5 Team Building Exercises to Develop a High Performance Team

Team building exercises can be a critical component to developing a high performance team. The following are five simple exercises that can help your team build trust and optimize collaboration.

Egg Drop
Provide a team of three to five people with 1 egg, several straws, masking tape and other materials that might protect an egg (paper plates, cotton balls, popsicle sticks, etc.). Using these materials the team’s goal is to create a structure (such as a landing pad) that will prevent the egg from breaking when dropped from a height of 7 ft.

Lap Sit
The entire group stands in a circle shoulder to should. An instructor has everyone turn 90 degree so they are facing the back of the person in front of them. Next, have the group sit on each other’s knees. The goal is to produce a fully seated circle for at least 30 seconds.

Group Push-Up
The objective of this activity is for the entire team to figure out a way in which they can safely support themselves off the ground using their hands to steady the group. This is easiest performed in a group of four.

Toe to Toe
In groups of two, ask the participants to sit toe-to-toe and holding hands. The objective of the activity is to stand up while still maintaining toe-to-toe contact and holding hands. To make this activity more difficult, expand the size of the pair into fours and then sixes.