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How Puzzles Can Aid With Team Building.

By: Brian Middle Click author's name for more of his/her articles

The term puzzle could refer to a brain teaser type of puzzle in which group effort would be required to figure out the problem and/or solution, or it could refer to an actual jigsaw puzzle activity. How should you incorporate a jigsaw puzzle into team building?

A Puzzle Exercise
Start by splitting up your group into teams. Give each team pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and give simple instructions to put the puzzle together as fast as possible. Imply or even state that every team has the same puzzle and make sure the pieces appear as if they are complete. In reality}}, there is only one jigsaw puzzle and the teams will not finish the puzzle until they figure out the secret: team work!

Teams assume that they are competing against ona another and will generally take some time before they work out that the pieces they need the other team has.

The significance of teamwork is further highlighted by letting the teams themselves figure this out, not by asking for assist from the team boss. Eventually they figure out the point of working together for a common purpose.

There are some logistical notes on this puzzle game; make sure you find a jigsaw puzzle complicated enough to convince teams that there are really several different puzzles to use. Make sure there are enough pieces to occupy all colleagues of the team. Clues might be given to assist teams (such as what the picture is) especially if it's a comparatively short puzzle game. You might also choose to provide a reward upon completion of the puzzle within a certain time frame. The winners would be the entire group, once they figured out the problem. There are no winners or losers in this exercise; team cooperation is the goal!

Other Puzzle Activities
Puzzle games require a lot of patience and team work if several people are participating. Puzzle activities can be an educational challenge like the previous exercise or could be a regular puzzle session where pieces are put together by workers as quickly as possible. If possible, use jigsaw puzzles that relate to the industry you're in.

Puzzle gmaes are an excellent way keep your team motivated and to liven up a dull office spirit. Puzzle exercises can be used as ice breakers, training sessions, workshop activities, seminars, conferences and other meetings. Puzzle exercises can also refer to lateral thinking puzzles, trick questions, brain teasers, logic puzzles and number puzzles.

When planning a puzzle exercises, remember that it's not so much the puzzle that's essential, rather the point you're trying to create with this team building exercise. You may be trying to stress the significance of team work or you may wish to illustrate a point about communication. Whatever your intentions remember that the puzzle is a teaching technique and should concentrate on the problem at hand.

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