KC Cathlin | Leadership Field Notes
12

THE TEAM CONNECTION PLAYBOOK A Year of Monthly Team-Building Games

BUILD TRUST BEFORE YOU NEED IT

Teams don't get through change on strategy alone. They get through it on trust. And trust gets built in small, ordinary moments, long before the hard ones show up. Twelve ready-to-run games for remote, hybrid and in-person teams. Answer three quick questions. Get the right one for right now.

Remote Hybrid In-Person 10–30 Minutes

Unlock the Playbook

Add your name and email for instant access to all 12 games, plus the picker that matches one to your team's time, format and focus every month.

  • ✓ 12 games, each with a fun, work, or mixed version
  • ✓ A picker that matches a game to your next meeting
  • ✓ The Five-Minute Close: questions that turn play into real insight
Enter your name and a valid email to unlock the games.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Your info is used only to send you the playbook and occasional leadership resources from KC Cathlin Consulting.

KC Cathlin Consulting The Team Connection Playbook

Find the right game for right now.

Tell the picker how much time you have, how your team meets, and what your team needs this month. You'll get the best of the twelve, with instructions, prompts and a debrief question included.

Start Here

Game Picker

Answer three quick questions. Your game shows up right below.

1. How much time do you have?
2. How is your team meeting?
3. What does your team need most this month?

Pick a time and a format to see your match. Add a focus to narrow it.

Your Match
Other Great Matches

Your Year at a Glance

One game a month. Click any month to jump straight to it.

Tools & Resources

You can run most of these games with paper, a timer and a meeting room. These free tools just make remote and hybrid facilitation easier.

Used For: Pictionary, Reverse Brainstorm

Excalidraw

Free, no sign-in required. Open a shared canvas and start drawing together instantly. Already meeting on Microsoft Teams? Its built-in Whiteboard works too.

Open Tool ↗
Used For: Team Jeopardy

JeopardyLabs

Create and present a Jeopardy-style Q-and-A board in minutes, free.

Open Tool ↗
Used For: Spin to Win, Shout-Out Shuffle

Wheel of Names

Build a free digital spinner for prompts, names or turns.

Open Tool ↗
Used For: Guess Who?, Skill Swap Spotlight

Microsoft Forms

Collect safe facts, skills or game responses anonymously before a meeting.

Open Tool ↗
Used For: Name That Tune or Video Trivia

YouTube Quiz Search

Find a ready-made trivia or music round, then preview it before you use it. Any Easy Round Theme doubles as a search term.

Open Tool ↗
Don't Skip This Part

The Five-Minute Close

This is the part most teams skip. It's also the part that changes how they work. Three to five minutes on the right question turns a fun game into something people carry back to their desks. Pick one or two. Ask them out loud before you move on.

What did we notice about how we communicated?
What made it easier to participate?
Where did we naturally collaborate?
How did we recover when an answer was wrong?
Who created space for other people?
What did we learn about one another's strengths?
What part of this felt like our real work?
What friction point showed up?
What's one behavior we should carry into the week?
What's one small action we'll take next?

Remember: the game is the doorway, not the whole strategy. Strong teams still need clear expectations, consistent follow-through, honest feedback, and leaders who repair trust with repeated evidence.