Connections are essential in the work environment, and sometimes it is best to strengthen these relationships outside of the workplace. In this article, we’ll present some best practices on how to organize a team building activity.
Team building activities are becoming more popular as companies realize that employees must be comfortable to get along well in the workplace.
Developing people skills that go beyond the scope of each employee’s work is critical. Even the most talented group of employees may fall short of their goals without communication and teamwork.
What we’ll cover in this article:
What is team building?
Team building is a management method that uses numerous activities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of workgroups. Forming a competent team requires expertise, analysis, and observation. The main goal here is to fulfill the organization’s vision and objectives.
What are the benefits of team building activities?
A manager may utilize team building as a critical tactic to assist their staff in performing more successfully. Recruiting the right people is sometimes a challenge, but making them work efficiently together might be a burden. When team members form positive relationships, they may feel more at ease discussing their thoughts and coming up with creative solutions to challenges. Understanding why team building is essential will assist you in selecting the appropriate activities for your team.
Team building activities allow employees to form emotional bonds, understand one another’s advantages and drawbacks, and learn how to collaborate and communicate successfully.
What are the pros of team building?
Building healthy relationships
Team building activities are utilized to foster healthy relationships among team members. Assisting employees in developing relationships may foster a sense of belonging in your team and company, boosting employee engagement and loyalty. Employees who form connections with their coworkers are more likely to be pleased with their jobs.
Increasing connectivity
As more businesses recruit remote workers, finding ways to link individuals working in different locations is critical. Team building may assist remote teams in getting to know one another, leading to a more congenial work environment. Team building may also aid in developing a feeling of community among distant teams. Over 50% of team leaders felt team communication improved after team building.
Boosting morale
Team building can effectively improve morale, as it often involves games and enjoyable activities. Doing an enjoyable task with colleagues can help employees see the common goals they share with their peers. It can also help create a pleasant work atmosphere for employees and make them feel valued.
Increasing trust
Team building activities can foster employee trust if a company has recently formed teams or departments that communicate frequently. Employees can learn to rely on their colleagues when participating in collaborative activities. Consider teambuilding exercises that encourage the development of trust.
Boosting productivity
A company’s productivity can be increased by encouraging employees to work together to achieve goals. If underperformance is a problem in your company, a team building might be a good idea to boost productivity: teams that feel they belong together are likelier to give their best to the task. Because team members can interact frequently and share their progress, it can also help eliminate redundant work.
Strengthening relationships
You may employ teambuilding activities to help your team members form healthy relationships. Allowing your workers to create relationships may foster a sense of belonging on your team, enhancing employee engagement. Employees who form relationships with their coworkers are more likely to be pleased with their jobs.
Increasing confidence
Employees can boost their self-esteem by participating in team-building activities. This can make them feel more at ease with their coworkers and encourage them to share more ideas at work, enhancing their team’s overall workflow. Confident individuals may trust their colleagues’ abilities more, leading to increased autonomy.
Health benefits
Team building may benefit employees by increasing physical and emotional wellness. Teambuilding exercises sometimes entail groups connecting and solving challenges outside of the office. This implies that employees can participate in activities outside of the job, such as physical challenges or leisure activities.
How to organize a team building activity
Organizing a successful team building can be a complicated process, and it is sometimes recommended that you engage a professional event management firm to help you, but here are some ideas to get you started:
1. Establish clear goals
While the team building event may be enjoyable for those engaged, remember that the event is only relevant if its objectives are met.
That is why it is critical to establish particular focal areas for your staff to work on throughout the team-building exercise. Only when you’ve selected some broad aims for yourself can you assess which activities and challenges would best meet your aspirations.
It is critical to be clear about your goals when designing a team building exercise. It might be tempting to hold a team building activity just because it is the proper thing to do, but there should always be a valid purpose for it.
Consider team building when dealing with challenging personnel, such as those who struggle to engage with others or who can be cruel at times. It can be highly beneficial to organize ahead of time and place these folks in groups where they can form stronger ties. This helps individuals to learn and grow together. Using your imagination to find solutions or understand more about each other’s histories might help team members who have previously battled with each other strengthen their relationships.
2. Make a budget
Once you’ve determined your team building objectives, it’s time to design a budget to make it all happen.
Consider the budget before proceeding with the organizational aspects, as it will serve as a guide to what you can afford and how thorough your team building event may be.
There are several ways to meet your event’s objectives; some are nearly free, while others cost thousands of dollars. With a budget, you can be confident that the event’s costs will not increase.
3. Select participants
Team building exercises may benefit all employees, but as is usual in most workplaces, certain people require more assistance than others.
It is critical that individuals that need to grow actively participate in the team building event, whether it is due to a lack of skills, isolation, or a predisposition to dispute.
For example, it would be pointless if only the outgoing folks took part while the more reserved persons stayed in the background.
4. Choose a good time and location
You can’t expect your employees to participate entirely in your event unless you design it around their schedules and personal life.
Because they want to spend time with their families, some employees will reject conducting team-building events on their own time. Make sure everyone is on board if you want to host a team building event in the evening.
If your staff is working on a large project with a tight deadline, you should postpone the team building event until the project is done.
5. Push yourself out of your comfort zone
Team building exercises can be tricky since people are often cautious and unwilling to disclose themselves in front of their coworkers.
Even though it’s difficult, it’s critical that you attempt to move everyone out of their comfort zone while maintaining a positive attitude.
An improv workshop may be a terrific way for participants to get to know one other and, more importantly, themselves better and improve connections.
6. Forget job titles
An important aspect of team building activities is to make everyone feel comfortable. One way to ensure that all employees feel equal is to disregard job titles and egos for the time being. When there are no subordinates or superiors, this promotes communication and team spirit and allows people who would not normally be in such a role to demonstrate their own leadership style.
7. Ask for feedback
If you want to know if your team-building events were successful, you must be able to measure their outcomes. The simplest approach to accomplish this is to just ask your staff what they think.
Conduct a poll (preferably anonymous) to allow your workers to voice their thoughts on the teambuilding event, such as what they liked, what they didn’t like, and what they wanted to do in the future.
Team Building Activities
So now you know a few things about organizing a team building, but what kind of team building games should you try?
Team building games are a creative and enjoyable way to interact with and cooperate with your team. Collaborative activities, whether online or in person, may liven up and brighten your team’s day.
Because not all team building games are suitable for all teams, we have developed a list of some of our favorite team building activities that are both enjoyable and educational.
Here are some team building activities that are pretty popular:
- Egg Drop
- Escape Room
- Blind Drawing
- Two truths and a lie
- Pencil Drop
- Human Knot
- Balloon Questions
- Desert Survival
- Bonding Belt
More fun activities for a team building, can be found in this article by toggl or this one by sage.
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