Team Building Games

Team building games are designed to be fun and Bluehat UK’s team building games are specifically designed to let you make the most of having fun together. This page explains what is meant by facilitation, how it works and how it makes your team building event most effective.

If you’re interested in the science behind Bluehat’s fun team building games then go to Team Building Events for more details. If you’d rather talk to one of Bluehat’s team about your team’s situation please call 0845 207 2001.

What is Facilitation on a Team Building Game?

Facilitation on team building games is a deliberate method to improve team learning and team development.

When your teams are involved in a Bluehat team building game your teams will have fun, get to know each other better and learn at least one thing (and normally numerous things) about each other. Your team will feel more united, more energised and more focussed than before.

With facilitation your teams will achieve much more by playing the team building game because expert facilitation makes it easier for your team to progress.

What does facilitation on a team building game achieve?

Facilitation of your team building game enables your team to discover what it is that you currently do well as a team and where you can look for improvements in your teamwork.

There are many opportunities during a Bluehat team building game to sow seeds of learning for teams. Making the most of these opportunities will have a much longer lasting impact on your team because it allows you to instigate a change in behaviour.

The fun element of the team building game provides the platform for learning because participants are relaxed about interacting together. In some ways it’s similar to the way children learn. While children are playing they are learning new skills and when children play together they learn what it means to interact with others.

The same is true on a team building game. Adults learn what impact their behaviour has on other members of the team. Because it’s a game it’s a very vivid experience and it’s important that these learning gems are apparent to participants.

Facilitation on a team building game makes it very clear how a team’s behaviour affects team performance at work.

If you want to find out how you’ll know exactly what your team building game, activity or exercise has achieved then go to Measuring the impact of Team Building.

How does facilitation on a team building game work?

The facilitation element covers a number of areas that include:-

Encouraging honest and open discussion
Leading small group work and ensuring the team stays focused on the task
Asking pertinent questions that will uncover issues and areas for discussion
Challenging existing assumptions, beliefs and behaviours to encourage different perceptions
Checking understanding, helping achieve clarity and eliciting deliverable actions and commitments

Here’s an example of how facilitation on a team building game might work on the day itself:

On the day of your team building game the learning scene will be set with your teams, providing them with an overview of key elements of teamwork they might wish to consider when working together.

Each team then has to decide on which 2 elements they will focus on for the first part of their game (examples being planning, support, communication, listening, leadership etc). These 2 elements will be observed by the facilitator during this part of the team building game.

Teams then move onto the following part of their game and can, if they wish choose another 2 elements on which to focus or choose to continue to improve on their existing skills.

The facilitator will be circulating amongst the teams and observing team behaviour ready for an informal wash up & de-brief at the end of the game. When all the teams come back together there’s an informal session where teams get a chance to reflect on their experience and discuss in small groups what worked well and what could have worked even better ‘if’...

The facilitator then captures the ‘if’s’ and asks the teams to come up with some simple ideas and actions they could implement back in the workplace based on their learning during the game. This format is particularly helpful for those team members (if they exist) who sometimes question the value or validity of a fun team building game and helps them understand better the practical value of the day.

Finding out more about facilitation on team building events.

You can find out much more about facilitation on team building games and activities by asking the Bluehat team how it’s worked for other corporate teams and what results they’ve achieved in their company.

You can also ask to meet with a Bluehat facilitator without any obligation to commit to a team building event. This is recognised as the best way to find out how it could work and what you can achieve. Call the Bluehat team on 0845 207 2001.

You may also like to look at Training and Development which gives more context to the way teams learn and develop.

Another option for you may be to have a specific team workshop alongside your team building games and activities. Team Workshops give your teams a chance to dedicate time to concentrate on a particular area of teamwork.

If you have any questions please call the Bluehat team on 0845 207 2001.