Are you in search of some team building activities for the customer service department?
Customer service teams are the frontline warriors of any business. They often face high-pressure situations while striving to provide top-notch service to their customers. So, conducting experiential learning activities with those employees can help them develop their interpersonal skills and increase job satisfaction.
In this article, let’s see 10 customer service team building activities you can try with your employees. They will help foster collaboration, enhance morale, and ultimately deliver a winning service.
10 Team Building Activities for Customer Service
Here are some top team building activities designed to foster camaraderie among customer service teams.
#1. Empathy Image
This exercise is designed to help the team understand customer feelings better, while also strengthening their ability to work together.
Time: 10 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: At least 3 people in a group
Instructions
- Each group should pick one person to be the “image”. This person will need to stay in the middle of a circle and cannot move.
- The rest of the team should stand around the “image” and take turns posing for them.
- As each person poses, they should explain what type of customer experience they are trying to illustrate. For example, a person might make a sad face and explain that this is how a customer would feel if something didn’t go as expected.
- The “image” will need to try and put themselves in the customer’s shoes and replicate the emotions that are being expressed.
Debrief
Figure out what the team learned by discussing customer emotions and how understanding them can help when dealing with customers. Discuss how the team should strive to put themselves in the customer’s shoes and understand their needs before responding.
#2. Match the Solution
This game is great for problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Here each team should come up with the best possible solution to a customer’s problem.
Time: You decide
Materials: Paper and pen
Participants: At least 3 people per group
Instructions
- Split the employees into groups.
- Ask each group to come up with a solution for a given customer service scenario. For example, a customer is not happy with the product and wants a full refund.
- Instruct the team members to write down their solutions on a piece of paper. Once they all have a solution, each group member takes turns presenting their idea.
- After all the ideas are presented, ask the group to decide which one is the right solution for that scenario.
Debrief
Discuss how effective problem-solving skills are essential for support teams. Highlight the importance of understanding customer needs, and how to leverage communication to provide better solutions. Focus on the value of team collaboration in solving complex scenarios.
#3. Customer Support Role Play
This activity allows team members to put themselves in their customers’ shoes and understand different perspectives.
Time: You decide
Materials: Role play scripts, paper, and pens
Participants: Two groups of any size
Instructions
- Divide the employees into two groups – customers and customer support representatives.
- Assign pre-created roles to each group.
For example,
Group 1: Unsatisfied customer
Group 2: Service-minded representative who is eager to help
- Ask each group to role-play their assigned customer support scenario.
- After the role play, ask team members to discuss their experience and observations of the scene.
Debrief
Highlight the importance of communication and active listening in customer service. Discuss how team members can use their communication skills for better customer experiences.
#4. The Compassion Map
This team building exercise encourages critical thinking and compassion in the workplace. Here the employees should fill out a compassion map for each other.
Time: 15 minutes
Materials: Pieces of paper with compassion elements written on them, and markers
Participants: 2 or more members per group
Instructions
- Initially, ask each employee to pick a partner.
- Provide each pair with a sheet of paper containing some essential components of compassion. For instance, emotions, thoughts, needs, and behavior.
- Ask each pair to take turns completing the compassion map for their partner.
For example,
Feelings: They might be feeling excited, content, or anxious.
Thoughts: They may be thinking about the task ahead or their future plans.
Needs: They could need more information to complete the job or a break from work.
Behavior: They can show empathy and understanding towards others by being patient and taking time to listen.
- After the map is completed, have each participant explain their thought process and share what they learned about their partner.
Debrief
Identify the significance of comprehending another person’s viewpoint when attempting to cultivate empathy in the workplace. Suggest ways to apply this understanding to everyday customer interactions.
#5. Client Trivia
This trivia game can test employees’ knowledge about serving clients while having some fun.
Time: 10 minutes
Materials: Small cards with questions related to client relationship
Participants: Any number of people in a group
Instructions
- Divide the participants into teams and give each team a set of cards with questions related to client relationships.
For example,
“What is the most important client service value?”
“When is it appropriate to apologize to a client?”
- Each team should answer as many questions as they can within the time limit. The team with the most correct answers wins!
