With most COVID-19 restrictions having been revoked across California since June 15th, in-person is the way to go!
The past year has been unlike any other.
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The COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the country; multiple states went into lockdown, and most in-person activities were replaced by remote/online collaboration.
Of late however, we seem to be turning a corner.
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The grip of the pandemic has loosened, lockdowns have been progressively lifted, and one of the most visible impacts of the pandemic – face masking requirements – is slowly vanishing as more and more people are vaccinated.
In California, the public health order of June 15th eliminated most COVID restrictions, except for limited masking requirements and mega events.
The impact of remote working on teams
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Months-long lockdowns forced businesses to innovate, to keep operating.
And they rose to the occasion, going for extensive remote working options.
And productivity has been high.
However, studies show that it is hybrid work – in-person on some days of the week and remote working on the rest- that is the most popular with teams.
Which is why…
The ending of most COVID-19 restrictions deserves a celebration
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Meeting up in-person and engaging in human interaction with colleagues and team members – this has a hugely positive impact on team productivity and team creativity.
Which is why the ending of most COVID-19 restrictions deserves a celebration.
And what better way to do that than have a team building exercise?
Team building activities to celebrate the Great Reopening
Here are five team building activities that you can organize to celebrate the Great Reopening.
Each of them is easy to set up and has multiple benefits for participants.
Blind retriever
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You can organize this activity in your workplace. It doesn’t have to be very large, even a medium sized area will do.
Hide several objects throughout the play area.
Divide your team into groups of two to five people.
Each group will have one “retriever”, who will be blindfolded.
The rest of the group will have to guide the “retriever” to one of the hidden objects.
Or you can allocate a particular time to each group, and challenge them to “retrieve” as many objects as they can.
Pop quiz!
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Make up a long and boring speech about your work.
At a few places, insert sentences that are untrue or are unrelated to the speech/your work.
Tell your team that you’re having a team meeting, and give them the speech.
And then quiz them on the “speech”.
This is a good test of alertness.
Scavenger hunt
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If your workspace is fairly large, you can organize this there itself.
Or you can do it outdoors.
You’ll need a little advance planning.
Hide objects around the play area and think up a system of clues that can lead players to each object.
Divide your team/workforce into small groups (teams) of two to five people, and challenge them to find as many objects as they can.
Workplace trivia
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See how much your employees know about their colleagues and about the workplace itself.
Whoever gives the most correct answers wins.
Business simulations
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Make up a crisis or a task related to your business.
Divide your employees into teams of two to five people.
And ask them to present solutions to the crisis.
You be the judge of which solution is the best.
What will the winner/winning team get?
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Good question.
You can go for goofy gifts like a packet of paper clips.
Or you can give them a gift card they will appreciate.
Team building at Wild Goose Escapes
There’s always the option for having an escape room team building event.
If you want to have it at California’s best loved escape room, get in touch!
Banner image courtesy Hannah Busing on Unsplash.