Mindfulness activities in team building workshops aim to bring participants’ attention to the present moment. This helps build trust, communication, and collaboration within teams.
Mindfulness promotes self-awareness, focus, positive personality traits, and emotional intelligence – skills that are vital for working cohesively.
Through mindfulness, teams can gain insight into each other’s perspectives and learn to appreciate differences. This is especially the case within channel partner training sessions.
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Ultimately, mindfulness activities lead to greater productivity, job satisfaction, and work relationships.
1. Mindful Eating
Instructions:
Provide participants with a small food item, such as a raisin or piece of chocolate.
Ask them to hold the item in their hand and notice its color, texture, smell, temperature, and any thoughts or feelings it evokes.
Then have them place it in their mouth and eat it slowly, paying close attention to the sensations of taste and texture.
Remind them to stay present as they chew and swallow.
Cost: Low (food items)
Resources Needed: Various food items, napkins.
Time: 5-10 minutes
Participants: 5-25
Best Suited For: New teams, teams struggling with communication. We hear this from customers that regularly download our training course materials.
Role of Facilitator: Guide the activity and remind participants to stay present.
Role of Participants: Fully engage in the exercise with curiosity.
Reflection Strategies: Ask what participants noticed about the experience. Discuss what was easy or challenging.
Debrief Questions: What did you learn about yourself? How can mindful eating help us be more present with each other?
2. Mindful Listening
Instructions:
Have participants pair up.
One partner will speak for 1-2 uninterrupted minutes on a given topic.
The other will listen attentively, without speaking, distracting themselves, or planning a response.
Then partners switch roles.
Cost: None
Resources Needed: Timer, list of topics
Time: 10-15 minutes
Participants: 5-20 people
Best Suited For: Established teams, teams with communication issues
Role of Facilitator: Provide instructions, keep time, and share reflection strategies.
Role of Participants: Listen and speak mindfully when it is their turn.
Reflection Strategies: Have partners share how it felt to deeply listen and be listened to.
Debrief Questions: What did you notice about yourself as the listener? As the speaker? How can mindful listening strengthen our team?
3. Mindful Movement
Instructions:
Lead the group through a series of simple stretches and movements focused on breathing and bodily awareness.
Move slowly and pause between each movement to notice sensations.
Options include walking meditation, gentle yoga, or qi gong.
Cost: None
Resources Needed: Space for movement
Time: 10-15 minutes
Participants: 5-30 people
Best Suited For: All team types
Role of Facilitator: Guide the mindful movement activity.
Role of Participants: Engage fully by following instructions and noticing sensations.
Reflection Strategies: Discuss how participants felt during and after the activity.
Debrief Questions: What did you notice about your body and mind? How can bringing mindfulness into movement benefit our team?
4. Loving-Kindness Meditation
Instructions:
Guide participants through a short loving-kindness meditation where they send good wishes to themselves, loved ones, teammates, and all people.
Read a script with pauses.
Cost: None
Resources Needed: Meditation script
Time: 10 minutes
Participants: 5-30 people
Best Suited For: Teams struggling with conflict
Role of Facilitator: Read meditation script calmly and slowly.
Role of Participants: Follow along silently with the meditation.
Reflection Strategies: Ask participants to share any feelings or thoughts that arose.
Debrief Questions: What value does this practice add to our team? How can it impact our collaboration?
5. Blindfold Activity
Instructions:
Split participants into pairs.
One person wears a blindfold while their partner verbally guides them through an obstacle course.
Then they switch roles.
Cost: Low (blindfolds)
Resources Needed: Blindfolds, obstacle course
Time: 15-20 minutes
Participants: 6-20 people
Best Suited For: Established teams ready to build deeper trust
Role of Facilitator: Explain activity, set up obstacle course, keep time.
Role of Participants: Guide partner or be guided mindfully and attentively.
Reflection Strategies: Discuss what the experience was like for guides and partners.
Debrief Questions: What did you learn about yourself or your partner? How does this translate into the workplace?
Conclusion
Mindfulness activities foster self-awareness, communication, trust, and empathy within teams.
They help create a culture of collaboration. Debriefs and reflection activities allow teams to integrate mindful experiences into their daily work.
With practice, employee mindfulness can become an ongoing team practice for enhanced understanding and effectiveness.
With 30+ years of training experience, I founded Oak Innovation (oakinnovation.com) in 1995. I help busy training professionals and business managers deliver better training courses in less time by giving them instant access to editable training course material. I received my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from University College Cork. I hold qualifications in Professional Development And Training from University College Galway. Clients include Apple, Time Warner, and Harvard University.
