Fun team building activities for adults are short games that fit a work meeting and use real content, such as Jeopardy built on your own procedures or a Team Feud built from a team survey. A small prize, and a drawing now and then, adds energy without taking much time.
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Fun Team Building Activities
Fun team building activities take a little planning, such as writing a few quiz questions or picking up a small prize. Your extra effort will be worth it when you see how much fun everyone is having.
The six games on this page are built for adults at work in a professional environment. All you'll need is a willingness to plan a little more than usual. Your team will even help create some of the content before the meeting begins.
Best of all, the team will learn something while they're having a good laugh at the same time.
Each game fits inside a regular team meeting with up to about 15 people, and the examples follow Marcus Hale’s eight-person insurance claims team.
When you want a bigger lift, you can add a drawing that builds anticipation through the whole meeting.
Jump To: Fun or Corny? | Choose a Game | Team Jeopardy | Who Matches Who? | Pet Match | Guess the Number | Manual Relay | Team Feud | The Drawing | Pair a Game With an Activity | More Ideas | FAQ
Will Your Team Think It's Fun or Corny?
What one team calls corny, another will happily play for an hour and talk about for days. A group of newer employees might love Pet Match, while a team of senior adjusters rolls their eyes at it and then competes hard at Jeopardy. You know your team better than anyone, so start with what feels like it will land well with your team.
If you're on the fence about a game, ask two or three people on the team before the meeting. A quick "Would this be fun, or would people think it's silly?" tells you most of what you need to know, and the people you asked usually help make it work once they've had a say.
If you're stuck for fun team building ideas to liven up your meeting, ask someone creative on your team to plan the fun part of the next meeting. Most teams have at least one person who'd enjoy that assignment.
Most of these fun team building activities take an hour or less to prepare, such as writing Jeopardy questions or picking up a prize after work the night before. Yes, it's going to take more effort than your regular agenda, and your team will appreciate that you took time to add some fun into the meeting.
Choose a Fun Team Building Activity
Pick one of the shorter fun team building activities to open a regular meeting, or give one of the longer games more of the agenda when you want the whole hour to feel different. Guess the Number and Pet Match are simple team building activities that take 10 minutes or less, and Team Jeopardy and Team Feud need closer to half an hour.
| Game | Time | Group size | Prep | Prize idea |
| Team Jeopardy | 25 to 30 min | Two teams | About an hour to write questions | A $5 coffee card for each winner |
| Who Matches Who? | 15 min | Whole team | Questionnaire a few days ahead, 30 min to build | Picking the next team lunch spot |
| Pet Match | 10 min | Whole team | Photos a few days ahead, 20 min to build | A small treat for the winner or their pet |
| Guess the Number | 5 min | Any size | Look up one number | A small treat for the closest guess |
| Manual Relay | 20 min | Teams of three to five | 20 min to write five questions | Winning team picks the next meeting's snacks |
| Team Feud | 20 to 25 min | Two teams | Survey a week ahead, 30 min to tally | A $5 coffee card for each winner |
Each game has a virtual version after its step-by-step instructions, and if you're running a drawing, any game can earn extra entries.
Team Jeopardy (25 to 30 Minutes)
| Fun team building activity: Team Jeopardy | |
| Best for | Reviewing product knowledge or procedures before a busy stretch |
| Time | 25 to 30 minutes in the meeting, plus about an hour to write questions |
| Group size | Two teams, up to about 15 people |
| Materials | Our free Jeopardy template, a screen and a small prize for each person on the winning team |
| Format | In person or virtual |
Jeopardy turns a product or procedure review into one of the most fun team building activities you can run, and playing in teams means nobody is on the spot for a wrong answer. Marcus ran it before storm season with five categories from the work his team handles most: Auto, Home, Deadlines, Forms and Who Do You Call?
- Write the questions, about an hour. Pick five categories and write five answers for each, from the easiest at 100 points to the hardest at 500. Use your own procedures, such as "This letter goes to the customer within five business days of a new claim," with the response "What is the acknowledgment letter?"
