Team building can get a bit of a negative reaction from some professionals. There’s often the worry that it could feel forced or even a little childish. But team building is a very effective exercise for a business and if you make sure you do it right, employees should leave feeling closer and happier in their teams.
And this doesn’t have to mean doing trust falls in the office car park. Team building can encompass a whole range of activities and can be hugely beneficial. You could choose to take part in team building cooking courses, sports days or puzzle solving games such as ‘escape rooms’. All of these help to bring your team together in a fun and more relaxed environment.
So how do you get the balance right and why is team building so important?
Boost your output.
The first reason that team building is important in your company is for boosting team performance, and as a result, increasing their output. A team cannot function well together if they don’t get along. That’s not to say that your employees will dislike each other without team building exercises, but these are a great tool for bringing them closer together and ensuring that they can work effectively alongside one another.
These team building activities often require your employees to tap into both existing and new skill sets to complete tasks. This presents an opportunity for them to pull together their abilities to undertake new and interesting challenges. This in turn will give them a chance to work better as a team, solve problems and be creative.
Improve communication.
Team building exercises can encourage staff to communicate better with one another. Skills which can be transferred into the workplace. These activities can break down barriers and potentially help staff to interact with those colleagues that they may not spend much time with at work. They can also create more trust within their teams and help staff get to know one another a bit better.
Why is this great news for business? Not only does it mean staff will work better together, producing a higher standard of work. But it also means that they’ll be better equipped to analyse any areas of their workload where they excel and other areas that may need improving. This will allow them to effectively communicate this to one another to implement positive change. What’s more, it allows all areas of the business to communicate more efficiently, as they work towards shared company goals.
Strengthen your company culture.
While you might choose to run team building activities at your place of work, going outside the business can make these events feel more social and thus be more beneficial. Socialising with your colleagues is important for strengthening the company culture. Combining a team building exercise with a chance to blow off some steam and have fun with your co-workers is a great way to bring staff closer together.
This will also have a number of benefits for the business. It will create a positive working environment, as well as boosting morale and staff productivity. Company culture is important to today’s professionals, they want to work for a company that makes them happy and that they feel proud of. Team building is a great way to achieve this and strengthen your culture.
Spark creativity.
Of course businesses want to get the most from their staff, but it can’t be all work and no play. Otherwise you risk your staff burning out or becoming unhappy in their role. Offering creative and fun ways to bring your team closer together is also the perfect way to get their creative juices flowing.
Creativity and innovation are vital for businesses if they wish to stay ahead of their competition and keep attracting new customers and clients. By offering staff the opportunity to try new things and work together, you’ll give them the chance to think outside the box. But more importantly, have fun whilst doing it! This will help their creativity to flourish, which will be reflected in their work.
In summary.
There are so many options when it comes to team building activities and as more focused is placed on employee retention and happiness, it’s clear that these will continue to become more popular. There are a number of benefits for both businesses including boosting morale, increasing productivity and sparking creativity. As such, it’s vital that employers are encouraging team building exercises, however they may choose to do this.
