Team building games that bond the employees of your car wash together

Team building games can help your employees get to know each other better and motivate them – but they can also get on your nerves or be perceived as silly. Accordingly, it is important to show a little tact when making the right choice. With a small car wash team, it doesn't make sense to go to the mountains for a few days of intensive survival training – but you can make sure that your employees get to know each other a little better as a group, discover some things they have in common and get along well. In any case, these games can help to improve communication within your team and thus enhance the quality of collaboration – which not only benefits you as a car wash operator, but also your customers. 

Team building ideas for the beginning

●    BingoEverybody knows this game. Distribute bingo cards to your employees on which you have noted things they have in common. That can be something like "same favourite animal", "same pet", "same holiday preferences", "same favourite sport", "same favourite book", "same favourite movie", "same number of siblings" and so on. Then all employees move around the room at the same time and find out what the others have put as their answers to these questions. Whoever finds a match makes a cross at the appropriate place. If someone has completed a row – horizontally, vertically or diagonally – he or she shouts "Bingo!" and has won. This way, your employees can easily learn various things about their colleagues and have points of contact for future discussions.

●    Three truths one lie
Each colleague receives four little notes that look the same on which they write three true statements and one lie about themselves. None of this has to be spectacular, and the lie should also be as credible as possible. Examples would be "I am 26 years old", "I am married", "I can write with both hands" and "I have a twin". The colleagues each receive the slips of paper of the person in question and must try to identify the lie. To do this, they have to think about their respective colleague, gather together what they know and assess what might be true. The team finally makes a guess – even two, if it can't agree. The colleague clarifies the lie – the others now know three facts more about them than before. 

●    Quiz questions
There are a whole range of tricky quiz questions from the most diverse subject areas that you can collect – for example from a Trivial Pursuit game or even online. Ask these questions to your employees in the break room – all together or in two teams taking turns. They are also welcome to consult with each other. It's not about winning great prizes, it's about having fun. And at the same time your employees will also find out who is enthusiastic about which topics.
Team building after getting to know each other
If your employees already know each other a little, you can play team building games where they work together and listen to each other. But normally you need a little more time for this – it is worth integrating these games into a small company celebration. 

●    Walk through the "minefield"
For example, place some objects on the floor in various places (preferably those that are sturdy and don't break easily) in the yard or in the park, to make things a little nicer. There should be enough space between them to comfortably walk through. You then blindfold a colleague, and their teammate must guide them through this "minefield" by shouting alone, without the first player bumping into any of the items. If you have several teams, you can stop the time and choose the winning team that got through the fastest and without mistakes.

●    "Careful with the raw egg!" 
Like this or something similar, is how the instructions of the team members to each other could sound when they are given the task of packing an egg in such a way that it survives a fall to the ground. For this exercise, you should gather together everything that your office, the staff room and the cash area can offer – newspaper, rubber bands, packaging materials, pens and various other items can be used in an imaginative way. Split your employees into teams or let them all think together – depending on the number of employees. You are given half an hour to protect the egg in the best possible way. It is then revealed whether the joint efforts have been successful.    
Unusual group games for adults for team building
If your team already knows each other well and like each other, you can try several different advanced team building games with them. However, this also depends strongly on whether you have a grouch in the group who is bound to have no desire to join in – such an employee can spoil everything. But if everyone joins in, the next two tips guarantee excitement and fun.

●    Escape room 
In most major towns, there are now escape rooms where groups can be locked in. They receive riddles and clues, which they must decipher together in order to be able to free themselves from the room within a certain time. If they don't make it out in time, the game is lost. This is an ideal setting for the team to work together. Everyone contributes with their skills and ideas to help find the right answers. The experience through playing the game is definitely one they share – all of them win together, or all of them lose together. 

●    Karaoke
Some love it, while others hate it, but karaoke does not leave anyone completely cold. "My voice sounds awful", "I cannot sing" or "I find it embarrassing" – these excuses are heard over and over again. And yet, in the end, everyone joins in enthusiastically. Whether you hire a karaoke game such as Singstar, buy your own DVDs, draw on YouTube's wide selection or visit a karaoke bar, there are now many ways to go out singing with your employees. The easiest way is of course at a company party, when everyone is a bit more relaxed. Once it is clear to everyone that you don't have to sing the cool songs, but those to which you know the lyrics, the ice is usually broken. And finally, when everyone is excited about the boy band songs of yesteryear, you've definitely created shared memories for the whole group!

Summary: From getting to know each other to bonding together

Team building games may seem a bit contrived, but they have an undeniable value. You can ensure that your employees get to know each other a little better in a harmless way, you can encourage them to work in a team by carrying out joint tasks, and you can finally get them to bond properly with each other through joint actions. There are games to suit every phase of a team, and once you've made it to the stage that your employees can have a lot of fun with each other, it becomes a sure-fire success anyway. Probably they will also start to meet up privately now and then. Of course, you can help things along with regular company parties. 

Read our blog for more helpful tips on how to effectively motivate the employees of your car wash!