Picking The Right Corporate Team Building Activities For Your Company
Corporate team building activities are among the most effective ways to strengthen the bond between employees and to promote a positive and motivating working environment. Many activities can help members of a team get closer together. However, not all of them suit all types of teams and businesses. Here are a few tips to help you choose the right corporate team building activities for your company.
The size of your team is one of the most important things to take into account when choosing your team building programs. You can involve the members of a small team into board games, various sports, role plays and other such activities. However, in the case of companies with a large number of employees, such activities may prove impossible to organize. On the contrary, when you have lots of players available, you can organize collective activities such as karaoke evenings.
The main goal of your activities is another thing to keep in mind when you organize your team building sessions. Sometimes, you may want to offer your employees the opportunity to get to know each other better, or to become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Some other times, you may want to help them understand the power of acting together as a team, as opposed to taking solitary decisions. Some business managers wish to mix leisure with active learning. They take advantage of team building sessions to teach their employees how to be more effective in their work and how to use their skills to their advantage. Sales teams can benefit a lot from this type of training, as they can train their presentation skills and their negotiation abilities in role plays with instant feedback from independent observers.
When setting up the activities for your next team building event, you have to assess the development stage of your team. If the team is new, you’ll probably want to focus on helping its members know each other better, to support each other in their daily activities. If the team has been around for a long while, you’ll want to focus on dealing with problems in a constructive manner. Even though the team members have worked together for a long time, they still have their arguments and misunderstandings that may harm their productivity. Very old teams may need a re-ignition of their motivation for the job well-done. The activities you choose should focus on the importance of their mission as a team.
The available budget is another detail to consider when choosing your corporate team building activities. If you can afford it, you can organize outdoor activities that involve an adrenaline rush such as bungee jumping, rock climbing and zip line adventure. Most people love such challenges, so they are usually happy to take part in this type of team building events. If your budget doesn’t allow such ideas, you’ll have to stick to indoor activities that won’t require this level of expenses.
Whatever your decisions, always make sure that your team building sessions have a predetermined purpose. Post-session feedback is a key element you shouldn’t overlook. Your employees need constructive criticism to understand what are their strengths and their areas for improvement. What your team members don’t need is competition. Avoid games or activities that play on their competitiveness. Don’t make people compete against each other, as that’s not the best way to strengthen a team and to promote teamwork. Your team members need to understand that by knowing each other and by supporting each other they can contribute to accomplishing their common goals.
