Why It Pays To Do Team Building Exercises in the Workplace
I guess you could say that it quite literally pays to do team building activities when you consider that team building exercises are one of the best ways to engage employees, and a recent US study shows that companies with highly engaged employees earned over double the net income than those without. The strength of the bonds formed in team building exercises and the memories created doing them have profound effects on the teams in question. Be it your work team, school group or friendship group, doing activities together to work towards one main goal is an exercise that will have priceless results.
It’s a way to get to know each other
When you work with a group of people, it’s hard to find common ground outside of what you all have in common — work. Consequently you may find you never really get to know a co-worker. Sure you know they spent 3 hours last Thursday fixing the photocopier or that they wore the same shirt of work twice in one week but do you know anything else about them, about their lives outside of work? Team building activities give you something else to talk about, something else to use to get to know them without having to resort to awkward water cooler chat.
It’s a way to identify strengths
Team building exercises come in all shapes and sizes. The choice should depend on the group in question. If they are a group of 65-year-old bankers they may not be so enthusiastic about a 6am boot camp every Thursday before work. Maybe try for something that is more a test of wit and intelligence rather than physical strength. Something like a maze or an escape room, which seem to be an increasingly popular team building activity involves a themed room in which the team needs to work together with the supplied clues to ‘escape’ from the room within a time limit.
When you acting as a great business leader and organise the team building exercise you may find that someone within the team naturally takes on a leadership role, and someone else takes a far more left minded approach to the clues and another a more logical approach. There might be someone who doesn’t par-take in the problem solving at all, rather they keep the group on track and moving. Everyone has different strengths and it is in doing these exercises that these can be identified and then used in the work place.
It makes team members feel appreciated
Once a team takes part in a few team building exercise they will understand that they belong to a team, that they have a special place and that they are valued. This feeling of being appreciated and valued is important when it comes to work productivity. If someone understands that they have a special role in a team and feel valued by their group they will produce work that positively contributes to the team’s goal. It’s common sense really.
It’s fun!
Team building exercises don’t have to be the same lame pizza night or shared lunch gig that we all know and hate. It can be anything really but as stated above you should choose an activity that suits your group. Team sports are always good, like a mixed netball team or a fun run group. Make it fun and something to look forward to every year or half year. Get feedback and try to get the most out of your employees.
Team building exercises are often overlooked by companies and placed in the ‘unnecessary’ pile. But this is foolish; the results pay off. It’s worth having an engaged team if the statistics are anything to go by, and if anything, surely it’s worth creating some good memories with your work team that don’t directly involve work.
