By the way, business games on problem Develop Problem Solving Skills solving are not suitable for every team. Participants must be sufficiently receptive and ready to accept any ideas and solutions. They also need flexible thinking and the ability to go beyond rigid structures, plans and processes. Problems usually arise at the most unexpected moment, so there is no better way to prepare for them than to learn to be flexible and act outside the box. In this case, the manager can safely use flexible methods of managing the project team, knowing that his subordinates are independent enough to cope without strict instructions.
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Another aspect to consider when participating in
Team games and activities is that there are no
winners or losers. Sure, some games have one winner, but the real purpose is to learn teamwork and flexible thinking. For learning purposes, after each game, the winning team members should report on the strategy that led them to victory and the actions they took.
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From a list of team-based problem-solving games that involve everything from blindfolds to raw eggs, we’ve picked out the best ones that are sure to get you problem-solving as fast as Scooby-Doo.
Classic business games that develop problem solving skills
1. The Sinking Ship
Develops the ability to adapt.
Equipment needed: rope, blanket or tape to mark the spot on the floor.
Rules of the game: Mark a limited area on the floor with a rope (blanket, tape) and have your team stand on it. Gradually reduce this space over 10-15 minutes, and have the participants look for a way to keep each other inside and not “fall overboard.”
2. Spaghetti and Marshmallow Tower
Develops teamwork skills.
Equipment needed: 20 pieces of uncooked spaghetti, one roll of duct tape, a meter-long piece of rope, and one marshmallow for each team.
Game rules: Your goal is to build the indonesia telegram data tallest tower that can stand on its own, ahead of the opposing teams. If you want to make the game more difficult, set an additional condition: the marshmallow must be on top of the tower and used as a “dome”. This exercise teaches active thinking, and also strengthens team spirit and develops leadership skills.
3. Eggfall
Develops teamwork skills and decision-making abilities.
Supplies needed: a dozen eggs; building materials (newspapers, drinking straws, duct tape, cling film, balloons, rubber bands, popsicle sticks, etc.) ; tarp or drop cloth, parking lot or any area where you don’t mind making a mess.
Game rules: Each team gets an egg and chooses its own building materials. In 20-30 minutes, participants must build a protective container that will prevent the egg from breaking. Then drop the containers with eggs from a height (from a high table or even from the second floor) and see whose egg does not break. If several eggs survive, gradually increase the height of the fall until only one winner remains.
4. Locked in
Develops communication skills and decision-making abilities.
Necessary equipment: office.
Game rules: Imagine that your team is locked in an office. All doors are locked, and you are not allowed to break them or knock out windows. In 30 minutes, team members must select 10 common objects from your office that they need to survive and rank them in order of importance. The goal is to discuss the proposed lists and the order of the objects in thirty minutes and come to an agreement.
Games that develop creative problem solving
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5. Lego
Develops communication skills.
Required equipment: Lego set.
Game Rules: Divide into small teams of two or more participants. Choose a leader who is not part of any team and has 10 minutes to build a structure of any kind using Lego blocks. The teams then have 15 minutes to accurately reproduce the structure using blocks of the same color and shape. However, only one participant from each team can see the original structure. This participant will have to clearly and accurately describe the dimensions, colors, and shape of the original structure. If you think this is too easy, do not allow the “seeing” participant to touch the structure that their team is building. This game will help you understand the importance of effective communication.
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6. Escape
Develops teamwork skills.
Required inventory: 1 rope, 1 key, a locked room and 5-10 riddles or puzzles depending on how much time you want to spend on the game.
Game rules. The goal of this exercise is to escape from a locked room within the allotted time by finding the key using the prepared clues. The key and clues must be hidden in advance. The team is locked in a room, and in 30 minutes or one hour, the players must find the key using the clues hidden there. To successfully complete the game, you need to be able to work together and brainstorm, trying to understand what this or that clue means.
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7. Polar explorers
Develops the ability to make decisions and adapt.
Necessary equipment: blindfolds and one package of “building materials” (cardboard sheets, toothpicks, rubber bands or stickers) for each team, electric fan.
