When you want your team to work better together, or you have a new group of people who need to get to know one another before they can really bond and work cohesively, there are a number of different ways you can help them. Offering team building in all its different forms will give them a better idea of the people they are working with, but it will also help them to realize what they are capable of themselves, plus you can see what everyone’s strengths and weaknesses are, and ensure that you use that information to your company’s advantage when giving people work to do.
Here are some of the ways that you can promote cohesion in the workplace through team building.
The Chance To Network
Everyone is busy at work, and that doesn’t leave a lot of time to really get to know your work colleagues as well as you might like to. Working with people you genuinely like helps people work harder, and gives them a good reason to come to work each day, because they are going to see their friends.
Team building offers your employees the chance to get to know the people they work with on a more personal level, and perhaps even engage with people they simply haven’t had the opportunity to talk to before, especially if you tend to all work remotely, can make them feel happier in their work. Whatever you are doing, from ice skating to having a cook-off to trying escape rooms in Cincinnati or even crafting together, as long as it gets you away from work, can be perfect for team bonding and team building.
It’s important to choose activities that everyone in your team can take part in, and that are available in your area. If you’re based in NYC, there is a plethora of NYC group activities available, from kayaking or SUPing on the Hudson River to visiting an escape room or having a paint party. Whatever activity you decide to do, make sure that it’s something that everyone can enjoy and will appreciate!
Understand Teamwork
Although sometimes lone work is what is required, it is also just as likely that teamwork will be needed on some projects. If people aren’t used to working with others, this can be difficult, make work harder than it needs to be, and delay the completion of the project, which could even make it go over budget. By sending your employees on a team building day, you can ensure that they get to know how to work better in a team. Not only that, but they will get a better understanding of what each individual is capable of, making delegating tasks more achievable.
Healthy Competition
Team building activities can work the other way as well if you want them to. Rather than bringing a team together, you can take a cohesive team and pit them against one another. Their bond will be strong enough to withstand this so that their teamwork abilities do not suffer, but it is useful to give everyone the chance to be themselves and to try to be the best. This encourages healthy competition which can give your business the edge, and ensure that the work produced is always excellent.
Something Different
Sometimes cohesion within the workplace can suffer because everyone is doing the same thing, day in, day out. They can become bored, even carrying out some tasks automatically without thinking. This means that they don’t really interact with one another, or they become so used to being with the same people that they aren’t interested in finding out any more about them.
Taking your team out of the office and asking them to do something interesting and fun can put the spark back into their working lives, showing them that there is always more to learn and that the people they are working with are fascinating individuals.
