As a founder and/or runner of a business, nothing is more important than team solidarity. For that purpose, team building activities are key. They galvanize morale, encourage cohesion, and educate the new team members. Furthermore, they breed trust. And when your staff trust one another, business is productive. But how can you implement team building events into your working environment, and what are some of the best events for this purpose? This article will show you the ropes and some solid ideas. By the end of this short read, you will be teeming with office team ideas to try out.
Definitions Of Team Building
When a layman thinks of corporate team building programs, they picture the employees standing around in the office doing trust exercises. Or worse, engaging in ‘circle time’ i.e sitting in a circle and appraising the working standards. Often, the reason for such meetings is corporate challenges and team building. But when it comes to this, the aforementioned setting is not necessarily what is meant.
In truth, the best team building ideas are the ones that bring the team together and unify them. That means that the idea can be as outlandish as bungee jumping or as simple as a group quiz. As long as they bring the team together, encourage them to bond, and result in everybody working together more cohesively. Achieve that, and you will have overcome a challenge, and improved the working environment for your colleagues.
Considerations For Your Corporate Team Builders
When you consider the possibility of putting fun team building events together, there are a few logistical considerations to iron out first. To begin with, think of the purpose of it. The ultimate goals for your team development ideas. Is it simply for a break? Or is it an exercise in creativity? Perhaps it is both? Maybe you want to introduce an element of competition to your staff. All of these reasons are valid. What’s more, they all call for a fresh location away from the office. Furthermore, all of the ideas require you to both participate. This means you will get involved, and join the team for the events. Structure the events too, to a degree. And depending on the event form you choose.
In that regard, the first step in the works is to figure out how your great idea jives with your company budget. What can you afford? Something lavish and out there? Or is your team building activity better suited to a smaller-scale event? One way or the other, there will be a degree of problem solving to do, and you may have to employ some creative thinking tactics. But in the end, there are many team building exercises available to you. Your goals are the limit. There is no time limit when it comes to this.
Something else you can do to ensure that your team build idea is solid and bound for success is to propose them to your staff beforehand and allow your staff to express their interest in it. That will give you a greater perception of what everybody wants to do, and furthermore, can indirectly communicate the likelihood of the idea’s success to you. Of course, there is no purpose in creating team bonding trips that nobody is likely to participate in. So try to decipher the general interest first.
Side Note: Consider the personal pragmatics of your staff. If you plan expensive and lavish company team building activities, employees might not show interest due to the expense. They might have difficulties finding time away from other personal commitments. Furthermore, always weigh your efforts against the staff’s interest. For example, say a business owner’s purported team building opportunities are taking up all of their problem solving skills and their employees aren’t showing enough interest to justify the expense of budget and time – in this scenario, they should consider other bonding activities. Cheaper ones, or something smaller scale.
Virtual team building is an option too. Again, many business owners don’t entertain it in this regard due to how the medium is perceived as less personal and involved than in-person events. But the potential of the virtual medium is wide and varied. The article will discuss virtual team building activities soon enough, but if the virtual method appeals to you as a business owner, consider it. Moreover, make sure you choose a solid platform such as Everytale, to host your puzzles and games. You can save time, and money and do some cool things.
Furthermore, don’t forget about the end result – the desired outcome from the experience of your extracurricular staff activities. Whether that purpose is to galvanize the teamwork ethic, encourage collaboration, or simply get together, it is important to assess the results along the way. What’s more, do so as if assessing a business strategy. Because to a degree, that is what it is. Perhaps you want to get out of the office too. Freshen things up. But keep an eye on the challenge as much as the enjoyment, and you will optimize the results of your efforts tenfold.
In conclusion, if the budget considerations are within a pragmatic range, and there is a sufficient level of staff interest, then your company bonding activities are likely to be a great success. Then it is just a case of planning, executing, and evaluating the success of the adventure.
In Person Team Building Ideas
There are many possibilities for in person team building events. The only rule should be that they involve teamwork in the broad sense. Furthermore, we should affirm that these particular ideas are not necessarily the most successful ones (that caveat depends on why you are considering a team building event in the first place) but are a few solid ideas for you to think about.
