While the economy is still recovering and budgets are still tightened it’s easy to neglect some key investments. Often, team building gets categorized somewhere below staff birthday parties when it should be considered a top priority. Team building is an investment in one of the most key resources of your company – your people.
Build Trust
One of the main benefits of team building is the creation and nurturing of trust among coworkers and management alike. Trust is a word that gets thrown around often without the full weight really hitting home. Just as personal relationships need a foundation of trust, business relationships cannot thrive without trust. It is an integral cog in a company that can make or break a team.
Exercises that test your employees’ trust in each other will help to build on what already exists. Some good activities include rock climbing and blindfolded challenges in which co-workers are dependent on each other.
Addresses Office Tension
In an office setting it is quite common for there to be tension between employees. Even if everyone normally gets along there are times when your business will need an outside source to intervene and refocus the team’s energies. Personal issues can get in the way of your business operating at optimal efficiency. It can distract employees and create havoc within a department or between departments. This is an issue that should be addressed immediately.
Some good exercises that will help eliminate tensions will be those that force employees to rely on each other to come up with a solution. Often, they will need to rely on each other physically to get from point A to point B. This sort of activity may help clear the cobwebs.
Communication
Communication is one of the most essential aspects in all aspects of life, especially in an office setting. You need to know that your employees have the ability and the drive to communicate effectively amongst themselves and with you and other managers.
In these sorts of activities it is usually best if the CEO sits back and observes the efforts of his or her team. This will give the leadership the opportunity to see each individual’s communication skills and weaknesses. In your observation you will be able to see who steps forward to lead their team to a solution. Does someone take charge right away? Do they have trouble listening to valid points from other co-workers? Is someone happy to sit back and follow?
This type of exercise will help leadership learn how their employees communicate and how they interact with their co-workers.
Team building activities that directly relate to businesses help teach employees how they can work together in their positions to make everyone more efficient and the team more productive.
