We hope you’ve all watched Family Feud before (no, there’s no fist-fighting involved!). Coworker Feud is Family Feud, made for the office.
It’s a fantastic little game that injects teambuilding skills into the workday in a really fun way.
If you’ve never seen Family Feud before, we’ve got every step you need to run it in the office, and then a fun selection of potential questions to kickstart ideas for the game.
So let’s get this show on the road!
Steps to set up coworker feud
Most of us are probably aware of the hit TV show “Family Feud.” It’s a question game where two teams (two families) compete against one another. The game’s objective is for one person from each team to compete 1v1, being the fastest person to answer a question. They win a point, which is then added to their team’s total.
It needs a sharp mind and quick wits. Oh, and someone also needs to be the host (that might be best if it’s YOU!). This is one of the best teambuilding activities you can do in the office.
What is the premise of the game (how do you score points)?
“We surveyed 100 people with this question. The top 10 answers are hidden on the board!”
Family Feud takes a little bit of planning. You need to find the most popular answer to a set of questions before the game starts. Let’s use a simple example:
- Name a fruit you might find in a smoothie…
Okay, so if you asked 100 people this question, chances are “banana” would be the most popular, right? (That might depend on where you live, actually…) Hypothetically, let’s say 100 people responded this way:
- 60 people said: bananas
- 27 people said: apples
- 12 people said: mangoes
- 1 person said: durian!
Respectively, this means you’d have:
Top answer: bananas.
2nd: apples
3rd: mangoes
4th: durian
So when you’re playing with your teams you ask them the question, and then the first person to buzz in and say “bananas” would win the round! Easy right? You can even choose variations of the rules, for example:
If person A said apples, and person B said mangoes, award 1 point to person A in team A (as they chose the more popular answer).
That’s the general principle of the game laid out, so now let’s help you set everything up!
1. Prepare some well-thought-out questions
No great game was ever played without a way to win. Just like the world-famous Family Feud, Coworker Feud revolves around questions and answers. The game relies less on the body and more on the mind, so having a fun game is easier when the questions are funny but thoughtful.
It’s pretty much up to you if you want to use general knowledge-trivia questions, or work-specific ones. Remember that you need to survey people before the game begins, so that you have 4-10 possible answers for contestants to choose from. The topics are up to you.
We have a section at the end of the article with some categorised questions, or you could use just the ones you like, and then create your own!
We also recommend choosing one group of questions on a fun topic, and one group of questions that are work-related. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, after all!
2. Get your equipment ready!
So one critical tool for the game is a nice, clear display of the game board for contestants to follow. Coworker Feud really won’t work without a scoreboard. There are physical boards out there you can put on the table or wall to follow, but it’s much easier to show the board electronically. You can have a look for one here, and you can design your own questions specific to your company or your teams.
Once you’ve got a template or board ready to share and some questions, you’re pretty much halfway there! You can spice the game up with little tools like buzzers, too, so consider fun little gizmos like those.
Most templates available keep a scoreboard and you can set a winning point target or timer. The world’s your oyster! (now, go get your pearls).
3. Designate teams
Traditionally, Family Feud is played with two families, both made up of 5 people. For your work teams, you can easily accommodate larger groups. Each team could potentially have over 10 members, the only thing to consider is that the more people playing, the more questions you need to design.
So create teams. You might initially find that department vs. department works best, but there aren’t really any rules you have to have to follow when forming teams. If your questions are department-specific, it might actually be more fun to create cross-departmental teams. Just a thought.
Create some teams and see how you get on. They can always be changed and improved in future iterations!
4. Lay out the rules (with bonus “Fast money”)
Now’s the time to fill everyone in on the rules. Most people have already seen an episode or two of Family Feud on TV, but there might be some members who haven’t (fun fact: Family Feud in the UK has always been called Family Fortunes!)
This is also a great chance for you to exercise your skills as the host if that’s what you’ve chosen. Make sure you’re completely familiar with the rules and setup before you start, and practice your most showbiz presenting style (wearing a tuxedo is optional).
The classic TV version usually had a bonus round called “Fast Money” too. This round is a bonus for winning teams who want a boost in money (or points). Fast Money is completely optional, it’s up to you whether to use it. It’s a fun extra round, you can keep it simple or make it more complicated. Usually, two members from the same team play for extra points in Fast Money. One member goes off-stage with muted headphones so they can’t hear the other member answering quick-fire questions. The person who couldn’t hear then tries to answer the same quick-fire questions and wins points if their answer isn’t the same as the first person. It takes a little while to set up, so consider it as an option.
So there we are. Time for some (healthy) competition!
5. Let the games begin
Now you’re all set up and ready to rock. If you decide to be the host, keep things light and friendly. Some work-friendly jokes will likely go down a treat as you’re playing.
As host, you’ll be reading each question as 2 people compete 1v1. You can add timers to force quicker answers if you want. If you add the Fast Money round, a timer of 20 seconds to answer quick-fire questions usually works best.