- Load the template, 15 minutes. Type your categories and answers into our free Jeopardy template, and test it once on the screen you'll use.
- Split into two teams, 2 minutes. Count off by twos, so experience gets mixed across both teams.
- Play, 20 minutes. Teams take turns choosing a category and point value. If the choosing team misses, the other team can steal. Keep the pace quick, and read the right response aloud before moving on.
- Award the prize, 3 minutes. Everyone on the winning team gets the prize. Marcus's winning team of four each took home a $5 coffee card.
Phone version: If your company already uses a phone quiz app, such as Kahoot!, the same questions work there too. Free versions limit how many people can join, so check before the meeting.
What to watch for: Write questions about things people need on the job and skip trivia nobody uses. If a question stumps both teams, take a minute to explain it, because you've just found a gap worth knowing about.
Virtual version: Share the template on screen, and have each team pick one person to call out its choices.
Who Matches Who? (15 Minutes)
| Fun team building activity: Who Matches Who? | |
| Best for | A new team, or one that's grown since people last got to know each other |
| Time | 15 minutes in the meeting |
| Group size | Whole team, up to about 15 |
| Materials | A short questionnaire sent ahead, and one match sheet and pen per person. Both sheets are in the game kit at the back of our free Leader's Guide |
| Format | In person or virtual |
Who Matches Who? turns a short questionnaire into one of the more personal fun team building activities, and part of the fun is that few people get every answer right.
- Send the questionnaire, a few days ahead. Ask four or five light questions, such as a hobby, a hidden talent, a favorite vacation spot and the first concert they went to. Let people skip any question, and keep answers to a few words.
- Build the match sheet, about 30 minutes. List one answer from each person down the left side in mixed order, with a blank beside each one for a name. A one-of-a-kind answer, like "rebuilt a motorcycle engine," works better than a hobby half the team shares.
- Play, 10 minutes. Everyone fills in the names they think match, then you read the answers aloud and people score their own sheets.
- Award the prize, 5 minutes. The most correct answers wins, and a tie goes to one quick tiebreaker question.
Marcus's team scored between three and six out of eight. Almost nobody matched Theo to "taught English in Chile for a year," and the winner got to pick the spot for the next team lunch.
What to watch for: Keep the questions light and stay away from family, health and beliefs. If an answer would single someone out in an awkward way, leave it off the sheet.
Virtual version: Send the match sheet as a fillable document, and have people send you their answers privately before you read them out.
Pet Match (10 Minutes)
| Fun team building activity: Pet Match | |
| Best for | Any team, and a good way to open a meeting |
| Time | 10 minutes in the meeting, plus about 20 minutes to build the slide |
| Group size | Whole team |
| Materials | A slide or printed page of numbered photos, and an answer sheet for each person. The answer sheet and a note to send the team are in the game kit at the back of our free Leader's Guide |
| Format | In person or virtual |
Pet Match asks everyone to send a photo of their pet, and the team guesses which pet belongs to whom. For anyone without a pet, ask, "If you had a pet, what would it be?" and use an online picture for their answer. Those answers tend to be the hardest to match and some of the most fun, like the coworker who'd want a goat.
- Collect the photos, a few days ahead. Ask each person for one photo of their pet, or their answer to the if-you-had-a-pet question. Ask for photos of the pet alone, without people in them. If a photo of the pet is not available, use an online photo of the same type of pet.
- Build the slide, 20 minutes. Number each photo and put them all on one slide or printed page.
- Play, 8 minutes. Everyone writes a name beside each number. Then reveal the owners one at a time, and let each person say a sentence about their pet.
- Award the prize, 2 minutes. The most correct matches wins.
The gray cat that everyone pinned on Priya turned out to belong to Marcus, and nobody guessed that the pot-bellied pig was Nina's if-you-had-a-pet answer.
