Team Building at Work: What Is It and How Do You Do It?
As any good leader—whether of a sports team, scout troop, or cohort of coworkers—will tell you, it’s not enough to merely throw a group of people together and expect them to work well. This is something that must be taught and learned over time. People come from all walks of life and may have vastly different perspectives and personalities.
The challenge of being an effective leader is encouraging these different personalities to work together in a cohesive and productive manner. But this isn’t always easy. That’s where team building at work comes in.
Team building is a systematic and involved process that takes time and concerted effort. Below, you’ll find some tips on how best to go about it, as well as examples of team building ideas that are proven to work. Read on to find out everything you need to know.
What Is Team Building?
Team building is the process of creating a team that can effectively communicate and work together. It can be done through many different means, and it’s important for a number of different reasons.
First and foremost, if a team cannot communicate and work well together, then the quality of the work they produce inevitably suffers. Team building is important for productivity and for the encouragement of innovative and creative ideas.
But it also benefits the workers themselves. When an employee isn’t comfortable with their teammates, they won’t be comfortable at work and this can contribute to stress and feeling of unhappiness. By building a better team at work, you build a better work environment.
Team Building at Work: Tactics and Tricks
So, how can you best go about the tricky task of building a team that’s like a well-oiled machine? Luckily, there are many different avenues you can take.
One of the most popular options is to have your team take part in team building activities. These are fun, usually a little silly, and enjoyable for all involved. It could be an escape room, a cooking class, a quiz, a board game, or an obstacle course.
Anything that gets your team working together and communicating better. To this end, even having your team spend some time together outside of work can help. Try arranging a weekly coffee or having a team drinks one night a month, you could even form a book club or sports team!
There are also more subtle things that can reinforce feeling part of a team. For example, does your team have a group slack or chat? Try coming up with a fun team name and having everyone get involved.
It can also be a good idea to have your team wear branded company products from time to time—or at least giving the option of doing so. This helps them to feel like their part of an actual team, not just a random assemblage of coworkers. The website Axomo touches on this in its guide.
Build a Better Team Today
Team building at work can be a lengthy process, so it’s important not to give up. Try some of the above tricks and see how they can help you learn how to build a better team today. If you’ve enjoyed this article, don’t forget to check out the rest of our content.
