Do Team Building Activities Actually Work?
Team-building activities are viewed with conflicting opinions. Some people swear by them and believe they add serious value to an organization. Others think they’re a waste of time. When you’re looking for ways to improve your company and generate more sales, you’ll try anything.
So, does team building actually work?
In short, yes! Team building activities do work and can be super beneficial for your business. They encourage team members to work together, building trust and collaboration. The problem is that most people approach team building in the wrong way. Today, you’ll see both the right and wrong ways to get the most out of your team-building exercises.
The Reason Team Building Can Fail
The wrong way to deal with team-building is to take a fast or rushed approach. Your team comes in on Monday morning and you set aside an hour or two for team-building exercises. Realistically, nothing will be achieved during this time.
Moreover, these activities fail when they’re too corporate and rigid. Nobody wants to spend a day going over corporate team-building tasks that are super boring to do. It makes them dread these activities, so they’re less likely to take them seriously.
If you want to actually see benefits from team-building, you need a different approach…
How To Make Team Building Work
Looking at the above points, you can begin to make team building work for your organization.
There is one simple way to do this: schedule team-building days or weekends. Get everyone out of the office on a corporate retreat somewhere nice. It’s all paid for them, which your employees will appreciate. Being out of the office makes everyone feel more relaxed, so they aren’t constantly thinking about work. It also encourages more natural interactions between your teams.
You can find loads of great places, like Evins Mill, that are perfectly set up for corporate retreats. The key is to find a location that offers lots of different activities nearby. We’re not talking about boring team-building exercises here; we want activities that people will actually enjoy. It’s all about being more active and having fun, while still working as a team.
Ultimately, that’s all it comes down to: fun. When people have fun, they forget about the reasons they’re doing things. It no longer feels like an annoying work thing, and more like something genuinely enjoyable. As a benefit, your team naturally starts to work well together and grow a tighter bond. The days after a corporate team-building retreat will showcase this back in the office. The mood will be raised; people will feel more comfortable talking and collaborating – and this will lead to productivity benefits.
To summarize, team-building activities do work, but only when you use them correctly. Avoid rushing or trying to shoe-horn team building into your daily routine. Take days off and treat your employees to something fun and interesting. The less work-like the activities, the more beneficial they’ll be. That sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but it’s true. Employees respond better to team-building when it’s relaxed and enjoyable.
