How to Make Team Building Exercises Less Mundane

by Startacus Admin

Getting teams to work together and form strong relationships has long been accepted as highly important when it comes to morale, productivity, and therefore success. One of the ways most companies look to achieve this is with team building exercises and activities.

However, sometimes, when this is done badly, staff can feel like they are wasting time on strange or mundane activities when they could just be getting on with their work, or, if the activity is outside of working hours, spending time doing their own thing.

Team building activities can have a negative effect if people don't understand the point of them. They can also resent having to give up time for team building if they don't feel like they actually are bonding better with their co-workers and doing something interesting. It is, therefore, important to plan carefully to ensure the team building you do in your company is effective.

Here are some tips.

Don't Hold Them at the Office

One of the first things you can do to create team building events that actually inspire your team is to take them out of the office. For one thing, this prevents people being distracted and slipping in and out to finish bits and pieces of work, but it also makes the exercise or activity feel more like a new, shared experience, rather than just something slightly different done in a familiar location.

There are loads of places you can consider, depending on what is nearby and what kind of activity you want to do, so it is well worth researching team building ideas in your area. You may find some really cool stuff you wouldn't have thought of.

Do Something with a Competitive Element

It is important to know the goals of your event when you are deciding what to do. While something like a lunch at a nice restaurant or a day at the races can be nice team outings that can help a new team get to know each other or to celebrate a work success, these aren't the same as team building events designed to make people work together and share new experiences.

If you are looking for a true team building event rather than a social one, an element of competition between teams is a good idea, as it makes people work together towards shared goals, even if they are very different to those at work.

The type of competition should be matched to the type of team you have. If you are all young, fit, adventurous types then there are loads of adrenaline filled options like paintballing and go-kart racing, but if you feel this would exclude or scare some of your people, there are still ways to do something competitive, for instance, a video game tournament or a quiz. 

Think Beyond the Obvious

Some ideas for team building have been done to death and nobody really gets excited about them anymore. A classic example is ten pin bowling. Just about everyone has at one time or another been to a work team building event at a bowling alley, and while there is nothing wrong with it and it ticks all the boxes, it is unlikely to give your team an exciting new shared experience compared to opting for something less obvious.

A good team building event will leave your people closer to each other and let them get to know each other outside of a working capacity through a shared goal and some fun memories. Work with this in mind in your planning and it is easy to find things to do that are not mundane.

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Published on: 25th September 2017