15 Indoor Team Building Activities for a Productive Workplace

1. What Is an Indoor Team Building Activity?

An indoor team-building activity is a game or an exercise designed to help improve collaboration, communication, and teamwork among employees. These activities help foster strong bonds within your team. This will help you lay down the foundation for a vibrant workplace culture. One that has effects way beyond the activity that you decide to organize.

2. Best Indoor Team Building Activities

2.1. Top Picks For Indoor Team Building Activities

1. Hooray Teams

If you are looking to organize indoor team building activities while undertaking the least amount of stress, then we would like to gently nudge you toward our sister site Hooray Teams. This virtual team building platform helps you host practically every game that you can think of for your team. From escape rooms to cooking classes, the platform houses all kinds of team building activities.

To host an activity with the help of Hooray Teams, all you need to do is make your way to their site and choose the activity that you want to organize for your team. If you do not find a specific activity you are looking for, you can also fill out their contact form and request them to create something custom for your organization. Our pick from their extensive collection has to be their cocktail making class. Everything you need for the drink is shipped straight to your doorstep and all you need to do is log in with your team to receive a class from a mixologist.

2. Escape Rooms

A popular indoor team building activity has to be escape rooms. In this activity, employees have to work together to solve a series of puzzles and challenges within a themed room to "escape" within a set time limit.

This is an exciting activity as employees have to collaborate with one another closely to decipher the clues. So, even people who usually would not talk engage with each other. There are plenty of escape room options that you can choose from online.

For a more comprehensive list of escape rooms, check out our article.

3. Trivia Day

Everyone knows some amount of seemingly interesting facts, so the one place where they can put this knowledge to the test is on trivia day. In this activity, employees participate in a friendly competition to answer a series of trivia questions related to various topics. It's a fun activity that brings people together.

To play the game all you have to do is divide your employees into teams and start asking questions. The team that answers the most questions correctly wins the competition.

If you are looking for more virtual trivia games, have a look at our article.

2.2. 5-minute Team Building Activities

4. Human Knot

Human Knot is a classic team-building exercise that encourages participants to work together in a physical and interactive manner. It's a fantastic icebreaker. The primary goal of the Human Knot is for participants to untangle themselves from a close-knit circle without letting go of each other's hands.

Employees form a circle and extend their hands to grab the hands of two different people across from them, creating a tangled web of interconnected arms. The challenge is to untangle this human knot without breaking the chain of hands.

5. Word Association Challenge

If you are looking for 5-minute team building activities, a really interesting easy one is the Word Association Challenge. It's particularly effective as a short icebreaker to kick off a meeting or team-building session. Employees are required to think on their feet and come up with interesting words at a moment's notice to keep the ball rolling.

In this activity, one person starts by saying a word (for example, "sun"). The next person must respond with a word that is associated with the previous word (such as "beach"), and this chain continues as each person links their word to the one before it ("ocean," "waves," "surfing," and so on). This activity promotes rapid thinking. Participants strive to make connections and develop relevant words on the spot.

6. Share Your Superpower

Share your Superpower is an uplifting team building activity for teams. individuals are given the opportunity to share something about themselves that they consider their personal "superpower." This could be a skill, a passion, a quality, or an experience that sets them apart and makes them feel special.

Each participant takes a turn sharing a skill, talent, or quality they possess that they consider their personal "superpower." This helps create an environment of openness and vulnerability, allowing team members to showcase their individual abilities and passions.

If you are looking for more 5-minute team building activities, have a look at our article here.

2.3. Best Icebreaker Indoor Activities

7. Human Bingo

If you have a fairly new team, Human Bingo is a great way to get everyone acquainted. It turns the traditional bingo game into a social interaction by replacing numbers with interesting facts or traits about each other.

In this game, everyone receives a bingo card with different traits, hobbies, or experiences in the form of squares. The goal is to interact with team members and find individuals who match the descriptions in the squares. As they talk to one another they mark off the corresponding squares on their cards. The first person to complete a row, column, or diagonal shouts "Bingo!" and shares what they've learned about their colleagues. This game encourages networking and communication within the organisation.

8. Two Truths and a Lie

There are plenty of variations of this popular game that fit different social situations. The most work-friendly one is Two Truths and a Lie.

In this game, employees share three statements about themselves: two that are true and one that is a lie. The challenge for the rest of the group is to guess which statement is the lie. This game is great as it helps create a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.

9. The Marshmallow Challenge

On its surface, the Marshmallow Challenge does not seem like much. But when it comes to indoor team building activities this game can be a lot of fun.

Employees are divided into teams after which they need to create a structure using only marshmallows and spaghetti sticks. Everyone is given a set amount of time to construct a tower that can hold a marshmallow at the top. This game helps encourage innovation and enhances problem-solving skills within the team.

2.4 Collaboration Based Indoor Team Building Activities

10. Group Painting

Group painting is a collaborative artistic activity where employees work together to create a single piece of artwork.

Each participant contributes to the painting using their own creative ideas. They can use materials such as paints, crayons, or even markers to add in their flair to the painting. However, in the end, the artwork needs to be cohesive and visually appealing. The game highlights the different perspectives of team members and gives everyone a chance to showcase their creativity.

11. Lego Building

Lego Building is a hands-on activity where teams are given sets of Lego bricks to construct structures or objects based on a theme or challenge. By working together to construct structures bricks, participants engage in hands-on learning while fostering communication and innovation

You can ask them to build a bridge or a building.This activity encourages problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork as participants collaborate to design and build their Lego creations. Also, it is an all-around fun way to collaborate and create a masterpiece.

12. Improv Workshops

If you are looking for games that focus on spontaneous creativity then improv workshops are the perfect way to go as they require active listening and quick thinking.

In these workshops, employees engage in scenarios where they need to improvise responses and actions on the spot. What makes this game fun is the often humorous and unexpected directions people end up taking.

2.5. Best Physical Indoor Team Building Activities

13. Blindfolded Obstacle Course

Just because you are indoors, it doesn’t mean you can move around. A blindfolded obstacle course is a great way to get those glutes moving. This activity encourages participants to step out of their comfort zones and collaborate to successfully complete the course.

In this activity, everyone is divided into groups of two, with one person blindfolded and the other acting as the guide. The guide helps the blindfolded person navigate through the obstacle course. It is a trust-building and communication-focused activity and helps enhance cooperation and trust.

14. Dance-Off Competition

In this lively and entertaining team-building activity, employees have to come up with a dance routine. This is a great addition to the list of team building activities for work as it focuses on collaboration.

As teams come together to pick music, choreograph moves, and assign roles they understand each other better. This game also helps foster a healthy competitive spirit as teams compete against one another.

15. Photo Scavenger Hunt

A photo scavenger hunt is a great game when you are looking for indoor team building activities. Participants work together in teams to complete a list of photo-based challenges within a defined time frame

In this game, everyone is given a list of objects in the office that they need to take a picture of. You can also give them riddles corresponding to objects to make this game more interesting. As teams work together to decipher clues their critical thinking and resourcefulness are highlighted which helps them work better in an office environment.

For a list of health challenges you can do with your team, have a look at our comprehensive article here.

3. FAQs

3.1. What games can be played for team building?

You can play games like escape rooms, team trivia, and the marshmallow challenge for team building.

3.2. What is the best indoor activity?

The best indoor activity depends on the goals and preferences of your team. Some popular options include escape rooms, collaborative workshops, and creative activities like painting or crafting.