Rain and bad weather don’t have to completely ruin your team building plans. Here we give you some exciting rainy day team building activities for when the weather gets rough.
June is the start of the rainy season here in Japan, which can often put a damper on team building activities. With team building activities, many companies want to head outside and get out of the office, which often isn’t as fun in the rain.
But inclement weather doesn’t have to spoil all of your team building fun. As we show in this blog post, there are lots of great activities that you can do inside that are equally as fun and engaging.
Team building is always important, no matter what season it is. Regular team building makes teams healthier and more capable of spotting issues before they become serious. That’s why making team building a priority, no matter what, is something we tell teams often.
So the following list can be used on those days when you can’t think of something fun to do because it’s raining. Or it can be used when you had planned to do something fun outside or away from the office but it had to be canceled.
Why doing team building activities in your office might actually be a great idea
All of these activities can be done indoors. And while it might not sound as fun to do a team building activity in the same place that you work or are holding your conference, there may actually be some benefits to doing so.
For one thing, it’s a lot easier to plan logistically. You don’t have to move people around or book a venue or event site. If you have the space for everyone, doing an activity in your office is a great idea, especially if you don’t have that much time to plan the event.
Secondly, holding team building activities in your office is a good chance to change your team’s attitude towards that space. Team building activities change the spaces that they’re played in, and create special and fun-oriented environments, where teams are more open and can enjoy spending quality time with each other.
So by holding a team building activity in your office, you can change team members’ perception of their work space and their relationship to each other while working there. The team building activity has the power to create good associations with that space, and to improve how teams function within it, even after the event has ended.
Rainy day team building activities
Now that we’ve made the case for indoor activities, especially those that are held in your own office, here is our list of rainy day team building activities that you can do at any time, no matter what the weather outside looks like
Online Games
When it comes to rainy day team building activities, online games are a great option, and are very easy to plan. All they require is an internet connection, and the growth of Zoom and other teleconference technologies has made online team building games that much simpler to implement. Online games are also perfect for international teams, or teams whose members are physically distant.
Invite Japan has two fun and original online game options. Both of these games help to build communication skills, and are specifically designed for remote and hybrid teams. By combining engaging puzzles and an online environment, they are able to immerse teams into novel worlds where they can explore, have fun, and create stronger connections.
1. Tabitantei
Tabitantei is an online team building game that takes players on a virtual tour of Japan. While searching for mystical objects from Japan’s past, players come across simulating challenges and get to explore four cities around on a hunt for clues.
2. Secret Agent: The First Mission
Secret Agent places players in the role of international detectives, working to solve an international art heist. As players travel across the globe looking for clues to retrieve a stolen painting, they will have to use their wits and intellect to solve a series of some of our most creative puzzles yet. This game really engages teams in its online world and forces team members to work together in order to succeed.
3. Indoor scavenger hunt
A really simple idea for rainy day team building activities is running indoor scavenger hunts. These don’t have to be that long. All you need is a few items to spread around your office and some clues for how to find them.
Alternatively you could have players search for categories of items, like “office supplies that start with A”, or “something you couldn’t live without”. Then give out rewards for the most creative or funny items.
Indoor scavenger hunts at the office can help your team learn how to have fun in their workspace, and to view it as a space that can be explored and discovered just like any other interesting area where scavenger hunts are held.
…Or outdoor scavenger hunts
We know that this blog post is supposed to be about indoor activities, but since we’re on the subject of scavenger hunts, we would be remiss not to mention outdoor scavenger hunts too. We’ve held our scavenger hunts in all types of weather, from rain to cold to the blazing heat of summer, and teams have always had fun. So if you’re willing to brave a little rain, it won’t get in the way of your team’s experience.
Suitcase Mystery
The Suitcase Mystery series is one of our most popular recommendations for rainy day team building activities, and is our premier indoor, in-person activity. The game is like an escape game, but contained within a single suitcase.
As players go deeper into the suitcase, they encounter more and more mysterious objects and more and more locks and puzzles. The fun and excitement of continually finding new and strange items naturally brings teams closer together, and talking and laughing together more.
Invite Japan has two Suitcase Mystery games:
4. Suitcase Mystery: Classic
Suitcase Mystery; Classic has an antique look–like a suitcase from the early 1900s. The game style and aesthetics also reflect this more classic theme. It almost feels like traveling back in time–but from your own office.
5. Suitcase Mystery: Flight Plan
Suitcase Mystery: Flight Plan has a modern look and a jet-setting storyline, based around a university student and her lost luggage. The game has some of our most innovative and inspired puzzles, and uses a novel hint system that works through messaging apps on your phone.
6. Photo challenge
Taking pictures together is always fun, especially in the age of the selfie, when everyone is used to taking professional-level photos on their phones. Put these skills to the test by breaking your team into small groups and giving them a number of locations to take pictures at. The team with the most creative photos at each location wins. You can up the level of the activity by giving groups specific photo tasks, like “take a picture where you spell out a word with your bodies.”
Like with the indoor scavenger hunt mentioned above, photo challenges are a great way to get your team to view your office space in a slightly different way, and to experience it as a fun and adventurous space.
7. Improv Games
Improv games, which are games based on improv comedy and acting, make perfect rainy day team building activities. They are fun, engaging, and get team members to laugh and enjoy spending time together. They also don’t require that much space, so you can play them in your office or boardroom.
One good improv game is called “The Gift Game”. Split your team into pairs. Team members take turns presenting their partner with different gifts, the more extravagant and out-of-this-world the better (e.g. the Empire State Building, the moon, a humpback whale, etc.).
The partner receiving the gift can accept the gift, in which case they need to pretend to interact with whatever it is their partner gave them. Or they can reject the gift by tossing it over their shoulders and yelling “Whoo!”
8. The Human Knot
The Human Knot is a very short and simple activity that quickly strengthens relationships and gets team members to laugh. Because of its length, you may want to mix it with other rainy day team buildings, or use it as an icebreaker.
For this game, have all team members stand in a circle. Next, have each team member reach across the circle with their right hand and grab the hand of another team member. Have them do the same with their left hand, but make sure they grab the hand of a different team member from before. Now, see if the team can return itself to its original position without letting go of each other’s hands.
9. Never Have I Ever
This popular drinking game can also double as a fun and short game if you’re searching for rainy day team building activities. Never Have I Ever is a game that gets team members to learn about each other and get to know each other better.
To play Never Have I Ever, have team members sit in a circle. At each team member’s turn, have them share something that they have never done, for example “Never have I ever gone on a cruise”. All other team members raise a finger if they have done it. Players who raise ten fingers are “out” (or win, depending on how quickly you want to play).
10. Team Trivia
The last on our list of rainy day team building activities is team trivia. This is a fun way to bond the team together by asking questions about the team and its history. Think of ten or so questions about your team, or get each member of the team to think of two questions and submit them. Then all you need to do is split up your team into groups and have them compete to see who can answer the most.
For example, you can ask about personal hobbies, favorite foods, or general trivia and facts. You can ask questions about hometowns, or even inside jokes. Discovering who wrote each question can also be a fun and surprising reveal.
Photo by Frame Harirak on Unsplash
