50 Digital Team–Building Games: Fast, Fun Meeting Openers, Group Activities and Adventures using Social Media, Smart Phones, GPS, Tablets, and More

Tech–based games to liven up meetings, break the ice, and improve communication and productivity

50 Digital Team–Building Games offers fun, energizing meeting openers, team activities, and group adventures for business meetings and teams. Using Twitter, GPS, Facebook, smartphones, and other technology, the games can be played in person or virtually and range from five–minute icebreakers to epic four–hour GPS–based adventures. Managers, facilitators, and speakers can easily lead these simple, engaging activities to help teams and groups get comfortable with technology, build trust, improve communication, and more.

No need to be a techie to lead these games 50 Digital Team–Building Games shows you:

How to engage engineers, hard–to–reach technical teams, and Gen X/Y teammates with technologythey already enjoy using

How to create successful "virtual" team building that requires no travel and little to no additional expenses

How to help technophobes get comfortable with important technology widely used by your customers

Successful technology–based team building can create buzz for your group, foster critically important team relationships, and keep your people talking about it for weeks afterward.

"In the real world, John Chen is called Big Kid because he understands the business value ofserious play. The team–building games in this book can build bridges, install shock absorbers, and unleash a tidal wave of ideas. Ignore it at your own drudgery." TIM SANDERS, former CSO, Yahoo!, and author of Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends

50 Digital Team–Building Games Quick Start ix

Preface: How to Use the Games in This Book xix

Acknowledgments xxxi

Introduction to 50 Digital Team–Building Games 1

CHAPTER 1 Icebreakers 7

Me in 140 Characters or Less Twitter Hypernetworking 9

Alpha Names Learn Names While Learning Team Process 13

Where in the World Whiteboarding Draw Who You Are and Where You re From 15

Photo Booth iPad 2 or Photo–Based Networking 16

Pinterest Pin Pictures and Websites for a Common Topic 20

CHAPTER 2 Communication/Games for Speakers 23

Texting Q&A Asking Anonymous Questions Via Text 25

Raising Hands Have You Ever . . . ? 27

Polling Team Concensus by Technology 29

TwitterStorm Crowdsourcing Goodness 31

Go Ahead, Caller Improving Teleconference Skills with a Game Show 38

Model Citizen Testing Communication Assumptions by Building a Model They Can t See 41

Backchannel Instant Feedback by Group Text 44

Team Pecha Kucha (peh–chak–cha )Team Presentation with 20 Slides for 20 Seconds Each 47

PowerPoint Karaoke Team Improvisation by Presenting Slide Decks They Haven t Seen 49

CHAPTER 3 Trust 51

Last Team Texting Trusting and Sharing Valuable Information 53

Trust Grid Mapping Team Trust 55

The Johari Window Discover Team Blind Spots 57

Video Matching and Mirroring Build Instant Team Rapport 60

Skype Interview Capturing Team Knowledge through Video Interviews 62

CHAPTER 4 Improving Performance 65

A to Z The A to Z of Building and Speeding Up Team Process 67

Grid Unlock Collaborative Team Problem Solving with Shared Spreadsheets 68

Marshmallow Challenge Build a Tower, Build a Team 70

Customized Jeopardy Test Teams Retention of Information 73

QR Scavenger Hunt Scan Your Way to Team Building 76

CHAPTER 5 Problem Solving 81

Move One Line/Add One Line Team Creativity with More Than One Solution 83

Consensus Voting Choosing Top Team Options Online 91

Like to Move It Quick Spatial Team Diagnosis 95

Project Matrix Balance Time, Quality, and Performance to Complete a Project 98

Chat Survivor Setting Team Priorities and Making Hard Decisions 100

CHAPTER 6 Creativity and Innovation 103

Twaiku Twitter Poetry in Motion 105

One Text at a Time Expert Team Answers One Text at a Time 106

WWMTD? What Would My Team Do If They Had to Make a Creative License Plate? 108

Team Pictionary Communicating through Drawing 110

Mind Mapping Visual Brainstorming for Teams 114

YouTeams iMovie–Based Team Building 117

GooseChase Cell Phone Photo Scavenger Hunt 120

Team GarageBand Build a Song, Build a Team 121

CHAPTER 7 Collaboration 125

Office Move Working Together to Switch Places 127

Mergers and Reorgs Getting Two Teams to Collaborate and Integrate Rapidly 130

Broken Squares Giving Is Better Than Getting for Team Collaboration 132

Team Timely.is Collaborating a Month s Worth of Tweets and Updates 135

Team Haiku Write a Team Haiku/One Word at a Time Online 136

Team Case Study Simultaneous Team Editing 138

CHAPTER 8 EPIC Team Building 141

SCVNGR GPS Treasure Hunt for Team Building and Cross–Team Collaboration 143

Geoteaming GPS Treasure Hunt for Team Building and Cross–Team Collaboration 150

Flash Mobs Organize Your Team in Time and Space 156

CHAPTER 9 Closers Ending a Team–Building Event 159

Shout–Outs Acknowledging Teammates 161

I Commit to . . . Public Commitment to Change 162

Just Three Words Micro–Assessing Your Team 164

Digital Slideshow Picture Your Success 165

Appendix: Getting Online 169

About Geoteaming 185

Index 191

John Chen is the CEO of Geoteaming, a technology–oriented team–building company. Previously at Microsoft, he helped ship ten major products over ten years, and facilitated a collaborative multi–team approach to the development of Microsoft Exchange a transformative product that sold 100 million client licenses and earned two U.S. patents.?At Geoteaming, John has helped over 950 companies and 50,000 participants produce incredible results, from world–class service to exceeding revenue goals. John has presented at many international conferences including MPI (Meeting Professionals International) and ASTD (American Society for Training & Development).?His clients include Booz Allen Hamilton, Microsoft, Adobe, Boeing, Motorola, and REI.