Things To Consider For Successful Team-Bonding
In recent years, team-building has become a major concern for countless businesses. More and more companies dedicated a significant portion of their budget to annual team bonding events and programs. In fact, if you’re in the process of applying for a new job, you’re likely to come across statements in the job specs that describe the company position regarding team building. Most go at length about planning an annual weekend where the entire team is sent together in a remote location or an amusement park, or even at the other end of the world to discover a new culture.
However, what many businesses don’t realize is that, more often than not, people don’t enjoy team-related events. It’s not uncommon for applicants to change their mind about a job once they hear about the team bonding efforts in the business. The truth is, few people want to give away their weekend to spend time with their coworkers. Even though the trip to Disney World, the camping weekend in the natural reserve, or even the discovery tour of Barcelona are listed as job perks, they are for many employees, the worst part of the job. The problem is that businesses miss the point when it comes to team building. How can you get it right and bring everyone together?
It’s not natural; you need to give the team time and room to practice
The idea that you can get people with different backgrounds, interests, professional and personal stories in one room and expect them to behave like a team is absurd. Creating a sense of unity takes time and practice. It is foolish to assume that a team-building program is going to replace office-based togetherness. Ultimately, if you want your team to function well together, you need to make sure that the workplace is set for them to work together from the start. You can’t keep your employees apart and hope that one day a year is going to do the trick.
Why do extraordinary when ordinary suffices?
Taking your employees to a dream-worthy journey through a park or a foreign location can sound like a good idea, but in practice, it’s unlikely to be successful. Indeed, you need to consider that the everyday routine of the office is nothing like a day at Disney World or a weekend in Barcelona. Bringing your team together through once-in-a-lifetime events doesn’t mean that they’re going to be able to maintain the unity once they get back to their normal environment. Instead, it’s a better idea to encourage people to get to know each other through activities that are more common. You could plan a casual trivia quiz night with a prize reward – if you’re not sure where to start, Triviawell is an excellent source of questions. You could launch a charity event for a local cause so that your team can still get to measure how much of a difference they’re making.
Get in touch with the team interests from the start
More often than not, team-building programs are decided at an HR level. In companies where the HR department doesn’t interact with the rest of the team, it can feel a little forced. Unfortunately, team-building exercises that have been chosen with the best of intentions, can appear dull and silly to your employees. The truth is that nobody is interested in playing schoolyard games with their coworkers, regardless of how often they’ve been told that passing the ball or running in a circle is going towards building a better team. You can’t impose activities that your staff hate. Get to know what they think before you decide on what to do.
Timing is crucial to success
Nobody is going to object to the fact that team building programs are necessary. But you have to put yourself in your employees’ shoes. Your team doesn’t want to be dragged out of the office when they’re already struggling to finish their projects within the deadlines. To bond, your team needs to be in a position where they can relax. You have to know when to pick the right time.
One important question: How much should you spend?
Now to the budget question: is team bonding going to fail if you don’t have the budget of a big brand? No. Authentic togetherness doesn’t have to break the bank. The secret is to focus on building a company culture. In other words, if there is no value or mission that brings the team together, every cent you spend is going to be a waste of money.
Team building is not only a successful and trendy strategy to enhance productivity while targeted turnover, but it also requires careful planning. Togetherness starts with the company’s ability to understand its people.