stage. It is also about promoting desirable behaviors and the first steps in building a strong team. That is why regularity is important at this stage.

II stage of integration

The aim of the second stage of integration is to deepen relations between employees. The best methods for building a strong team are joint workshops and group integration exercises. Corporate trips are also very good, integration focicompany events. At this stage of integration, let's focus on all team games and activities, especially those that require joint creative work and improve communication. For example, building a Goldberg machine together or treasure hunt game. The team spirit will certainly be strengthened by any team games or company Olympics.

3rd stage of integration

The third stage of integration consists in tightening ties and avoiding conflicts between employees that are harmful to the company. Corporate ones are the best parties integration events during which employees can show their personality. A good example would be themed parties, for example party in the style of the 80s or gothic.

Building a strong team - common values

Employee integration can take many forms. Working together in the name of certain values is a great exercise for group integration. For example, organizing a corporate event to raise funds for people in need. Or playing together in the construction and placement of houses for birds or wild cats in a forest or park. Even such actions as the already famous cleaning up the world or team participation in a charity event will certainly unite the team.

Such exercises for group integration still do not happen very often, but they certainly strengthen the sense of community. They show that we have something in common, that we have similar sensitivities. And it is with people with whom we share values that we want to work the most, as research shows.

These are just a handful of examples of how to organize team building exercises that will bring your team together. If that's still not enough, check it out 15 reliable team building games that will appeal to employees. Do you want to organize one of them during your trip in Karkonosze? Please contact our event planning department.

The Crown of the Karkonosze Manor has the appropriate technical facilities and an experienced team that will easily prepare an integration trip for you, integration workshops, incentive trip or another corporate event, for example anniversary of the company. Sosnovka is perfect place for an integration event!