Cohesive teams are engaged and work together, diverging and converging over problems that mean a lot to your business. It’s important to have team members who have a great rapport; who not only trust one another enough to diverge and challenge the status quo but who can also come together over an idea -- regardless of whose idea it was. You need team members who are secure enough in the group to take risks and let one another shine.
Leaders who are looking to balance their results-based style with some people-based energy can start by allowing time for team-building. This can be as simple as morning chats with fresh coffee, a few minutes of padding for casual conversation during work meetings or casual Friday shared lunches.
As an ESOP company, it is imperative that our entire organization feels integral to the success of the company. But it is easy to get lost in the daily grind and silo off. Here are a few ideas that any team can do to build unity, strengthen culture and create an environment of trust and engagement. After all, engaged employees are the keys to success.
5 proven team-building activities
- Group meals – as the weather turns a little colder, you might notice your teams staying in for lunch. Why not make lunch a group activity? Maybe it’s a chili cook-off, a group pizza making day, salsa contest, or even an ice cream social with all the fixings. No matter what, let the team do the planning and execution and see where it takes you!
- Game day – our team holds a game day each year. It allows us to create cross-divisional bonding. Held on a Friday afternoon, we allow jeans and a favorite team jersey and bring in yard games like Giant Jenga, Bag Toss, and Ladder Ball. We do a pot luck lunch and provide drinks and music. It’s a fun way to see nurture the friendly competitiveness of your group!
- Professional training – what better way to encourage bonding and further careers? Whether you bring the training to your office or send employees to a workshop, professional training brings down the silos. Training forces everyone to show a little vulnerability and work outside their comfort zone. At the very least, it makes team members interact in a foreign way. By creating disruption, team members are forced to find new ways to communicate, let go of assumptions and see each other in a different light, creating a new-found interpersonal respect.
- Community involvement – each team member has skills they use in their job and other skills that may be held back at work. Allowing team members to participate as a group in a community service project allows the underdogs to shine. Your team members might show skills – like leadership, communication or organization -- that aren’t normally exhibited due to position or opportunity. You’ll learn about your team, create new relationships and help a worthy cause all in one trip.
- Sports games (and in Wisconsin…tailgate!) and other fun stuff – Our team frequents baseball games. This combines a few of the ideas above into one team building event. Even if they don’t care for the game, we come together over the preparation of the meal, set-up/clean-up, yard games and cheering. Maybe it’s not a game. You might schedule laser tag, escape rooms, go cart trips or even a tour of your own city. What you do is not as important as getting the team to do it. So, choose something that appeals to most and create enough excitement around it that no one will want to miss.
No matter which idea you choose, be intentional about opening up space in the day and creating opportunities for interaction. Let people share their personal stories for a few minutes. Let them laugh together. Let them assist each other. Let them break out of their own silos. By simply creating an environment where your teams can feel comfortable sharing ideas and being team mates, you’ll be taking steps to creating an environment for natural engagement and team building, which strengthens and attracts talent.
You know what they say: if you build it they will come!