Companies are starting to understand that they cannot place random people in the same workplace and expect them to connect. Your goal as an employer is to encourage your team’s collaboration and communication. You want them to connect on a more personal level and contribute to the creation of a unique company culture. That is where team building helps.
In this article, we unveil several effective tips on hosting a corporate team-building event.
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Set the Goals of Team Building
Corporate team-building events should go beyond having fun. To be worth the investment, they should also help your team accomplish certain objectives.
Therefore, make sure you set clear team-building goals before hosting the event. That way, you will choose the right activities for the event.
For example, say you want to increase employees’ interactions. In that case, the goal of the team building event would be the improvement of your staff’s communication skills. The activities would focus on active listening, clear articulation of ideas, non-verbal communication, etc.
If you aim to boost the team’s collaboration and trust, focus on the activities that encourage them to work together. Choose tasks that foster creativity, innovation, and teamwork. Such team-building activities will later improve their collaboration in the workplace.
Additionally, you could build your team-building event around the following goals:
- Boosting employee motivation and morale
- Increasing leadership skills
- Growing employee engagement
- Problem-solving and conflict resolution
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Establish the Budget for Team Building
Once you determine the purpose of the team-building event and set clear goals, it is time to start making it happen. Planning a fun event for your employees can be overwhelming. That is why you should set a realistic budget before you get started with organizational details.
A budget plan will help you spend your company’s money more realistically and protect you from overspending. The good news is that, even if you are cash-strapped, you can host creative team-building events at almost any budget. Activities such as egg-drop challenges or picnic party games are low-cost and, yet, super-fun.
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Engage All Team Members
Like we have already mentioned, team building can help all members of your team. However, you need to implement the activities strategically. Make sure all team members are engaged. Particularly focus on those that require improvement in a certain area.
For example, say you want to improve communication skills in the workplace. It would not be of much use if only your most communicative employees participated. To increase the success of the activity, you should focus on involving closed-off individuals.
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Choose the Right Time for Team Building
When scheduling team-building activities, make sure they fit your employees’ personal and professional lives. Otherwise, the event may cause frustration and result in poor engagement.
For starters, remember that, if your employees are working on a project with a strict deadline, they will not be interested in team-building activities. You may want to postpone the event until they finish their tasks. That is why it is essential to talk to your employees. Ask them about their current projects and tasks. Based on their insights, choose the right time for team building.
Also, keep in mind that your employees spend a lot of time in the workplace. Therefore, they are looking forward to spending their spare time with their kids and families. Unsurprisingly, hosting a team-building event after work will not cut it.
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Pick the Right Location of the Event
A sedentary office life may cause numerous health problems, such as back pain, neck pain, high blood pressure, diabetes, weight gain, etc. Working in confined offices with inadequate natural light and poor air quality may also cause mental health issues, such as depression or burnout.
Therefore, to boost your employees’ morale and engagement, host your team-building events outdoors. That will get them more involved in the activities. For example, team sports are good both for health and employee bonding. So, why not book stay-and-play Arizona golf packages or play beach volleyball?
Sure, hosting team building outdoors is not always possible since it depends on weather conditions. However, just because you are hosting the event indoors does not mean you cannot keep it fun. For example, do you want to spark up your team’s creativity and collaboration? Why not create an escape room? It requires your team members to work together to find clues and solve puzzles to exit the room.
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Consider Taking your Team-Building Events Online
Apart from increasing employee morale and performance, remote work also lets you hire international staff. You are no longer limited to local talent. You can dive into the global talent pool and choose experienced candidates who share your company’s values.
However, just because your team works from multiple locations does not mean you should give up team-building events. In remote work, bringing your distributed team together is the opportunity to create a collaborative environment.
There are numerous virtual team-building ideas. Sometimes, throwing an online pizza party is enough to keep your remote employees engaged. You could also host virtual trivia or team pursuit.
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Collect Feedback from Employees
Have you ever assessed the effectiveness of your team-building event?
The simplest way to analyze the success of the event is to collect feedback from your employees. Keep in mind that some employees do not feel comfortable with voicing their opinions in front of everyone. Therefore, create anonymous online surveys. That is the simplest way to collect honest feedback and use it to improve your team-building events in the future.
Also, consider involving employees in the planning process. By understanding their needs, preferences, and struggles, you will create team-building activities that resonate with them.
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Ready to Organize a Spectacular Team-Building Event?
Hosting team-building events benefits your business in multiple ways. It increases employees’ satisfaction, fosters stronger relationships, and creates a cohesive company culture. However, throwing an office party or taking staff out to lunch does not cut it. Plan your event strategically by setting clear goals and understanding their purpose. I hope these insights will help you!
