Team-Building Activities for Techies

Information technology professionals use complex technology to develop, manage and maintain a company’s hardware and software infrastructure. Project teams include individuals who install applications, manage databases, design networks and administer systems. Team-building activities designed for other types of business professionals, such as sales representatives, customer service representatives or Human Resource professionals, tend not to work as well with this audience because IT professionals typically prefer to work with technology, not other people. Successful team-building activities for a more technical audience include more use of tools.

Benefits and Features

Team-building activities allow IT professionals to get to know each other better in a fun, engaging and often competitive atmosphere. Building a team helps each member gain trust, improve productivity and foster innovative approaches to solving problems. Exercises help team members learn how to communicate more effectively, handle conflict and make decisions. Team-building activities for technical people help them improve interpersonal skills so the team can meet its objective to produce quality products and services.

Online Scavenger Hunt

To conduct an online scavenger hunt game, organizers prepare a set of clues or list of Internet sites and information to find. Project teams divide into pairs. Each pair uses email, audio conference calls and Web-based conferencing to discuss how to decipher the clues. Each set of IT professionals works together to attempt to be the first to find all the answers, using all the hardware and software technology available to them, including mobile devices and powerful search engines. This activity promotes using creative and innovative approaches to solving problems instead of relying only on personal ideas. Then, the teams can apply these techniques to project work, such as designing software, improving productivity and maintaining hardware systems.

Mission Impossible Activity

Facilitators prepare a mission for technical team members, such as producing a review for a future technology product or service. Participants divide into pairs and get a set amount of time, such as two hours, to prepare a presentation using multimedia tools. The review should include detailed coverage of the benefits and features of the product or service. The pairs should present their result at a team meeting, and the entire team votes on the best review. The facilitator awards prizes, such as certificates, to reward the winning pair.

Transformers Activity

To promote collaboration, facilitators divide technical project teams into small groups of three or four people. The facilitators will provide each team with one of the company’s obsolete products. Each team gets one hour to come up with alternative uses for the product or enhancements to make the product more useful in the marketplace. Participants have the opportunity to present silly alternatives as well, which makes the activity more amusing. This activity allows technical team members to learn to use brainstorming techniques more traditionally employed by sales and marketing professionals.