Team building is the most important investment you can make for your business. By constructing a strong team bond and engaging and positive workplace culture, your business can strive forward and grow bigger.
Here is why and how you can implement team-building activities into your workplace.
Why is Team Building Important?
The benefits of team building are obvious, but it’s worth repeating here:
- You can build trust and bonds between employees, including genuine connections and deeper discussions.
- A close-kit team will help create a productive and healthy work environment for everyone.
- It helps improve communication and increases collaboration between team members, which can be applied to work projects
- Encourages teams and colleagues to “think outside the box”, which will enhance innovation and creativity in the workplace.
- Promotes problem-solving within teams, which can be applied to projects.
- It can also help mitigate conflicts, which can reduce potential problems that arise during work hours. This, in turn, can boost team performance across multiple departments.
- It helps build bridges across departments, strengthening the business as a whole unit.
- Fun and motivational activities can encourage employees to take a break from work and helps them look forward to something exciting in the future. All this will help them recharge and be more motivated to work.
- Unlocks leadership potential. Group activities usually encourage specific individuals to step up onto the playing field, which is great for management looking to find the next leader.
- Shows appreciation for employees and celebrates the team’s accomplishments. This will foster team spirit and motivation.
- Effective team building also means more engaged employees, which will improve the company culture. A happy workplace leads to happier employees.
Ultimately, the results of all these benefits lead to improved productivity for your business. You’ll be able to experience better results in terms of cost-effectiveness, efficiency and output. That’s why you should always be incorporating team-building activities into your workplace.
How Do I Implement Team-Building Activities?
It’s important to be wise when incorporating team-building activities within your business. Here’s a quick guide on how to do it right, so you get maximum results!
- Don’t force your employees to get involved if they don’t want to. You’ll just make it seem like a project, not a fun time. Let it occur organically.
- Set up parameters for the activities (aka. Ground rules). That way, all employees know what to expect at events.
- Create “traditional” events that are focused on a particular thing: Christmas, the anniversary of the company etc. This helps create continuity for employees.
- Try different activities when possible as this keeps things interesting for your employees. It also helps push them out of their comfort zone.
- Don’t look at it as a waste of time, money or resources. You’ve read the benefits above, so you know you’re making a solid investment.
- Maintain a consistent flow of in-office activities to keep employees engaged. You’ll also reduce the potential of “falling flat,” which sometimes happens after one-off activities or events.
- Ask for feedback and build on it. There’s nothing more insightful than knowing what your employees think about events and activities. Take note and make it better for next time.
What are the Best Team-Building Activities?
There are so many to list that it’s almost impossible! But you should consider activities that offer the following:
- Teamwork and collaboration, such as escape room (https://arcadiaescaperoom.ca/)
- Fun for everyone (or at least the majority), like board game or trivia nights
- Different and exciting, including archery or axe-throwing competitions
- Encourages all team members to get involved, such as team stretches or picnics
The most important thing is to ensure you are consistent with your team activities, putting the same amount of effort into each activity as the previous one. The right team building activity will create a comfortable and successful environment for your employees, resulting in better communication, collaboration and performance for your business.
