If you’ve been a part of a workplace team, you’ve likely participated in a team building activity. And if you lead a team, you’ve probably spent time figuring out the best way to make your team bond better. For some, the idea of team building activities might conjure up thoughts of ropes courses and trust falls. And it also might conjure up some skepticism...perhaps about ropes courses and trust falls.
But what is team building, actually? The goal of team building is to turn a group of individual employees into a cohesive team working toward the same goal with trust in one another. The level of difficulty in uniting a team varies based on the existing company culture and the individuals on the team, but regular team building is important for all teams, no matter how effectively they work together. As a company that has been running team building events for 20 years, we understand that team building is more than just an activity.
More than ever, as teams continue to work remotely, there is a big shift in the way offices look and function. Simultaneously, some teams who have not been together in person in more than a year are returning to the office. These teams need opportunities to bond together again. Making team building a ritual creates camaraderie, leads to a better work environment, and produces more motivated employees, among many other benefits.
It depends on the activity. Going out to an after-work happy hour may count as team bonding, but it’s less effective than a more organized, intentional, and facilitated activity. But what is a good team building activity? Many team building activities are rooted in play, and play creates the type of bonds that would take years to build in the workplace. Great team building experiences get your team out of the office and out of their comfort zone to create a stronger company culture. It can be an investment, but it’s an investment that pays off in the short and long term.