10 Best Vocabulary Games for the Workplace

Vocabulary games can be a great tool to help encourage engagement in the workplace and get creative juices flowing in new directions. These games challenge your team members to use their critical-thinking skills and think outside the box.

Any type of word game can be used for virtual or in-person workforces to promote team building. Plus, your team might be able to add a word or two to their vocabulary. We call that a win-win situation!

Simple icebreakers and team-building games like this might feel silly at the time, but they can actually be helpful tools to keep your team fully engaged throughout the workday. In fact, studies show that fully engaged team members deliver twice the revenue.

If you aren’t sure what types of vocabulary activities are right for your team, start with our list of 10 vocabulary games you should consider.

Word search

A word search is a fun and interactive vocabulary game everyone can enjoy. They are easy to plan and execute, no matter how big your team is. You can choose to print them out as handouts for in-person or email them to everyone if they work remotely. To take things to the next level, you can use an online word search generator to create a custom word search that fits the needs of your team.

Scrabble

Scrabble is a go-to board game every office should have in their breakroom. It’s easy to play and can support two to four team members. It can also improve your team members’ concentration, team-building, and overall communication skills. You can have Scrabble competitions at lunch, plan a happy hour, or simply always have one readily available for your team members to use.

Crossword

There’s no better way to start a workweek than a crossword puzzle! Crosswords can actively improve your vocabulary while serving as great stress relievers and mood boosters. We recommend printing out a few crossword puzzles before a team-building activity or emailing it to them at the start of the week. Starting your day out with a crossword will help them sit back, relax, and get ready to take on the day.

Hangman

Hangman is a relatively simple vocabulary game you can play virtually or in person. If you have a remote team, you can use an online generator during Zoom meetings or get really old-fashioned and use a whiteboard or a piece of paper. All you need to do is choose a word, and everyone has a chance to guess what letters are in the word. Bonus points if the word is work-related.

Wordle

Wordle is a popular virtual game that appears in The New York Times. Every day, the word changes and provides individuals with a new opportunity to figure out the five-letter word. There are a few ways you can incorporate Wordle into your workweek: You can choose to start a meeting with the Wordle of the day and have everyone work together to figure it out, or you can turn it into a competition of who can guess it first.

Pictionary

For Pictionary, everyone will be split into teams. The teams will then pick a card that will give them the categories to choose from. One person starts drawing, and the other teammates have 60 seconds to guess what it is. Whoever guesses first gets control. If you want to play with a virtual team, you can always try a new twist on Pictionary.

Categories

Categories is an easy icebreaker activity that doesn’t require any planning. To play, you need to pick a category. Then, you’ll go around in a circle guessing words that fit in the category. The person who can’t think of a word loses. This icebreaker works great before long meetings, team-building exercises, or virtual events.

Corporate spelling bee

Who says adults can’t participate in a spelling bee? Get your team together and put their spelling skills to the test with a live workplace spelling bee. You can choose to be as creative with the words as you want. You may be surprised who comes out on top!

Words with Friends

Words with Friends is an app your team members can download onto their phones. You can encourage everyone to play with their coworkers throughout the week, have a competition, and reward the ultimate wordsmith in the group.

20 Questions

This icebreaker is great for seeing where your team members’ heads are at. You can choose to focus on company-specific or business-related topics. From there, one team member will pick a word. It can be a person, place, or thing. Everyone else will need to ask 20 questions until they figure out the word.

You can’t go wrong with planning a few vocabulary games for your team members. They are the perfect complement to any virtual meeting or event as you look for ways to engage with your team members and inspire them to have fruitful conversations with each other.

We recommend also planning virtual or in-person experiences for them to enjoy with each other. A vocabulary game can be the perfect icebreaker before a scavenger hunt or trivia night.

Ready to plan your next virtual event? Check out our list of Elevent experiences today.

Originally published at May 19 2022, 11:28:00 AM. Updated on May 4 2024.