Team Buildings

Why You Should Incorporate Team Building Activities and How They Benefit Your Busines

Enable employees to see each other In a different light

Employees spend a great deal of time with each other, but they are often too busy working to interact with each other regularly. A day out of the office allows employees to see each other in a different light and to interact with employees they may not work with on a regular basis. Despite the size of your business, every employer should take in consideration to incorporate such?team building activities.

It’s hard to get to know someone when all you discuss is work. By leaving the office behind, they can discuss their families and outside interests. Some employees may discover they both enjoy hiking, or they went to the same college.

The better they get to know each other, the more connected they will feel. People who like each other?work better together. Employees often cite their coworkers when asked what they like most about their jobs. Work can be very stressful and draining but being surrounded by people you enjoy being around can make a big difference.

2.?Make employees feel valued

Employees prefer to be a part of something that is more than just a job, something fun to look forward to every day rather than a boring monotonous environment.? When businesses encourage their employees to have fun, employees become more engaged. Many businesses include an employee page or add it to their About Us section on their website, often creating things which give more details about each individual employee. Showing appreciation for employees will not only make them feel valuable but it also improves your company image. A great example is shown below from?Jeff Arnett at Arnett Credentials. Including your team gives your potential clients a look at who is behind your team and that you care to show others who your team consists of. Keep in mind that happy and engaged employees tend to perform better.

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Today’s employees put a high priority on company culture. They want to work for a company they can feel proud to work for. Team building activities help establish a corporate culture where employees enjoy coming to work every day, collaborate easily and have trust and respect for each other.

Pro tip from Sacha Ferrandi CEO at a?hard money lending?company: “Businesses with good company culture are more likely to succeed and attract potential employees. When your team is excited to work for you and with each other, they are more likely to stay with the company, reducing costs associated with hiring and onboarding new employees”.

Too many businesses lose sight of the importance of keeping employees happy and the positivity it brings to the workplace.

A?positive company culture?helps employees become aware of their value to the team and build confidence in their skills. It shows everyone can contribute to the team in some way. Allowing employees to share ideas and bring on creativity is what makes a successful team. The more your employees feel valued, the more comfortable they are in sharing their ideas and opinions. By helping employees feel a part of a business, the more motivated they will be to take on new challenges in their jobs.

3.?Improves business relationships all around

Teams cannot function well if the members don’t get along. Encouraging employees to value communication and teamwork helps improve work relationships and the quality of work. Team building activities are designed to develop?stronger communication and collaboration, which help teams become more effective and efficient.

Often, there is a disconnect between employees at different levels of the organization. Leadership and employees seem to have a disconnect when it comes to work.

Team building activities can help close the gap by having them work together towards a common goal, which helps them view each other as co-workers rather than boss and employees. A great way to keep employees motivated and working well with each other is by encouraging clients to write a review on their experience in working with you and your team. This way they can look at what clients have to say about their work as a team. By including testimonials and reviews as shown below by?SmartMove’s?website, you improve your credibility as a business, attracting both potential leads and future employees. It is no question that individuals look at company reviews, therefore, make sure you provide them with great feedback you have received. When employees feel valued and considered as an asset to their company, their morale improves significantly.

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Summary

Strong teams are important in businesses of all sizes. However, many businesses focus on making customers happy and often neglect the?needs of their employees. They forget their people are their greatest asset, which can be a costly mistake.

Instead, businesses should?incorporate team-building exercises?as an ongoing element of their company culture. Team building activities not only boost employee morale, productivity and open communication but it can dramatically increase the success and profitability of your business.        

HR technology has transformed hiring, making it much faster and easier for recruiters to identify, attract, engage, and hire high-quality candidates

The time that an?applicant tracking system?frees up by automating the manual and mundane can be constructively invested on corporate?team building activities?that?boost employee morale, improve communication and make your workplace more productive.

Fortunately, such teamwork activities don’t have to be a time-consuming and costly affair. The success of any organization depends on how well its employees connect with each other and how they form mutually beneficial relationships to boost the bottom line. ?

Here’s a list of ultimate?team building activities?that will neither disrupt your daily schedule nor take a toll on your employee engagement budget but will definitely motivate your employees to move out of their comfort zone and do better: ?

Two Truths, One Lie

Have every employee list down 2 truths and 1 lie about themselves on a piece of paper but ask them not to reveal their answers. Once they have listed their answers, ask them to read out all the 3 statements out loud to their colleagues and have people vote on which one they think is a lie.

How does it help? This game improves communication and helps everyone get to know each other’s personalities better.

Coin Logo Ice Breaker

Start by asking everyone to empty all the coins from their purses and wallets and place them on their work desk. Instruct everyone to design their own logo using the coins and other materials like pen, paper, and other stationary items that are handy.Once they have finished the logo creation, ask each one to explain the logo to their team members.

