To truly thrive in leadership, team building is essential. Networking, adaptability, innovation and staying calm under pressure are just a few characteristics you’ll need for successful leadership, and team building activities can help you to develop these skills. By leveraging your ability to lead and bring people together, you’ll create a cohesive and productive environment that everyone enjoys and excels in. Discover 10 of our best team building leadership activities to help you and your team flourish.
Contents:
What Are Leadership Team Building Activities?
10 of the Best Leadership Team Building Activities
Why Is Team Building Important In Leadership?
Leadership and Team Building Checklist
Fun Leadership Activities from Team Tactics
What Are Leadership Team Building Activities?
Leadership team building activities are experiences that strengthen collaboration, communication and trust between teams while also cultivating key leadership skills. They might include problem-solving workshops, outdoor pursuits, creative activities or physical challenges. Leadership team building activities all designed to help team members learn from one another, recognize individual strengths, and build a sense of shared purpose.
10 of the Best Leadership Team Building Activities
We’ve created an inclusive list of leadership team building games and activities that are great not just for business leaders, but for all employees and large groups.
1. The Crystal Team Challenge
Inspired by the iconic TV show, The Crystal Team Challenge is consistently rated as one of our best and most interactive leadership and team building activities.
You and your team will participate in a series of progressively challenging tasks and obstacles, competing against each other across four zones that test different abilities and skills. All challenges test your ability to work as a team, and several require someone to take the lead to complete the challenge. There’s a mix of mental and physical tasks, but everything is suitable for all abilities or can be customised.
- Length of challenge: 1.5 – 2.5 hours
- Number of participants: 20+ people
- Location: Mobile event across the UK
2. It’s A Rat Trap
A revival of the board game ‘Mouse Trap,’ It’s A Rat Trap moves the focus from competitive rivalry to collaboration and teamwork. Teams are split into groups and will develop their communication, teamwork, morale and leadership skills. Teams must work together to build and test their trap within a set time limit, in a team building activity where every single member of your group gets involved.
Team leaders will need to delegate tasks to each individual based on their strengths and weaknesses; communicate effectively to ensure everyone’s ideas are heard and considered, and problem-solve to find creative solutions to overcome the challenges.
- Length of challenge: 1.5 – 2.5 hours
- Number of participants: 20 – 70 people
- Location: Mobile event across the UK
3. Game of Zones
One of our London-based team building activities, Game of Zones puts your team to the test with a mixture of mystery, mental and physical challenges across four different zones. Every team member will need to work together to answer as many questions as possible and complete the challenges.
This activity is a great way to boost decision-making skills, as players will have to make quick decisions and judgements based on the information they have available.
- Length of challenge: 2.5 – 3 hours
- Number of participants: 10 – 500 people
- Location: Tower Bridge, London
4. Around the World in 80 Minutes
Travel the world in just 80 minutes in an event that encourages every participant to get involved. Specially designed to bring together remote teams, the challenges require participants to think outside the box with a series of activities that test problem solving, innovation and creativity.
The nature of this leadership team building game encourages participants to practise leadership skills in a fun and engaging setting. Leaders learn to adapt, working just as well in a relaxed environment as in a more serious workplace setting.
- Length of challenge: 80 minutes
- Number of participants: 10 – 500 people
- Location: Mobile event throughout the UK
5. Fast and Furious
This invigorating tabletop game requires strategic planning, problem solving and communication skills. Perfect as a conference energiser, teams need to tackle the challenge to beat their opponents in the fastest time. Speed matters, but so does accuracy, as small mistakes can see teams slipping down the leaderboard. The ability to work under pressure makes this a great task for both leadership and team building.
- Length of challenge: 30 minutes
- Number of participants: 10 – 50 people
- Location: Mobile event across the UK
6. Dare to Achieve
An immersive and incredibly exciting outdoor event, Dare to Achieve pushes your team to face their fears and push past their perceived limits. Your team will need to motivate and inspire one another, and learn to take risks. As team building and leadership activities go, this one will have the Teams chat talking for months to come, and forge strong bonds that will benefit individuals and whole companies.
- Length of challenge: 1 – 2 hours
- Number of participants: 12+ people
- Location: Mobile event across the UK
7. Sports Day Throwback
A slice of nostalgia and a chance to enhance your skills, our Sports Day Throwback event is a funny and physical opportunity to test out your leadership. Team building games include classics like the egg and spoon race and the sack race, with the winners getting a medal and a bottle of bubbly.