What to watch for: Someone may have lost a pet recently, so keep the photo optional and let the if-you-had-a-pet answer stand in for anyone.
Virtual version: Share the slide on screen, and have people send you their guesses in a private chat message.
Guess the Number (5 Minutes)
| Fun team building activity: Guess the Number | |
| Best for | Opening a meeting, or making a real number stick |
| Time | 5 minutes |
| Group size | Any size |
| Materials | One number about your team's work, and paper slips or the meeting chat |
| Format | In person or virtual |
Guess the Number is the quickest of these fun team building activities, a five-minute opener that encourages your team to know key numbers relating to their work. Ask a question with a number for an answer, such as "How many claims did our team close last quarter?" Everyone writes down a guess, and the closest guess without going over wins.
Marcus asked how many customer calls the team had answered in September. Guesses ran from 600 to 3,000, the real number was 2,140, and the room spent the next few minutes talking about where all those calls came from.
Run it again at the next meeting with a different number, perhaps about a team goal, or results to date. After a few months, people know the numbers that matter most to the team without anyone having to put them in a report.
What to watch for: Pick a number people can feel good about or learn from, and skip anything that singles out one person's results.
Virtual version: Have everyone type their guess into the chat at the same moment when you say go.
Manual Relay (20 Minutes)
| Fun team building activity: Manual Relay | |
| Best for | A team that relies on a procedures or operations manual |
| Time | 20 minutes in the meeting, plus about 20 minutes to write questions |
| Group size | Two or more teams of three to five |
| Materials | A copy of the manual for each team, on paper or on a laptop with a connection. Question cards for each team are in the game kit at the back of our free Leader's Guide |
| Format | In person, or virtual with breakout rooms |
Manual Relay has teams race to find answers in your procedures or operations manual, one team member at a time. Use questions about tasks people look up often, so the race is fun to watch, and everyone leaves knowing where five useful answers live. Each answer has to be found in the manual, even if someone already knows it.
- Write five questions, about 20 minutes. Pick tasks people look up often, each with one clear answer, such as "What's the approval limit for a supplement without a manager's sign-off?"
- Set up the teams, 5 minutes. Split the group into two or more teams of three to five. If the manual is online, make sure each team has a laptop with a connection, and if it's on paper, give each team its own copy.
- Run the relay, 10 minutes. Every team gets the same five questions. One person finds the first answer and writes it down, then hands off to the next teammate for the second question. The search function is off limits, so people have to rely on the table of contents and what they know.
- Check the answers, 5 minutes. The first team to finish with all five answers right wins, and the winning team picks the snacks for the next meeting.
What to watch for: Choose questions with one clear answer, so nobody argues over the scoring. Mix the teams so each one has at least one person who knows the manual well.
Virtual version: Put each team in a breakout room with the manual open on one shared screen, and have them message their answers to you as they go.
"Fun is one of the most important, and underrated, ingredients in any successful venture."
- Richard Branson
Team Feud (20 to 25 Minutes)
| Fun team building activity: Team Feud | |
| Best for | Finding out what your team sees most often, such as customer questions or common mistakes |
| Time | 20 to 25 minutes in the meeting, plus about 30 minutes to tally the survey |
| Group size | Two teams |
| Materials | A short survey sent a week ahead, a flip chart or slide with the answers covered and a small prize for each person on the winning team. The survey and tally sheet are in the game kit at the back of our free Leader's Guide |
| Format | In person or virtual |
Team Feud works like the game show Family Feud, with the survey answers coming from your own team. Of all the fun team building activities on this page, it's the one most likely to tell you something new about the work.
- Survey the team, a week ahead. Send three or four questions with short answers, such as "Name the top three things customers ask about most" or "Name the three forms people forget most often."
- Tally the answers, about 30 minutes. For each question, list the top three to five answers and how many people gave each one. Put them on a flip chart or slide, covered up.
- Play, 15 to 20 minutes. Two teams take turns guessing the top answers to each question. A correct guess uncovers the answer and earns its points, one point for each person who gave it. After three wrong guesses, the other team gets one chance to steal the round.
