A 10-minute team-building activity

You know your team would benefit from more frequent team-building, but you don't know what to do or how to do it (and you certainly don't have time to research or design a bunch of activities!).

Don't worry, I've got you covered.

Watch this video to learn how to incorporate quick team-building activities into your regular team meetings without any pre-planning required.

• Read the video transcript

  For Christmas this year, one of the gifts that my husband gave me was this box of dates. So inside the box there are a bunch of cards and each date is hidden. You have to scratch off the card to find out what the idea is for the date. Kind of creative, right?

  So we went on a date this last weekend. We had reservations to go out to dinner, and we picked one of the cards that we thought we could do at the dinner table. It gives you a little bit of detail before you scratch it off so you know how long it will take and if supplies are required.

  So we brought a card and at the dinner table, we scratched it off. And it was this fun little game where we asked each other 10 questions, the questions were provided, and then we had to guess what we thought the other person would provide as their answer. And then you got points, you had three guesses. And if you guessed what they actually said as their answer, you would get points.

  Well, I am embarrassed to say, not embarrassed, sad to say, disappointed to say that he crushed me in this game. He totally won, but it was pretty funny.

  And here's the deal. We've been married for almost 18 years, and this was one of those dinners where we weren't looking at our phones, we were having fun. It injected some new conversation at the dinner table, and it just provided a structure to connect in a new way.

  Sometimes we need that with our teams at work as well. We need a new format, a new structure, a new way to be able to connect with each other.

  And so I've actually recently learned that there are several people out there who use these Two-Minute Tips in their staff meetings. They'll watch it as a team, and then typically with the Two-Minute Tip, there's an idea or a challenge or a conversation starter that then they discuss as a team. And so I want to encourage you to consider doing the same.

  If you don't know how to infuse some new connection within your team, use these Two-Minute Tips to do that. Watch it as a team, and then discuss thereafter.

  So for today, if you are doing that, here are my discussion questions for you, for your team. The first one is I want you to go around the table and share: What is bringing you the most joy in your work right now? What is energizing you? What are you enjoying most in your work right now? It could be the actual work that you're working on, or it could be some sort of collaboration - the way you're engaging with the team. But what are you enjoying most in your work right now? What's bringing you joy?

  And then the second thing is: What is draining you the most in your work right now? What is just sucking the life and energy out of you?

  So go around the table and each share your responses to those questions. You're not necessarily trying to solve for this thing that's draining you, but it's just a chance to share honestly with each other and to spark some new dialogue with your team.