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5 Tips for Successful Team Building Activities

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Team building exercises give employees the opportunity to bond and improve their relationships.

When employees forge positive relationships, they work better together, and productivity improves. Any social event is good for improving employee relationships; however, it’s important to be careful in the planning and executing of these events.

For example, DEI (diversity, engagement, and inclusion) is top of mind for employee happiness and confidence.

Your events need suitable options for all your staff, including food and drink that meets their dietary, cultural, or religious requirements. Get the planning right, and you’re off to a great start.

What else can you do to ensure your team-building activities are successful?

1. Make it Engaging

Engagement is the key to success with a team building activity. Seek to understand more about your staff.

  • What types of pursuits would interest your employees?
  • Are outdoor activities okay?
  • Would your staff do community-based charity work for a day?

Team Building Events Plan

Choose ventures that are rewarding as well as fun, challenging, and engaging. One way you can do this is to first choose an event planning team that includes team members and whose role is to create a team-building events plan for the year ahead.

To ensure high attendance, your events planning team will need to know what your employees like to do in their leisure time. Not everyone is a sports or fitness fanatic. Therefore, the engagements and activities will resonate with most of your staff, so you achieve its outcome – a happier and more productive team.

2. Get Out of the Office

Some companies prefer team-building events at the office, but this can make it difficult to boost morale and get out of the workplace mindset.

Consider hosting your team-building activity someplace outside of the office. Host a company picnic, incorporating engaging activities that boost morale and team-building skills.

“Forget that dull picnic where people just hang out and drink until the giveaways are handed out,” says The Wow Factor, a party equipment rental company. “Liven things up with inflatable and non-inflatable fun, performers, competitions, and prizes that match your theme.”

Virtual team building options

Hosting the event outside the office also minimizes workplace distractions and gives employees a chance to get out for the day. Or, if the weather is terrible and you can not get together outside, consider virtual team building options for those who are operating with team members spread out across the globe. Sites like escapely.com make this possible by offering things like virtual escape rooms or scavenger hunts, connecting teams across the world while boosting communication and productivity.

Community Work

Another activity that inspires workers and improves your brand reputation is charity work in the community. Just one day a year, giving back to your local community is morale-building, and customers love it too.

3. Make Sure Everyone is on the Same Page

Team building activities are most successful when everyone is on the same page. Make sure everyone knows what will happen and the event’s goal. Employees should know what’s expected of them. You don’t necessarily have to divulge every last detail, as you may not want to influence their behavior, but they should have some idea of what lies ahead.

If employees don’t know what they’re walking into, you may not get the desired results.

4. Be Smart About Pairing Employees

Part of the team-building exercise is pairing employees in groups to work together. If the goal is to have employees better work together, you might consider breaking up “cliques” or groups of employees that generally hang out together in the office.

These friendships are great but can also be detrimental to the exercise.

Instead, consider pairing employees with people they may not usually socialize or work with to improve dynamics in the workplace.

5. Apply it to the Real World

Team building exercises are designed to forge positive relationships, boost morale and create a sense of community among staff members. Consider hosting these types of events at least once a year to continue the momentum and maintain the results.

Some companies make the team building a monthly event. You might consider doing the same if you have the time and resources.

HubSpot