Team dynamics are a key part of any successful team. Everyone needs to have a good, working relationship to work together and achieve their goals. One of the best ways to promote good team dynamics is with team building activities for small groups.
Many have a preconception that team building is for larger teams and groups. However, that is not the case. Small teams can benefit from small group team building activities just the same. These activities can foster teamwork, improve relationships, better communication, and create lasting memories.
In today’s blog, we’re going to look at the best team building activities for small groups. We’ll also cover the basics of small group team building, why it works, and how to choose the right events for your team. By the end, you’ll be ready to do team building with your small team.
Why Small Group Team Building Activities Work
First, let’s start by talking a little bit about why team building activities small group actually work. While it is often assumed that team building works best with bigger groups, that’s not true. On the contrary, many would argue that team building is more effective in smaller groups. So let’s dig a little deeper.
There are many reasons for team building. It builds relationships, improves communication, develops skills like leadership, boosts morale, betters company culture, and much more. These things can all be a big benefit to your business.
Improved communication and teamwork means more innovation, which helps boost efficiency and stay competitive. Higher morale means lower turnover, allowing you to build more experienced teams. All of these benefits directly translate to your bottom line, so they aren’t something to scoff at.
So how does small group team building come into play? With small group team building, you still get all those same benefits. However, you’re in a small group, which means you’ll have a much more intimate and connected experience. And many believe those experiences are more impactful.
To make a comparison, think about a college class with 20 students and one with 200. Even though you’re getting the same information in both, the 20 student class is likely to be a better educational experience.
In the 200 seat class, there’s a lot of people vying for attention. You won’t have as close a relationship with the professor, and you likely won’t even know most of your classmates. Though it’s still an education, it’s a much less connected and personal experience.
In the 20 seat class though, there aren’t nearly as many people. You can form a closer relationship with the professor, and you can get a more personalized education. You’ll also likely know most of your classmates, encouraging communication and the formation of bonds.
The same applies to team building. Large group team building is great and a resource teams should take advantage of, but small group team building is often more intimate and impactful. You get a more unique and grounded experience, and you’ll be working in small groups that force you to develop connections with your teammates.
In summation—team building can be incredibly beneficial and help you and your employees develop skills, build relationships, and more; those benefits are further amplified in small group team building due to its more intimate and connected nature.
Top Team Building Activities for Small Groups
Now, let’s look at some fun team building activities for work small groups. There are tons and tons of small group team building activities for work to choose from, so knowing what’s out there is important. Here are some of the best team building activities for small groups.
In-Person Small Group Activities
- Domino Effect: Ever wanted to build a Rube Goldberg machine? Then this is the event for you. With this activity, you and your team get hands on while building your own Rube Goldbers. This event focuses on creativity and team collaboration.
- IBuild: This is a simple yet fun and impactful event for small teams. You will be tasked with recreating a model as quickly as possible. It sounds simple, but this event forces your team to communicate effectively, work together, make decisions, and be a team player.
- Ice Sculpting: Ice sculpting, really? It may sound silly, but this event has become a hit. As you’d expect, this event requires creativity, teamwork, determination, planning, and a cool composure. You and your team will have fun and make art while bettering your skills.
- Mission ImPAWssible: Coming together for a good cause is one of the best ways to unify your team, and this event lets you do exactly that. You and your team will build wheelchairs for pets with disabilities which get donated to pets in need. This event emphasizes the importance of social responsibility, empathy, and compassion.
- Animate: Stop motion effects are timeless, and so is this event. Work together with your team to unleash your creativity through the power of stop motion animation. You and your teams will need to rely on your planning, communication, coordination, and creativity. This is one of our favorite small group team building activities for work.
Virtual Small Group Activities
- Virtual Race Around the World: Scavenger hunts are one of the most popular small group team building activities for work, and now you can do them virtually. With this event, your team will need to communicate, plan, and collaborate to win the race.
- Virtual Mixology: Who says work can’t be fun? Learn tips, tricks, and recipes from a professional mixologist in this event. Though it may sound like fun and games, this event encourages creativity, comradery, and communication.
- Virtual Escape Rooms: Escape rooms are one of the classic virtual team building activities for small groups, and this one is sure to help your team improve their problem solving, critical thinking, and teamwork skills. Will you and your team be able to escape? Give it a shot and find out!
- Sight Unseen Empathy Training: Empathy is essential for any cohesive team, and this event helps encourage and develop it. Participants will be blindfolded and forced to rely on their team member’s guidance as they perform tasks and challenges. This event also raises awareness about empathy, inclusion, and diversity.
- Virtual Laughter Yoga: Laughter is the best medicine. Let loose and laugh with virtual laughter yoga. You and your team will be guided through laughter yoga, helping enhance health, encourage relaxation, and promote wellness.
How To Choose the Right Team Building Activity for Small Group
Before finishing things up, we quickly need to talk about choosing the right team building activity. It is crucial that the activity you choose aligns with your team, their group dynamics, and your goals/objectives. So let’s cover a few things you should keep in mind.
First and foremost, you need to choose an event that fits your goals. If you want to improve leadership skills, you need an event that prioritizes that. If not, you could end up spending time on an event that does not achieve what you want.
You also need to keep your group size and composition in mind. Is your group 5 people? 15? 50? Are they virtual? In-person? Both? These are essential questions to ask yourself. If you choose an event that doesn’t fit your group, it could go negatively.
For example, let’s say you have a 15 person team. Everyone works in-person but three of them. If you choose an in-person event, you’ll be excluding those three. That can create conflicts in the workplace as those employees might feel like they are being ignored and not cared about.
So always make sure you consider your team and its composition when choosing a team building event. You want one that matches your team, its makeup, and your goals.
Last but not least, you also need to keep in mind that your team has preferences. Some people don’t like competitions and prefer something less competitive, while others love races and challenges.
Try to choose events that your employees will enjoy. If you have an office full of people who don’t drink, team mixology is probably a bad choice. But if that team loves exercise and wellness, laughter yoga might be a perfect fit.
At the end of the day, it’s your decision. However, do your best to factor in your team, its size, its composition, and their personalities/preferences. Choosing the right event for your team can make it that much more impactful. So make an effort to find an event that is suited for you and your team.
Small Group Team Building with TeamBonding
Many people think that team building is only for big groups, but small group team building is often the most impactful. It can help you improve team dynamics, better specific skills, better teamwork, and much more. Don’t skip out on team building because you don’t think your team is big enough.
If you’re ready to team build with your small team, look no further than TeamBonding. We have over 25 years of experience doing corporate events, and we have a wide variety of events suited for small teams. So get in touch with us today and start bettering your team.