If one team gets an answer wrong, you can allow the other team to try and answer, stealing those points if they’re right. Generally, you should be able to keep track of scoring with an electronic game board, and disputed answers can easily be resolved with a Google search (we hope!). One game of 3 rounds might last up to 30 minutes, so set aside time for everyone.
The most important part is to have fun! You could reward winners with small prizes, and even ask for some group feedback at the end to see how to improve with future games. We really hope your teams enjoy playing Coworker Feud.
Questions to get the game rolling
Coworker Feud is a guessing game for contestants, and it requires you to survey people beforehand. You need to order the answers you receive from most to least popular. We’ve got some categories of questions to start you off, and we’ve put some expected answers in brackets to help. You don’t need to suggest the bracketed answers, they’re just typical responses.
If you’re stuck for questions to begin, here are a few to start your mind ticking and build connections in a fun way:
Work-related questions
- For what reason might somebody be late for work?
(traffic - illness - kids - alarm problem)
- What’s a teambuilding activity you’d like the company to do?
(teambuilding retreat - corporate event - icebreaker sessions - awards night - food outing)
- What’s the best kind of music to listen to while working?
(hip hop - classical - electronic - ambient)
- What’s the most important quality in a leader?
(listening skills - decisiveness - being accountable - confidence)
- Name a common item people forget to bring to meetings.
(laptop - phone - pens - notebooks)
- What do people most often forget to do before leaving this office?
(clear desk - switch off monitor - lock their drawer - empty the trash)
Food-related questions
- Name a food you might buy at a sports stadium as you watch
(hot dogs - popcorn - fries - peanuts - hamburger)
- Name a type of cracker people eat
(Ritz - Saltine - Graham - Jacob’s Crackers)
- Name an ingredient in Mexican food
(peppers - beans - cilantro - cheese - corn - tomato)
- Name something that gets roasted
(chicken - meats - potatoes - veg - nuts - marshmallows)
- Name a topping you might find on an ice cream sundae
(chocolate - fudge - cherries - caramel - sprinkles )
- What vegetable do kids often think is gross?
(Broccoli - sprouts - spinach - cabbage - cauliflower)
- “Sugar” is a term of endearment for someone you care about. Name another food-word people often call each other
(honey - pumpkin - cupcake - pie - muffin)
- Name a specific food that people have at an “all you can eat” restaurant
(sushi - wings - pasta - pizza - ribs - steak)
- Name a food that is cheesy
(pizza - nachos - garlic bread - fries - chili - lasagna)
- Which topping has to go on pizza?
(cheese - pepperoni - bacon - seafood - pineapple)
Fun-silly questions
- If your fridge could talk, what complaint would it have about you?
(too much expired food - opened too often - ignoring vegetables - you don’t clean me enough!)
- Name something that can be inflated or deflated
(balloon - tire - beach ball - raft)
- Name a place you stop going to when you’re broke
(restaurants - bar - casinos - cinemas - bank)
- Name something that might be full of holes
(cheese - socks - fishing net - golf course - strainer)
- Name something that people swap
(clothes - shoes - pokemon cards - phone numbers - recipes)
- Name something that gets passed around
(a cold - a rumor - a newborn baby - a donation bowl)
- Name something a snowman might have nightmares about
(sun - rain - fire - blow dryers - dogs who need the toilet)
- Name something a funeral director hate to discover on a body they’re about to bury
(that it’s alive! - that it’s the wrong person - that it’s missing - that it has something contagious)
- If you live to be 100, what do you think you’ll be doing on a typical Saturday night?
(sleeping - watching TV - dancing - eating - gambling)
- Name something that might be 1 day old
(food - a baby - an animal - news)
Teambuilding games are so much better while on a team retreat!
If you’re setting up a fun game of Coworker Feud to enhance team building in your workforce, you really shouldn’t overlook the power of using it on a team-building retreat.
A twice-annual retreat for your teams provides an unforgettable and productive environment that helps stress melt away like a cube of sugar in a swimming pool.
Here at Surf Office, organizing team retreats is what we do best.
Here’s what we offer:
- Stress-free transfers? We got you! ✅
- Quality-assured accommodations? Check! ✅
- Engaging team-building activities? Our speciality ✅
- Restaurant reservations? That's on us! ✅
- Expert retreat planning assistance? Of course, we have this covered! ✅
- Onsite support, tailored to your needs? Absolutely ✅
Not only this but we also have access to 160+ locations around Europe, APAC, the US, Latin America, and now Africa, meaning the sky is your limit when it comes to choosing the right location for you and your team.
We honestly feel that games like Coworker Feud are amplified when teams perform them while they’re staying in an unforgettable location- Coworker Feud works for remote teams, and you can even organize a remote team retreat through us too!
Let us sort out the tricky logistics for you. Spaces are very limited, so get in touch now!