1: Host A Group Social
Start with the basic local team building activities that are simple to organize, and are easy-going and beneficial to all who attend. A team building activity is a great way of connecting with your employees. During these events, you could engage with them by fun recreational activities or food sharing by ordering from a ghost kitchen. Surprise your team and bond with them. A group social. This is an option that lends itself well to local team building activities. It can be as simple as an evening meal, or as big and involving as wine tasting. Whatever it is, make it exciting for your participants, regardless of whether it complements the skills element. It might even be solely for teammates to get to know one another.
2: Sponsored Team Events
Socializing is one thing, but teamwork is another. Sponsored team events are a broad arena for team bonding, and once again, it gets everybody out of the conference room. But what kind of event should you invest in? Think outside the box if you wish, but consider what’s on in the vicinity. Are there any marathons upcoming? Rowing competitions? Or can you invest your time into creating the event, in the interest of promoting creative group activities? The floor is yours.
3: Escape Room
This hugely popular game is great for all participants. Teaming up like contestants in a game show and escaping a room. When it comes to corporate team building, the escape room in question doesn’t have to be designed around corporate niches or other professionally based categories. Sure, it is more appropriate to pick one that is on-brand, but once again, the key is to make it fun as well as to create a team building exercise.
4: Augmented Reality Session
An augmented reality session is great fun. Think Pokemon Go, but with business elements. You may have to look far and wide for these, but they are great fun. What’s more, they encourage all of that collaboration goodness that is so helpful for a galvanized work ethic.
5: Physical Events
This kind of event can range from marathons, to rock climbing/abseiling, or even paintballing. As long as it gets everyone involved and requires communication skills in order to reach a goal, they are great bonding activities. What’s great about physical events is that they get everybody involved to stretch their legs and move around. A stark contrast to the sedentary office lifestyle. In that sense, this endeavor solves a problem.
Virtual Team Building Ideas
Now, onto the virtual ideas. Virtual mediums were a revolutionary new idea at one stage. Especially when web 2.0 began to pick up speed. With its acceleration into web 3.0, and the pandemic to boot, virtual platforms have sprouted up everywhere and become a viable way for business people to connect with their peers, and even to facilitate team members working together. So, in that vein, what does it have in store in terms of team building events?
1: Virtual Group Social
Virtual group socials can happen at the drop of a hat. They can be used to update progress on projects or to have a beverage and a talk. But they hold the same benefits as in-person social occasions. You can find many quizzes out there too, which you can incorporate into your social event. It’s always good to include elements that involve remote teams and trivia – those two combined equal good company bonding activities.
2: Tiny Campfire Session
There has been an uprising of platforms designed to give attendees a good time in a virtual setting. One such example is Tiny Campfire. A platform made for team building. It emulates the campfire setting and includes a ‘camp counselor’ to host the session.
3: Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Why not host a scavenger hunt? Make a list of items, and set your team off to go and find them. This might sound like it veers away from corporate team building, but remember that the content within can be anything that you desire. This means that you could use the scavenger hunt as part of your ice breaker sessions – a light-hearted way to motivate new staff. Or you can use it for more corporate aspects of your business. But the key (as is the case with many of these examples) is to encourage communication and collaboration.
4: Virtual Ice Breaker Sessions
A simple one that is effective for new staff members, virtual ice breaker sessions are a great way to get new team members to break the ice with your company as a whole. Like virtual group socials, it can be organized conveniently and is fluid in terms of when it can happen. If you have a number of new team members, it is a great way to introduce them to your world.
5: Typing Speed Tests
Does your work involve a lot of tapping and typing? Are your colleagues and staff ambitious about their typing speed? Then try out the typing speed test. For those inclined, it’s a fun way to race in a virtual capacity.
Further to this, make sure you have your platform sorted too. While many of these activities are easy to locate and run, you need a fantastic virtual platform to build them fully. So, Everytale is here for you. There are many platforms to choose from here, but few are as user-friendly, accessible, and able to broadcast as broadly.
The Verdict
To involve your staff in a business team building activity is to bring the team together and strengthen your workforce. There are infinite reasons why they are great for morale, and the benefits go far beyond productivity. It’s great to show your team that you care about more than this. That you care about morale and are willing to put your money where your mouth is and provide them with a good time as well. Try it out – you might just get some benefits that you never foresaw.