Let’s admit it: some companies don’t know how to do team building right. They take it to mean that these activities should be anything but fun and interesting. They make it seem like the employees are attending a conference or seminar. What is the point of building their camaraderie when it feels like work to them?
Collaboration is an important component of every team. It’s not enough to encourage it verbally. You have to support vacations and activities that will build that camaraderie.
Why Is Team Building Important?
Have you ever experienced feeling dread even before you set foot in your office? Why do you dread working so much? Is it the work itself or the people around you? Bad camaraderie, office politics, and crab mentality often make the workplace a hellish place to spend eight hours every day in. That’s why employers need to be cognizant of the fact that team building takes time, effort, and money.
It’s hard enough to be friends with people when there is no work pressure involved, so imagine how extra difficult it is for co-workers to build this rapport. Team building will help the employees get to know each other. Slowly, this will help make the office a better workplace where people actually enjoy doing what they do. They’ll be better collaborators and partners. Not to mention, they’ll be a lot more motivated, too.
Should You Treat Team Building as a Vacation?
In a way, yes. You’ll do better treating the team building as more of a vacation rather than a seminar or conference the team is required to attend. Remember that they want to let loose. They aren’t exactly fighting or hate each other’s guts (though some might). What they need is a break. However, allowing them to take individual vacations won’t do the team well. Taking a short trip together will make them enjoy working with each other, too.
Just Hanging Out
There are a lot of things you can do during a vacation/team building. During the day, plan for some group activities. You can rent some pontoon boats and cruise to the middle of the lake where you can drink beer, play some games, and just talk about life. At night, you can play board games such as Monopoly, Twister, and other team-building games.
Scavenger Hunt
What better way to spend a team-building than to do a scavenger hunt? Make sure not to make the prize too expensive so it’ll be more about camaraderie and the want to win than outsmarting each other. Although the employees are divided into teams, they should all still get along.
Human Knot
Maybe this is not exactly a pandemic-proof activity but hopefully, you can enjoy team building activities once more when this COVID-19 crazy is over. Ask your employees to form a circle (it is good if you will also participate). Next, ask them to raise their right hands and grab someone else’s hand across the circle. Do that with the left hands, too. You should try to untangle yourselves without letting go of the hands you hold.
Blind Retriever
Divide the employees into two or more teams. One of the members will have to be blindfolded. The rest of the team will guide that member with instructions to reach a certain place or get an item. This will test their patience, as well as how well they work under pressure. Of course, this will be a timed activity.
Employers should invest in team-building activities because they will make for a more cohesive and productive workplace. Choosing the proper activities—and making sure that the employees can also enjoy themselves—is important to ensure the success of the team building. Do this at least once a year and witness how it boosts the morale of the workplace.