Relationship building activities for work

When it comes to achieving your company goals, workplace bonds are kind of like the secret glue that holds everything together. When team members feel connected, idea sharing and problem solving becomes easy and the good vibes flow freely! That’s why in today’s video I’m sharing five activities you can use to give your workplace relationships a boost!

0:00 Intro
0:29 Active Listening Story Swap
1:21 Honest Feedback Board
2:18 Helping Hands
3:09 Gratitude Chain
3:51 Recognition Raffle

The first activity I have for you is an ‘Active Listening Story Swap.’ It’s all about tuning in, showing genuine interest and making team members feel valued for their input and their perspective.

To play, divide participants into pairs. Set a timer for a set length of time and have one person share a personal story or experience while their partner listens attentively, without interrupting. Encourage participants to utilize active listening tools like nodding and eye contact! After the first person finishes, switch roles and go again! When you’re finished, ask each pair to discuss what they learned about their partner’s story, highlighting key details.

It’s a great activity for encouraging empathy, practicing good listening skills and strengthening understanding between colleagues!

Our next activity is all about fostering open, honest communication between team members — it’s called ‘Honest Feedback Board!’

This is an ongoing activity that you can run over a period of time or keep up as a permanent fixture in the workplace! To set up the activity, create a physical or digital board labeled “Honest Feedback” and provide team members with sticky notes, pens and markers nearby.

Encourage colleagues to anonymously share constructive feedback, ideas, or concerns related to work on the sticky notes and attach them to the board. Then pick a time (weekly or monthly tends to work well) for team members to review the feedback and discuss the submissions collectively. This can be a great way to kick-off or conclude an all-hands meeting and provides an awesome opportunity for everyone to feel their voice is heard.

Third, we have an activity called ‘Helping Hands’ and like the name suggests, it focuses on offering assistance and creating an environment of support in the workplace!

Similar to our last activity, this is a great one to run on an ongoing basis in the office. To get started, create a designated space, either physically or digitally, where colleagues can post requests for assistance or offer help with specific tasks or projects.

Encourage colleagues to browse the requests and offers regularly and connect with one another to collaborate. It’s a tool that’s easy to implement and can do wonders for fostering a culture of mutual aid and teamwork!

Want to keep employees engaged? Consider offering monthly shoutouts or prizes for team members that jump in to lend a hand!

Next up, we have a ‘Gratitude Chain.’

Gratitude exercises can have a significant impact on boosting morale, and this quick activity is made to show appreciation and celebrate one another’s contributions.

Before you start, gather a selection of colorful paper strips, markers and glue sticks or tape. Then, instruct colleagues to write down a brief note of gratitude, appreciation or a small act of kindness they’d like to acknowledge. Attach the notes together by making loops to create a chain! Once you’re done, you can display the chain in a visible area of the office to serve as a reminder of the positive interactions within the team!

And finally, we have the ‘Recognition Raffle’ — an activity that’s all about rewarding consistency.

Start by establishing a recognition program that rewards consistent behaviors and contributions within your team, like punctuality, collaboration or going above and beyond! Then, provide tickets or tokens for colleagues who perform these actions.

Once per month, collect everyone’s earned tickets and hold a raffle where participants have a chance to win small rewards or incentives! This activity is a real motivator for team members to maintain a high standard of performance and can also really encourage colleagues to support one another day to day!

And that’s that for today’s video on relationship-building activities! I hope you enjoyed them and have found one or two you’d like to try with your own team! Now, before you go, can I ask you a small favor? If you liked today’s video, please consider subscribing to our channel. Your support helps us continue to create more content, just like this.