Team leaders and members must decide who stands the best chance of winning each game before showing grace in victory or defeat. As well as building on leadership skills, this activity always boosts morale and positivity to take back to the office.
- Length of challenge: 2 – 2.5 hours
- Number of participants: 25+ people
- Location: Mobile event across the uk
8. The Bigger Picture
The Bigger Picture is a creative and collaborative activity that’s perfect for team building. Leadership skills will be tested in order to achieve the end goal of recreating a piece of art.
Participants will have to communicate effectively with their colleagues, delegate tasks and reach decisions collectively, providing a great opportunity for your team to showcase their leadership potential. Everyone must work together to successfully create a masterpiece.
The Bigger Picture also helps to develop planning and problem-solving skills, as participants have to decide how to divide the canvas among team members, choose the right colours, and create a coherent final image.
- Length of challenge: 1.5 – 3 hours
- Number of participants: 12 – 3,000 people
- Location: Mobile Event Across The UK
9. Dragon Boat Racing
Combining tradition and team work, our Dragon Boat Racing event pits teams against each other to see who can create the best rhythm and sail to victory. The drummer must sit up front and create an enthusing and motivating beat for their team to row to. This synergy between drummer and rowers is a masterful and subtle way to build trust and create harmony, letting a leader take their position at the front of the boat. After some practice, teams can then go head to head in a thrilling race.
- Length of challenge: 1.5 – 3.5 hours
- Number of participants: 12+ people
- Location: Various locations across East London, Surrey, Berkshire, and South West London
10. Order Order!
A riotous and indoor event, ‘Order Order’ lets participants craft compelling arguments over hotly debated topics. Applause, cheers and jeers are actively encouraged, and confidence, wit and reason must come to the fore.
This is one of our most interactive team building activities for leadership, with all team members required to chip in with ideas and help form winning arguments. Someone must take the lead as the speaker for each debate before a final showdown where a winner is crowned.
- Length of challenge: 1.5 – 2 hours
- Number of participants: 10 – 100 people
- Location: Mobile event across the UK
Why Is Team Building Important In Leadership?
Leadership and team building work together to help develop skills, strengthen collaboration, and enhance both professional and personal growth in a variety of ways. Team building is important in leadership because it:
- Provides colleagues with opportunities to take on leadership roles and practise essential skills outside the usual workplace setting
- Encourages teamwork towards shared goals, helping people to improve communication, delegate tasks effectively and motivate others
- Allows individuals to identify strengths and areas for improvement, so they can create clear pathways for growth and development in leadership
- Promotes constructive feedback so colleagues can better understand their leadership style and adapt to different situations and team dynamics
- Enhances workplace productivity by building confidence, trust and accountability among team members
- Supports personal development beyond work; for example, in decision-making and problem-solving during challenging situations
Leadership and Team Building Checklist
A successful leadership and team building event requires careful planning and the right components to ensure it effectively enhances leadership skills. Here is our checklist to help you plan the best leadership team building activities and experiences.
- Have clear objectives – Set specific leadership goals to guide activities and measure success before the event begins
- Make activities relevant – Use activities that build a range of leadership skills, with opportunities for communication, collaboration and decision-making
- Encourage participation – Give everyone the chance to lead and experience different perspectives
- Promote safety – Create a safe environment that encourages risk-taking, open discussion and honest feedback
- Allow feedback – Allow time to reflect, share insights and identify areas for improvement before or after each task
- Offer a balance – Incorporate challenges that stretch abilities without overwhelming participants
- Foster development – Reinforce learning through ongoing support, mentoring or check-ins that build on the leadership skills learnt
Fun Leadership Activities from Team Tactics
Team Tactics has 30 years of experience as corporate team-building event specialists. Numerous leaders and executives have benefited from our engaging and fun team building activities, and workplaces have thrived following our events. We’ve helped countless leaders and executives improve communication, enhance their leadership skills, and feel more motivated, positive and responsible.
From adventurous treasure hunts in London to rewarding charitable team building events that give back to your community, we can support you in creating a truly incredible team building experience. Contact us today to find out more about our unforgettable leadership and team building activities.
