The Benefits of Team Building: A Comprehensive Guide
The Benefits of Team Building: A Comprehensive Guide
Every company’s goal is to thrive and grow. For advancement to happen, there must be synergy in all functions within an organization. Teamwork within any setting is what brings great wins.
As Henry Ford rightly said, "If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself."
When people feel connected to their team members, it promotes high engagement which motivates them to perform exceptionally. It is therefore imperative that organizations foster teamwork for strong and productive teams that will ultimately elevate their bottom line.
According to data collected by Officevibe, 47% of employees regularly feel overwhelmed, and 26% feel like their managers aren’t concerned with their mental health.
To improve employee satisfaction, there is a need to nurture employee engagement. The easiest way to build connections within teams is through team building.
What is Team Building?
Team building is a technique used in workplaces that involve employees working through activities together to increase cohesion. This ultimately leads to increased efficiency and performance thereby achieving the company’s goals.
Benefits of Team Building
Some of the benefits team building can bring about within the team and the companies are:
1. Overall fulfillment
Great team building events are normally filled with fun activities tailored to promote openness and honest feedback. This helps to break the monotony that can come with work responsibilities. When employees interact with their managers and feel heard, they derive more satisfaction in their job leading to healthy employee engagement. Happy employees are productive employees.
2. Enhancement of communication among team members
Effective communication is a crucial skill needed in any relationship. Team building activities should be tailored to enhance proper communication such as active listening skills, body language, constructive feedback and being able to express oneself effectively. This will help team members have a better understanding of how different people communicate. Employees will then be able to interact, strategize together in order to achieve the desired outcome.
3. Increased innovation
In a team, there is diversity in opinions, experiences and perspectives. Individuals will bring different skills & expertise from their different backgrounds. This diversity in knowledge will foster creativity, birthing new and better ideas. For innovation to flourish, the work environment should be great. Employing team building activities for the workplace whereby group dynamics are managed through positive interactions, will create a safe environment allowing free sharing of ideas.
4. Sharpens problem solving skills
Regardless of one’s position in the workplace, problems will come up that require resolution. For a business to prosper, every team member should be able to effectively pinpoint and resolve arising issues. Team building activities are a great way to role play and practice problem solving skills in a supportive environment. Employees can work together and learn through different exercises how to solve problems individually and as a team.
5. Enhanced collaboration
Creating and maintaining a healthy and positive work culture is imperative for any business to succeed. A positive work environment increases collaboration when team members feel they have an environment that listens to and inculcates their ideas into the daily functions of the business. By organizing team building activities with a specific purpose and objective in mind such as managers team activities with employees, it encourages cooperation. This cultivates teamwork spirit leading to increased output.
6. Improved customer service
Work environments with poor communication among team members and between C-suite levels and employees marks the genesis of mistrust and unresolved conflict. This decreases the morale of employees as they feel they are not treated well. Cohesiveness in work processes suffers which results in customers being treated in the same ways employees are treated. Eventually, goal achievement becomes unachievable which impacts the company’s bottom line.
7. Increased productivity
A major common goal of team building activity is to help boost productivity through improved employee engagement and leadership. Having regular team-building activities can help identify gaps in workplace processes, policies and procedures. This will help reduce instances of issues such as duplication of activities, misunderstandings thus improving efficiency and consequently performance.
How Do You Make Your Team Building Activity A Success?
Team building activities provide opportunities for needed breaks for workers. This is beneficial to their mental health as it offers respite from the monotony of work. As employees take part in bonding activities unrelated to work, it establishes a positive work environment which transcends to the office advancing the company’s bottom line.
To help make team building activities entertaining and effectual, here are a few pointers to boost your results.
Schedule the team building activities during work hours. Unless employees are paid overtime, infringing on their personal time is bound to bring disgruntlement which will defeat the purpose of the activities. Ensure to set apart a few hours or an entire day solely for the purpose of everyone participating. Customers and other stakeholders should be made aware that the entire office will be unreachable during those hours. This way, everyone will be able to participate without interruptions or feeling left out.
2. Concentrate on core areas of improvement
Team building activities should be tailored to address issues that are problematic or need improving in the company such as:
- Relational rivalry
- Ineffective communication
- Overlapping responsibilities
- Mistrust among team members
If these problems are not resolved, they will create a toxic work culture hindering team members from functioning optimally.
3. Have a clear outcome
To avoid confusion and misunderstandings, all team members should be made aware of the goal of team building activities. This will help them know what is expected of them and how the exercise will help them in their work. Operating in transparency will communicate to employees that they are put in consideration during decision making, enhancing their morale. They will be keen to take part, making the event and eventual outcome successful.
4. Take recommendations and critique
During the strategy process of coming up with team building activities, incorporate employees to get their suggestions on how the exercise can be a success. Seek feedback after the activities to find out areas of improvement and incorporate in subsequent team building activities for work. Gathering feedback will also aid in garnering what the members grasped from the activities. It will improve their participation, increase their team spirit and elevate their performance.
5. Make it regular
Team building activities should not be a one-off thing. In any office setting, there will be new members, new challenges and arising issues to deal with on a regular basis. Certain concerns can arise from these instances such as:
- Burn out
- Stress
- Absenteeism
To prevent these situations from occurring regular breaks are needed which can be achieved by holding team building activities regularly. They don’t need to be elaborate. Activities can be held during breaks, lunch hours, or even an afternoon set aside every few months for bonding and addressing pressing matters in a safe and relaxed environment.
Conclusion
As leaders, bringing cohesion for productivity should be a priority. Conducting team building activities regularly will improve morale and increase productivity ensuring success for the organization.
If you are having challenges in tailoring team building activities specific to your team, Counseling Haven and Training Centre is your solution!
Get in touch with our experts to find out how you can create a positive work culture
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