Team Building Bollocks

Have any of you do any decent team exercises/ice breaking type stuff lately that is any good? I need a short 25 minute-ish session for my team to boost the mood. It can't be an opening session for scheduling reasons but needs to be something positive. Oh and no budget.

Any ideas?

 

P.s. Last time we did a session where a hyper-intelligent extra terrestrial being (our director) was contemplating wiping out the planet or part thereof but would agree to meet with us. We split into two teams who had to devise a location, three course meal and three dinner guests which would sufficiently impress to ensure the survival of the winning team. Sounds w**ky but even the people who rolled their eyes got massively invested and it was a great session. So something like that maybe? Or something entirely different? HALP!!

Ask them to get into groups work out how, as a farmer (not pictured), you get a fox, a chicken and a bag of grain safely from one side of the river to another when the boat only holds one at a time 

There will be wine at the end of the day. But I think 11am is a bit early to be popping corks. Also feels more important given people never see each other any more and we have several new people that aren't fully integrated into the team. As I said, I know it's a bit lame but I have been tasked with sorting something out so I'm just hoping it can be not too shit.

give each group half a dozen straws four sheets of A4 paper, roll of sellotape and a raw egg. (Even your pocket can stretch to half a dozen eggs and braid on the stationery cupboard)

Group has to plan how to protect their egg, then build it, then throw it.  Group that throws the furthest intact egg, on to hard car park, (if available thrown from third floor balcony) is the winner and gets to keep their egg. Losers clear up their disasters.  For extra value, you or the PHB, can stand twenty yards away as a target.

You could do the ISIHAC game where you get them to do a 3 minute presentation on something, but have to smuggle into the presentation as many animals as possible.

Give them a task to do for 10 mins - ideas to solve world hunger. Wrote them down. Get them to juggle for 5 mins, or throw balls around with their opposite hand. Then repeat the task, and compare the results

If no budget means literally nothing, this won't work.  But if someone will spring for about £20, I once did a thing where I bought 4 identical, small Lego Classic sets (a bit like this one), then split the group into 2 teams, each with 2 identical kits.  Each team builds a model using just 1 of the kits - can be anything really.  Each team then sends in a single "ambassador" to examine the other team's model.  

The ambassador then returns to their own team and, without themselves touching any bricks, tries to describe the other team's model, which their own team than has to try to replicate based only on the ambassador's description (using their second kit).

Most accurate recreation of the other team's original model wins.

Can't remember why I did it - probably "the art of communication" or some such bollux - but it worked a treat.

Or you could just do "helium sticks".  No need to buy a fancy stick - a long bamboo cane from t'garden will do just fine.

 

Announce there will be a team building exercise. Big up how 'exciting' it is going to be all morning. How much everyone is going to love it. How pleased you are with it.  Get the person doing the kick off speech to go large on how fun it will be and how great the photos are going to be for the intranet.  Maybe drop in a reference to costumes or an obstacle course. 

By the time 11am rolls around everyone will be fvcking dreading it.  Escort them to a room. Make them queue up outside. Then open the door and 'ta da' its some really nice snacks and some fizzy wine and (actually nice) tea and coffee and a sign up on the wall saying 'just have a chat with someone you don't know'.  It will get everyone talking and laughing. 

And before someone says 'you can't have fizzy wine at 11am at a work event'. B*ll*cks. Of course you can.  But even the wine isn't essential provided there is something nice in there.