How does it help? This team bonding activity helps break the ice, promotes creativity and self-awareness while also allowing participants to know each other better on a personal level.

Life Highlights

Ask the participants to close their eyes for a minute and visualize the most cherished memories of their life. While the participants are running through the best moments of their life, ask them to take a minute and decide which memory of their life they would want to relive if they had only 30 seconds of their life left.

How does it help? This team building activity enables your employees to know each other at a more intimate level by giving team members insights into each other’s personalities, priorities, passions and preferences.

Classification

Instruct everyone to introduce themselves to their team members and after the introduction is done, ask the participants to divide themselves into two or three teams with categories that are neither negative nor discriminating or judgemental. For example, these categories can be like pizza lovers, night owls, movie buffs and the like.

How does it help? This team game encourages co-workers to know the nature of all individuals within their team.

Sneak Peek

This is a problem-solving activity for which you would need building blocks. You can divide the team members into small teams of 4 each and give each team member enough materials to duplicate the structure that you build using the building blocks. The instructor will build a small structure while hiding it from the group.One member from every team can come and take a look at the structure for 10 seconds and memorize it. Every team is then given exactly one minute to recreate the same structure.

How does it help? This game teaches team members to communicate more effectively and solve problems as a team.

Picture Pieces

This team game requires the instructor to pick a famous cartoon character with peculiar details. The picture is then cut into pieces that form a puzzle. Every team member is given one piece of the puzzle to create a complete picture. Not knowing how their individual puzzle pieces will affect the bigger picture, everyone creates a copy of their own and when they are done, a giant copy of the original picture is created.

How does it help? This team bonding activity teaches participants to work as an individual and understand how every person’s work and creative thinking contributes to the overall result.

Plane Crash

In this game, you need to divide the participants into two or three groups and make them imagine that they are in a crashing plane. Now ask them to look around and pick 10 important objects that they would want to bring along with them. Also ask them to rank these 10 objects in the order of importance from most to least.

How does it help? The objective of this team bonding game is to improve the decision-making and problem solving ability of every employee and see how they can perform as a team in challenging situations.

Lost at Sea

In this game, participants must pretend that they are on a ship which has been wrecked and they are stranded on an island with a lifeboat. Every team will have a box of matches, food supplies and other important items that they managed to save from the sinking ship. There must be mutual agreement among members regarding the items that they think are essential for their survival.

How does it help? This game enhances problem-solving skills as all the team members are required to analyze information, consult each other and agree with one another when arriving at an important decision. It also encourages team members to listen to each other, cooperate with one another, and make thoughtful decisions.

Road Map

In this game, the instructor would need to divide the group into two teams with equal members on each side. Every group should be given paper, pens, and a map while ensuring that every group has the same map. Then ask both the teams to plan a vacation within specific parameters and give them the same start and end destination. Also, give both the teams a list of essential supplies like food, car, and money which they would need during the travel. Each group should then pen down their travel plans while ensuring they do not run out of money or gas.

How does it help? The objective of playing this game is to get co-workers to get together as a team with a common goal of planning a trip in less than 15 minutes.

Egg Drop

Again you would need to split the group into two teams with equal members and design an egg package that can survive a six-foot drop without breaking. The teams can use a variety of materials to build their egg package and they also need to prepare a short 30-second advert to convey what makes their package unique. Following the advert, each group would have to drop their package to see if their product actually works.

How does it help? This activity teaches communication skills, teamwork, and most importantly teaches team members to work towards achieving a common goal successfully.?

Slice and Dice

This is a trust building activity which should preferably be conducted outdoors with a group of 20 or more participants. All the participants must be instructed to form two lines and stand facing each other with their armsstretched out in front of them. Their arms should be intersecting with the arms of the people standing opposite to them to form a corridor.

The person standing at the end of this corridor will then pass through the line while the other participants raise and lower their arms. This process will continue until everyone has had their turns and people gain the confidence to run or sprint. In the last round, the participants who form the corridor should be instructed to chop their arms as people run through.

How does it help? This team game helps build trust among teammates while they are also having fun.
Fun Run

This is another trust building exercise that can be done in a large, open area with grass. The participants can pick their own partner where one will be designated as the leader and the other as the follower. The leader is supposed to give verbal instructions to the blindfolded follower when they are out on a slow walk for 3 minutes.

This exercise is to be performed while holding hands so the blindfolded follower gets accustomed to the leader who is giving out all the instructions. The walk should then be followed by a jog and finally by a fast 15-second run with breaks in between. The leader can then become the follower and repeat the exercise. At the end of the activity, the follower can remove the blindfold and rest for a while.

How does it help? You can have a discussion to find out if it was difficult for the participants to trust their partners and also know their experiences..