How are businesses able to strike the balance with team building events to ensure that they get the right results?
If they are implemented poorly, it will waste time and even run counter to the objective enterprises want to achieve.
Let us explore how brands are able to make team building events more engaging and more effective for their staff.
Allow Staff to Set the Agenda
Developing the sense of a team environment is impossible to achieve if individuals within that collective feel as though the concept is imposed above them. It is not something that can be reached through artificial measures. In this regard, it is important to let staff take ownership of the process, a method that does not sit well with many owners or managers, but it continues to generate the best results. So long as there is a level of guidance and support from the hierarchy, the staff should establish their own parameters to ensure accountability and investment in the process.
Researching Past Case Studies
Various industry members will have their own interpretation of what constitutes team building events. Are they formal or informal? Are they online or offline? Are they comprised of many participants or in small teams? Among the examples that will be explored, there will be trivia, board games, video games, breakfast, brunch, lunch and afternoon tea catch ups, icebreakers, personality assessments, sports games, paintball, go-karting, challenges and more. What has been employed in other workplaces and what was deemed successful and unsuccessful?
Experimenting & Getting Started
Getting everyone on the same page is not something that is achieved through theory and planning. It happens when team members throw themselves at various programs and activities, seeing what facilitates a team environment and what doesn’t. For brands to get the most out of this time, the planning phase has to be minimal because engagement and experimentation is the real focus.
Flexible Delivery Methods & Scheduling
In 2023, businesses don’t have to stick to a rigid format to get the most out of team building events. With communication being front and centre of the process, it is beneficial to mix in-person and online team sessions. This will afford more flexibility with scheduling and ensure that technology can be leveraged, adapting to unique circumstances and continuing the progress that has been realised.
Shaping Events Around Required Outcomes
Taking part in these exercises can feel like a waste of time if the concept of the “team” is not really defined. Is this a task in boosting communication? Is it to offer a mental health break? Is it to facilitate problem-solving skills? What about encouraging more creativity or leadership capabilities? When reviewing the options and what types of programs are available, see how they work in parallel with these specific objectives.
Focus on the Fun
For businesses that step back and see the bigger picture, they know that the workplace can feel like a stressful or monotonous environment where motivation may be lacking over the long-term. Before long, operators might be treading water or just hoping to survive another cycle. By developing a genuine team culture and space to talk and create, suddenly participants have a fresh perspective on their workplace. It takes time and doesn’t apply to everyone’s experience, but if owners and managers have this understanding of what team building is intended for, they will see why fun has to be at the centre of the process.