101 of the Best Corporate Team-building Activities

101 of the Best Corporate Team-building Activities by Simon Priest and Karl Rohnke (2000).

This is a collection of the best active learning experiences for building corporate teams. It has proven very valuable to business trainers and team developers who wanted to inject their programs with action-oriented events and strong metaphoric messages about learning or change in organizations. Each activity is illustrated and consists of the following topic headings:

• action
• intent
• equipment
• set up
• task
• constraints
• safety
• facilitation
• variations

Each activity also has a key indicating the extent of:

• props needed
• movement (hard breathing to easy sitting)
• time required from presentation to review
• suggested size of group
• alias names for the activity
• comments about origin of the activity.

Table of Contents

• Introductions
• The Authors
• Key Definitions
• Glossary of Terms
• Facilitation Techniques
• Table of Activities
• Activity Legend

1. Name Communication (Toss a Name)
2. Messaging System (Group Juggling)
3. High Speed Data Transfer (Warp Speed)
4. Problem and Crux Identification (2B or Knot 2B)
5. Problem Solving (Knots in a Rope)
6. Part of the Problem or Solution (Human Knots)
7. Sharing Resources to Reach Goals (Traffic Jam)
8. Integration versus Separation (2X4 or 4X2)
9. Minimizing Waste by Efficiency Audit (Chinese Checkers)
10. Competing for Limited Resources (Tic Tac Toe)
11. Elevating the Corporation (Suspension)
12. Life: A Balance of Work and Family (The Porcupine)
13. Office Wiring & Other Brainteasers (Assorted Puzzles)
14. Reorganizing Warehouse Inventory (Towers of Hanoi)
15. Passwords and Combinations (Neat Puzzle)
16. Raising Group Performance (Washtub Willies)
17. Juggling Customers for Better Service (Balloon Foosball)
18. Hiring Staff for the Best Job Fit (Balloon in a Glass)
19. Reorganizing the Hierarchy (Continuous Circles)
20. Supporting your Group Leader (Duct Tape)
21. Product Packaging and Protection (Egg Drop)
22. Reaching the Daily Sales Quota (Paper Drop)
23. Partners for the First Week of Work (Paired Trust Walk)
24. Travelling in a Foreign Business Land (Group Sherpa Walk)
25. Sharing a Common Vision (Sheep Herding)
26. Group Trust and Support (Yurt Circle)
27. Mutual Trust and Support (Wind in the Willows)
28. Coworker Trust and Support (Trust Fall)
29. Completing Company-wide Projects (Tangrams)
30. Replicating Product from Blueprints (Le Cav (the cave))
31. Disassembly and Reassembly (The Window)
32. Building a New Group Structure (Blindfolded Tent)
33. Shaping the Organization (Blind Polygon)
34. Product Logo Duplication (Sighted Star, House)
35. Producing a Prototype (Team Triangle)
36. Factory Pilot Testing (Identical Objects)
37. Project Setbacks (Minefield)
38. Getting There on Time (Photo Finish)
39. Orientation to the Organization (Turnstiles)
40. Competing for Customers (Insanity)
41. Caring for the Customer (Lowering the Bar)
42. Taking Stock: The Product Inventory (Key Punch)
43. Changing Shifts as Smoothly as Possible (Don't Touch Me)
44. What Do You Stand For? (Distributions, Lineups)
45. Project Management Is a Balancing Act (TP Shuffle)
46. Journeying around the World (Quadjam)
47. Restructuring the Organization (Magic Carpet Ride)
48. Corporate Mergers (Diminishing Circles)
49. Group Golf (Executive Marbles)
50. Rescuing Stranded Motorists (Screened Retrieval)
51. Removing Waste Products (The Grabber)
52. Winning Back Lost Customers (Tree Retrieva)
53. Accessing Archived Data (Amazon)
54. Building and Testing a Network (Ravine)
55. Computer Disinfectant (Nuclear Reactor)
56. Obtaining Raw Materials from Suppliers (Giant Lizard Egg)
57. Disseminating Raw Materials (Toxic Waste)
58. Manufacturing Conveyer Systems (Bull Rings)
59. Getting the Goods to the Warehouse (Waterfall)
60. Delivering the Product to Market (Communication Lines)
61. Sampling Public Opinion (Under the Bridge)
62. Plugging Leaks with Public Relations (Punctured Drum)
63. Aqueducts and Oil Pipelines (Bobsleds, Halfpipe)
64. Shipping by Rail (Immobile Chopsticks)
65. Trucking to the Showroom (Jelly Roll)
66. Transitioning Uphill toward Profit (Juggernaut)
67. Acquiring New Customers (Trolleys, Skis)
68. Surviving the Fiscal Year (Stepping Stones)
69. Writing a New Mission Statement (A-frame)
70. Shepherding the Proposal (Keep It Up)
71. One for All and All for One! (All Aboard)
72. Everyone for Themselves! (Maze)
73. Quality Is a Journey Not a Destination (Gridlock)
74. Gathering the Group Together (Jail Break)
75. Data Download (Electric Nuclear Fence)
76. Conflict Resolution (Croc Pit)
77. Distribution Network (Spider's Web)
78. Labor Negotiations (Meuse, Acid River)
79. Executing the Strategic Plan (Zig Zag)
80. Venturing with Insured Objectives (Mohawk Walk)
81. Partner Trust and Support (Wild Woosey)
82. Trading Places (Whale Watch)
83. Replacing a Defective Part (Tired Pole)
84. Constant Patient Care (The Spool)
85. Freighting from Wholesale to Retail (The Beam)
86. An Insurmountable Obstacle (The Wall)
87. Ascending to a New Order (Mineshaft)
88. Courier Delivery (Nitro Crossing)
89. Climbing the Corporate Ladder (High Ladder Climb)
90. Making Defect-free Widgets (Pick and Choose)
91. The Group That Blows Together (Team Blowgun)
92. Building a Better Mousetrap (Mousetrap)
93. Advertizing to a Target Audience (Catapult)
94. Quality Benchmarking (Tower Building)
95. Seamless Programming (Bridge It)
96. Workforce Integration (Bridge over Troubled...)
97. Passenger Transportation (Raft Building)
98. Hostile Takeover (Plane Crash)
99. Collecting Outstanding Debt (Score Orienteering)
100. Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREx)
101. The Final Problem (Wild Goose Chase)

About the Authors

Simon Priest, Ph.D. is the leading researcher and writer in the area of corporate experiential training and development. He presently consults for a handful of progressive corporations interested in staying ahead of their global competition by focusing on the acquisition and maintenance of relationships among human resources. His consulting expertise lies in facilitation, leadership and executive programs.

Karl Rohnke is a name synonymous with group initiatives and ropes courses. His best selling books and pioneering designs set the innovative standards of this field. He currently travels worldwide, presenting clinics on the application of experiential activities to all kinds of human growth situations. He has written over a dozen books devoted to active-based learning and adventure activities.

More Information

• 101 diagrams
• 232 pages
• ISBN: 1-932298-01-0