Team building exercises are an extremely effective way to boost productivity and morale in your office space. Team building exercises often get a bad reputation as being boring, ineffective, or simply a waste of time. If done in a fun and engaging way, they can set your employees up for success working as a team. Here are some of the Dos and Don’t of planning team building activities for your office.
DO make clear plans for engaging activities. There’s nothing worse than participating in a poorly thought out team building activity. These poorly planned activities are a likely cause for the negative stigma associated with team building activities.
Learn what your employees are interested in and use that information to your advantage in planning. If everyone in your office are keen followers of sports, find a way to integrate that into your activities. Know your audience and create a fun experience centered around their interests.
DON’T sit everyone down in the conference room and talk at them. Sitting in a room and team building is a sure fire way to put your employees to sleep. Get their brains and bodies active during team building activities. If people are sitting there and listening to ways they can be a better team, they’re not actually exercising those skills in the moment. Get creative and use games and fun graphics to your advantage.
DO migrate your employees to a new environment for team building. Your employees spend a lot of time in the office. Why would they want to spend more time around the office? Taking your employees outside to a public park is a simple and easy way to change up the environment and get people more engaged. Parks come with the added benefit of fresh air and plenty of space. This allows you to facilitate active activities and get people away from the typical sedentary office day.
DON’T exclude anyone from team building activities. This one is pretty obvious, but maintaining a strong team means including everyone. If some employees have restrictions that prevent them from participating in the activity you planned for them, it’s not going to be as effective. Think of everyone when planning your activity and make sure everyone can participate.
DO set clear goals for your team building activity. If the goal of your activity is to foster fellowship between people in your office and get people more familiar with each other, your plan should reflect that. Set up games that get people outside their typical social bubble. Trivia games, scavenger hunts, and team problem solving activities are all great options for getting people talking and working together.
Team building activities can be a powerful tool to boosting your office’s morale. Timing and execution are key in making them effective. Always keep an eye on how your employees are responding to your activities and make adaptations to your planning in accordance with those responses. If you pay attention to your employees and make strong plans for your activities, you’ll constantly improve engagement in team building activities.
