Getting the Team Buzzing Again
Okay, so things felt a bit… quiet around the team lately. Not bad, just, you know, everyone head-down, doing their thing. Needed a little spark, something quick, didn’t want a whole day off-site thing. So, I started looking around for some simple ways to get people talking and maybe laughing a bit.
Found a whole bunch of ideas online, like lists of ten quick activities. Seemed easy enough. I figured, let’s just try a couple and see what happens. Didn’t want anything too complicated or that needed loads of prep.
First Up: Two Truths and a Lie
Decided to start with something super simple during our weekly catch-up. Two Truths and a Lie. You know the one. Everyone writes down three ‘facts’ about themselves – two real, one fib. Then you read them out, and the team guesses which one’s the lie.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure how it’d go. Thought maybe people would be shy. But it actually worked out great! Took maybe 15 minutes total. Some of the lies were obvious, but others? Really tricky. Found out Sarah once backpacked through Southeast Asia for six months, and Mike used to be a competitive eater! Who knew? Lots of laughs, especially when the lies were totally wild. Definitely got people chatting beyond just work stuff right away.
Next Attempt: The Desert Island Thing
A few days later, I tried another one. The classic ‘Desert Island’ scenario. I just posed the question during a coffee break: “If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you bring (no people or ways off the island allowed!)?”
This one got more discussion going. We didn’t do it formally, just chatted about it while grabbing coffee. It was interesting to see the different approaches:
- Some went practical: knife, water filter, flint.
- Others went for comfort: favorite book, endless supply of chocolate (wishful thinking!), music player.
- A few were just funny: rubber chicken (don’t ask).
It wasn’t about finding the ‘right’ answer, just seeing how people thought differently and having a bit of fun debating the merits of a fishing rod versus a comfy pillow. Kept it light, maybe 10 minutes of banter.
Tried Some Quick Office Trivia Too
Later that week, thought I’d try some super quick trivia. Nothing heavy, just five questions about random stuff – like company history (easy ones!), pop culture, silly general knowledge. Emailed them out, first person to reply with all correct answers got bragging rights (and maybe a small chocolate bar I had lying around).
This was okay. Got a few quick replies. Not as much interaction as the other two, maybe a bit too much like a test for some? But still, it was quick, easy, and broke the routine for five minutes. Low effort, mild result.
So, What’s the Takeaway?
Overall, dipping into these quick activities was pretty worthwhile. Didn’t solve world peace or anything, but it definitely injected a bit of energy and helped people connect on a more personal level, even just for a few minutes here and there. The key was keeping it short, simple, and low-pressure. Two Truths and a Lie was probably the biggest hit for actual interaction. Didn’t take much planning, just a willingness to give it a go. Probably will sprinkle stuff like this in again when things feel a bit too quiet. Easy peasy.