Game rules: Imagine that you are brave Arctic explorers, wandering through the icy wilderness. Each team chooses an “expedition leader”. In 30 minutes, a snowstorm is about to hit, and each team needs to build a shelter to stay alive. Unfortunately, the expedition leader has frostbitten hands, so he can’t participate in the construction, and the others have snow blindness, so they can’t see. After 30 minutes, turn on the fan and see whose shelter survives.
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8. Minefield
Develops communication skills.
Equipment needed: an empty room or hallway, blindfolds, and a set of common office supplies.
Rules of the game. Scatter objects (boxes, office chairs, water bottles, etc.) randomly on the floor so that it is impossible to walk from one end of the room to the other without bumping into something. Divide the participants into pairs and blindfold one of the partners. The second partner must lead their partner from one end of the “minefield” to the other without touching any mines. However, they are not allowed to touch their partner. If you want to make the task more difficult, launch all the pairs into the “minefield” at the same time so that the players have to listen more carefully to the instructions of their “guides”.
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9. Blind figures
Develops communication skills.
Necessary equipment: blindfolds, rope.
Rules of the game. Players put on bandages and stand in a circle. The ends of the rope are tied together and it is laid out in front of buy email databases for better lead generation the participants in the form of a circle, so that each player can bend down and feel it. The leader tells the players to take the rope in their hands and form a geometric figure with it: a square, a triangle, a rectangle, etc. Players can talk to each other, but they cannot take off their bandages. If you have a lot of participants, you can divide them into teams and give each team a rope. The team that builds the desired figure faster wins.
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Simple and easy games that develop problem solving skills
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10. Blind formation
Develops communication skills.
Necessary equipment: blindfolds.
Rules of the game. The participants are Fax Database blindfolded, and then the leader whispers a number to each player, starting with one. Then the participants must line up in ascending order of their numbers, without talking to each other. You can also line up not by number, but by height, age, birthday, etc.
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11. Turn the Pyramid Over
Develops the ability to adapt and teamwork skills.
Necessary equipment: not needed.
Rules of the game: Participants stand to form a pyramid, like billiard balls. Then the leader says that three of the team members must move so that the top and bottom of the pyramid change places. It is best to do this exercise in a large group, which can be divided into smaller teams and see who can turn the pyramid over faster.
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12. Change of places
Develops the ability to adapt and teamwork skills.
Necessary equipment: chalk, rope, tape, paper (to mark the place where you can stand).
Game Rules: Divide the group of players into two teams and line them up in two lines facing each other. Using chalk, tape, string or sheets of paper (depending on what floor you are playing on), mark the spot where each player stands, as well as one additional empty space between the two lines. The goal is to get the lines to switch places.
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Use the following restrictions:
- Only one person can move at a time.
- You cannot change places with a player facing the same direction.
- You can’t go backwards.
- During one turn, a player cannot change places with more than one player from the second team.
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13. A Tangled Story
Develops the ability to adapt and teamwork skills.
Necessary equipment: not needed.
Game rules: All participants must stand in a circle, then each player takes the hands of any two players who are not standing next to him. After everyone takes hands, ask the players to “untangle” themselves and form a perfect circle without letting go of their hands. This will require creative and strategic thinking from the participants of the game.
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The last two games are suitable for situations where you have a problem that needs to be solved.
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14. Competition for the dumbest idea
Objective: to solve the current problem.
Necessary equipment: not needed.
Rules of the game: Sometimes the “stupid” ideas are the best ones. Ask each participant to suggest the dumbest solution to a pressing problem. Then, having made a long list, try to find a solution that is not so dumb.
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Brainstorm in Wrike project management system . It’s free and allows participants to start collaborating right away.
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15. What would X do?
Objective: to solve the current problem.
Necessary equipment: not needed.
Game rules: Have each participant imagine themselves as a celebrity or prominent person they admire. Then ask each player what their character might say if they were faced with the current problem? How would they solve it? This will allow each participant to think of a possible solution that might not have occurred to them otherwise.
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Want more business games? Check out ” The Ultimate Guide to Team-Building Business Games “.
Or read about other ways to motivate your employees .
Do you know a business game that everyone likes?
Tell us about your favorite team games that help you manage your project team in the comments!
Don’t forget that another easy way to improve project team management is to choose the right collaboration software. Wrike’s project workforce management system will simplify the exchange of information between employees, help coordinate their efforts, and provide transparent reporting on results.
