Adult life requires teamwork, particularly in a professional environment.

Whatever lessons about teamwork our childhood PE teachers attempted to drill into our heads, some people are just determined to barrel through their adult lives doing whatever they please. Shoulders set, blinkers down, and Frank Sinatra’s My Way doubtlessly playing on an endless loop inside their brains.

Wonderful though it must be to view yourself as the Lone Ranger of Sales and Marketing, adult life does actually require teamwork.

These days, team-building exercises are becoming more frequent, promoting better cohesion and improved group dynamics in many workplaces.

Look around your office. Is everyone pulling in a different direction? Is there a lack of cohesion or a sense of disjointedness in the work being produced?

It might be time for a little team building of your own. While corporate seminars, retreats, and company getaways are all well and good for larger companies, team-building does not have to break the bank, by any means.

Sometimes, when searching for ways to bring your struggling team together, you don’t need to look any further than the office stationary cupboard!

Solving problems together is a great way to build that team mentality, and nothing fosters a team’s spirits better than a little bit of friendly competition.

Start by dividing your workforce into equal teams and be sure to add people with differing skill sets to each group in order to keep things balanced.

The Egg Drop is a classic team-building exercise which doesn’t require you to leave the office and will definitely have the accounting department’s approval for its minuscule budget.

All you will need per team is one egg and an assortment of everyday objects such as cardboard boxes, plastic bags, stick tape, string and rubber bands. Basically, if it came out of the supply cupboard and wouldn’t look out of place in a Blue Peter art project, it’s perfect for this game.

Give your teams a set amount of time (30 minutes to an hour should suffice) in which to create a protective package for their egg. When time is up, all teams must drop their packages from a two-storey height (a stairwell will do) without damaging the egg inside. Feel free to provide points to the winners, or maybe just some omelettes for the whole office afterwards.

Another brilliant way to break the ice amongst workmates and get those brains working is a physical puzzle called The Human Knot.

This exercise requires nothing more than an open space, casual clothes and colleagues who don’t mind the prospect of holding hands with their boss for a few minutes.

Gather teams of eight or more into a clear space and instruct your participants to stand shoulder to shoulder in a circle - the more the merrier in this game - so grab as many people as you can.

Once everyone has assembled, instruct your team to reach into the circle with one hand and grab the hand of someone standing across from them; then repeat this process with the other hand.

What you should find yourself left with is a tangled knot of people, each holding hands with two different team members.

The objective of the game is then to work as a team to untangle the knot without ever letting go of one another (feel free to send them back to step one for cheating). Team members will have to work together and communicate in order to untangle themselves from the knot and win the game.

If your company has a little bit more money at its disposal and some fairly active team members, you might want to try something a little more adventurous to bring everyone together.

A nice team-building sky dive perhaps? No, nothing that extreme is really necessary- but a friendly game of Paintball might do wonders for your group.

As long as you can keep most of your team from going Full Metal Jacket on one another, Paintball can be a fantastic way to make your team function like a well-oiled military machine.

Events such as board game nights and treasure hunts could also help to promote team work

Make sure you divide teams equally and do not allow cliques or exclusionary tactics to lower to morale of team members- after all, this exercise is about team work, not bullying.

There are at least two available Paintball ranges in Malta which offer a variety of packages and deals for larger groups and with cooler weather coming up, this is probably just the right time of year to give it a go.

For anyone concerned about Paintball being too rough, there is also a Laser Tag arena available locally which offers a similar team-building experience with a reduced potential for strain or injury.

For a somewhat unusual corporate experience, Segway Malta have also begun to book team build events and outings.

Though whizzing about on a Segway might seem a little silly to some, it is certain to provide a needed break and a few laughs – and that can go a long way towards helping your team.

While the ultimate goal of team-building is of course to promote a more efficient work force and better quality of work, that isn’t all that can be achieved.

Even at work, teams tend to function more efficiently when there is a genuine bond of camaraderie between them, so don’t exclude pure, unbridled fun from the agenda when you’re planning your events.

Something as simple as company drinks, or a monthly pizza day, might already be a good step towards making your team feel more at home together.

More structured events such as board game nights and treasure hunts could also help to promote teamwork and creative thinking and problem solving amongst workers.