Debrief
Discuss whether or not any of the teams had difficulty finding the answers. If so, why do you think that was? Talk about how important understanding the client’s values is to provide an excellent user experience. Encourage team members to keep learning and developing good relationships with clients.
#6. Change of Plans
In this exercise, teams are given a task and then asked to complete it in an unexpected way. This will allow them to practice their adaptability skills.
Time: 10 minutes
Materials: Cards with the instructions and supplies needed to complete the task
Participants: More than 3 members in a group
Instructions
- Split the participants into teams.
- Give each team a card with instructions for completing the task. For example, “Create a poster outlining our customer service values.”
- Once the teams have started working on the task, provide an unexpected twist such as: “Now create the same poster using only natural materials, like leaves and sticks.”
- Teams must now adapt and work together to complete the new task. The team that finishes first wins!
Debrief
Discuss the process your teams went through when given the unexpected challenge. Talk about how important it is for support staff to stay flexible and adaptive to provide their clients with an excellent experience.
#7. Jigsaw Puzzle with Negotiation
This exercise is designed to enhance problem-solving skills, communication, and negotiation.
Time: You decide
Materials: Jigsaw puzzles of different sizes and complexity levels
Participants: At least two different groups
Instructions
- Organize the participants into groups of 4 or 5 individuals at most.
- Provide each group with a jigsaw puzzle with some pieces missing. Then, set a designated time limit for them to complete the puzzle.
- Throughout the activity, encourage groups to negotiate with one another to obtain missing puzzle pieces needed to complete their respective puzzles.
- The group that successfully finishes their puzzle within the given time frame will emerge victorious.
Debrief
Discuss the importance of collaboration when faced with a challenging task. Discuss how these methods can be applied to client interactions and how resolving client inquiries requires teamwork, communication, and negotiation.
#8. Pass the Message
This activity is great for developing clear communication skills and understanding how messages can be interpreted differently.
Time: 10 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: 4 or more individuals per group
Instructions
- Break the employees into groups, and let each group stand in a circle.
- Choose one person to start in each group, and have them whisper a phrase related to customer service into the ear of the person next to them.
- The message should be passed around the circle until it comes back to the original sender.
- Compare and discuss how different the original phrase is from what came back around the circle.
Debrief
Discuss how important it is for team members to communicate clearly and efficiently when dealing with customers. Ask each participant to come up with one suggestion of how they could improve their communication skills. Discussing these suggestions as a team will help reinforce the importance of clear customer service communication, while also fostering a sense of camaraderie and team spirit.
#9. The Yes-No Game
In this game, teams have to work together to answer some questions in a limited amount of time.
Time: 10 minutes
Materials: A list of questions and answers
Participants: At least 2 individuals in a team
Instructions
- Break the participants into teams.
- Give each team a list of customer service questions and two possible answers (Yes or No).
For example,
Q: Does our company offer free shipping? A. Yes or No
- Teams must use their customer service knowledge and work together to answer each question correctly in a limited amount of time.
- Finally, the team that answers the most questions correctly wins!
Debrief
Discuss the importance of quick decision-making and accuracy when working with customers. Talk about how important it is to have a thorough understanding of the company’s products, services, and policies to provide the customers with the best experience.
#10. Conversation Circles
This exercise is great for developing active listening skills and building relationships between team members.
Time: 10 minutes
Materials: None
Participants: 3 or more individuals in a group
Instructions
- Divide the employees into small groups.
- Ask each group to choose a topic related to clients, for example: ‘What is the most important element of creating excellent client relationship?’.
- Each person takes turns speaking about their ideas and thoughts on the chosen topic, one at a time. Everyone should be given an equal chance to share their thoughts.
- After each person is finished speaking, the group can discuss any new ideas or points that have been raised.
Debrief
Discuss how important it is for team members to listen to each other and share opinions to create an excellent client relationship. Highlight the value of active listening skills, as well as empathizing with customers and understanding their needs.
Want Some Unique Team Building Activities?
If you want some unique activities (both in person and virtual) for your employees, you can get my new e-book:
Final Words
It is not just the quality of products or services that defines your company’s success. The way you and your employees treat your customers can matter a lot. This is why you need to develop highly competent customer service teams. Hopefully, the above team building exercises can help you achieve that.