9 Quick and Easy Team Building Exercises for Managers

If you got a new team of managers, you should definitely try out some quick and easy team building exercises for managers that work like a charm! Activities are the most fun and effective way to assess and improve on skills. And, when you have a team that will be heading other employees in future, there are quite a few skills they need to have under their belt. Good thing is, with these exercises you can not only pinpoint at specific areas for development, but you can actually spend minimum time in doing it.

So, what skills are we talking about? Well, for starters new managers need to be great planners; for they will be doing a lot of planning once their work begins. They’d also be negotiating with clients and vendors, round the clock. These quick and easy team building exercises we are recommending can help them brush up their planning and negotiating skills in no time and since they are so much fun, nobody is complaining.

For marketing managers, some strong marketing and convincing skills aren’t a bad bet at all! So we included some activities that can address those areas as well. Of course, you can do them from time to time to keep the team on its toes and be sure they are never slacking. And, like we said, we are sure everybody will be enthusiastic about them because they are a great way to take a break from work and still be building on the much-needed expertise.

Nevertheless, for a great management team to function properly you will need a great team of subordinates who are well bonded together. So consider checking out our other list of The 6 Best Company Team Building Activities to Build Workplace Camaraderie, and get some ideas to build a strong well-connected team that works together in perfect unison.

So are you all on board now? Let’s check out the fun activities that will give you guaranteed results!

9. Road Map Game,

A fun planning exercise to begin with, the Road map game requires the team to be divided into two groups. Then hand each one a copy of the same map. Remember, it can be a map of anywhere, state or a country. Now each group is required to plan a vacation within some parameters such as what items they are allowed to take with them, the beginning and end of the journey, how much cash they can spend, what kind of car, the amount of gas usage etc. If they run out of cash or gas, they lose while there can be other awards for whoever plans the best holiday.

8. The $2 Negotiation,

Here the teams will be negotiating with each other for $2! Firstly divide them into groups of three and give them each two one dollar coins. Now the teams need to negotiate among themselves and decide who gets to keep the coins. Two of the team members could end up with one coin each while they might offer the third person to forgo his share for something else on offer. But, if after 5 minutes no decision is made the team loses.

7. Tag Team Game,

Firstly, the team is divided into groups and each member shares their strengths and weaknesses with their group. Now the team is required to come up with ‘the ideal team member’ using the strengths of individual team members. The idea is to understand how the synergy is created in the team with the strengths of the members as individuals.

6. Card triangles,

Now, here’s one of the quick and easy team building activities for managers that helps gather some steam on the negotiation skills. Get a deck of cards and cut them into 3 triangles before shuffling and placing them into envelopes. Now each team is handed an envelope and is required to barter with the other teams in order to complete their cards.

5. Me, Myself and I,

The managers are getting too self-centered? Try this game where they need to talk impromptu about anything except themselves. Pair them up and every participant takes turn to talk for 3 minutes non-stop without using the word ‘I’. A quick one for improved communication skills and adds in a little humility as well.

4. Washing Machines,

A fun creative selling activity to get those brain cells working. The teams need to come up with a sales pitch for a 10,000 used washing machines that no one wants. After 8-10 minutes each team presents their commercial. It’s a great way to hone those sales skills.

3. Paper and Straws Game,

Just get some drinking straws and paper, and your set to try out this activity! The prep begins with drawing a large circle on the paper along with concentric smaller ones and assigning each circle with a score. The smallest circle in the middle being the highest scored one. Some small paper balls are made and each participant are handed their straws. Now they must blow into their straws and move the balls and score as they get into each circle. Sounds easy right? But, quite some planning is required as the balls keep coming in!

2. Change Time Line,

Learning from your past is also a big up! So here in this game we are doing just that. Get each participant to write down five major changes they have gone through in their lives in the form of a time line with the changes marked as ‘X’. Now pair them up and have them ask relevant questions to each other. For instance, ‘how they dealt with the changes’ or ‘their feeling before and after the change’.

1. Machine,

Get them to respond to customer’s needs. The idea is to create a human machine and make changes as per the customer directs. The teams come up with a human machine. Next, one participant from each group is selected and it is declared that those parts of the machine are obsolete. Now the team is required to make changes accordingly in 3 minutes time by using the selected participant in a new way.

So, what are you waiting for? Try out these awesome, quick and easy team building exercises for managers right away, and get your team up and going!