- Award the prize, 2 minutes. The team with the most points wins, and each winner gets the prize, plus an extra drawing entry if you're running one.
The top answer to Marcus's "Name the top three things customers ask about most" was "When will I get my check?" with six of eight votes. Nobody was surprised, and the team decided on the spot to add a line about payment timing to its first-call script.
What to watch for: Keep the survey questions about the work and away from people, so no answer turns into a complaint about a coworker.
Virtual version: Share the slide on screen and uncover answers as teams guess, with each team choosing one person to give its final answer.
Add a Drawing That Runs Through the Meeting
A drawing adds energy to the whole meeting, and it's the easiest of these fun team building activities to set up. Save it for the meetings where you want a bigger lift, such as the end of a busy quarter or the start of a new year. Everyone who attends gets their name in the drawing once automatically, unless you choose to make everyone do something specific to get their name in. It's your meeting so you make the rules.
Then you can also award extra entries during the meeting for joining in, such as offering an idea or answering a question correctly, and give everyone on a winning game team one more.
Write each entry on one of the printable slips in our free Leader's Guide, or any scrap of paper, and drop it in a bowl. You can also keep a tally on the whiteboard where everyone can see their chances grow. Draw one name at the end of the meeting. Prizes that cost little or nothing work well:
- Leaving two hours early on a day of their choosing
- A reserved parking spot for a week, or a month
- Picking the place for the next team lunch
- A gift card for coffee or lunch
Check any time-off prize with HR before you announce it, so it adheres to your company's policies.
Marcus gave the parking spot closest to the door for October to Theo, and people asked for weeks when the next drawing would be.
Pair a Game With One of the 12 Team Building Activities
Short fun team building activities make a good opener before one of the 12 free exercises on our hub page. Five minutes of Guess the Number or Pet Match gets people talking and laughing before something more serious, such as Start, Stop, Continue or The Ripple Effect.
Who Matches Who? pairs well with Who Knew?, since both help people learn something about each other, and the questionnaire answers make good follow-up questions. All 12 are on the hub, along with more team building activity ideas and the free Leader's Guide.
More Team Building Ideas
Each of these pages looks at one part of building a stronger team. All 12 activities and the free Leader's Guide are on the free team building activities page.
Team Goal Setting
Six steps for setting a goal with your team and keeping it moving each week, plus two team goal setting activities.
Team Building Lesson Plan
A free 60-minute session that pairs two activities, with an objective, a timed agenda, debrief questions and follow-up.
Accountability Team Building Activities
Seven activities that help a team keep its commitments to each other, with the setup, timing and debrief for each one.
Leadership Team Building
Five activities that develop leadership skills in your team members, with your part as the leader in each one.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions below address what leaders most commonly ask about fun team building activities.
Click on the (+) sign below to expand each question. Click the (-) sign to collapse it again.
What are fun team building activities for adults?
How do I keep team building from feeling corny?
Know your team, and if you're unsure how a game will land, ask two or three people before the meeting. Play in teams so nobody is put on the spot, and let people choose what they share about themselves.
What are some quick fun office team building activities?
Guess the Number takes about five minutes and Pet Match about 10. Both work as openers at the start of a regular meeting, and both need only a few minutes of preparation.
What prizes work for team building games?
Small prizes work well, such as a $5 coffee card for each winner or picking the next team lunch spot. For a drawing, leaving two hours early or a reserved parking spot for a month gets people's attention, but check any time-off prize with HR first.
Can I play these games with a virtual team?
Yes. Each game on this page has a virtual version, usually a shared screen and private chat messages in place of paper. For Manual Relay, use breakout rooms with the manual open on a shared screen.
How often should we play fun team building games?
A short game at most team meetings and a longer one, like Team Jeopardy or Team Feud, every month or two is a good rhythm. Rotate the games so they stay fresh, and ask your team which ones they'd like to play again.
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