What is Team Building? A Critical Look at Corporate Team Activities
Many people cringe at the thought of the annual corporate team activities. How can a scavenger hunt, a crazy engineering project or some sort of strange trust game be related to your corporate life? The short answer is – in many ways.
Stepping out of individual comfort zones
Team building activities get staff outside their comfort zone and learn to work together in ways other than their day-to-day. By doing something completely different, individuals have a new opportunity to showcase their own strengths, learn more about other people’s abilities and think outside the box when it comes to putting them all together. They have a chance to open their eyes to a fresh perspective, not only in terms of problem-solving abilities but how they work in cohesion. They must work through any underlying conflicts and orchestrate a team towards a common goal. Corporate team activities are deliberately programmed to shake up the existing structure of a workplace team, where the ‘boss’ doesn’t have to take control, the apprentice may step up and offer some direction to the group and everyone in between can take on as much or as little responsibility as they like – and this should be encouraged.
Make some memories
A fun and engaging team building day can go a long way to improving motivation and fostering a healthy culture of togetherness in the workplace. Plus – it gives the team some great stories to discuss over the water cooler at break time! Unfortunately, poor morale within a workplace is a major reason for high staff turnover, which can be costly for a business. This is where team building activities are really valuable and worth the time and money they take to put together. Getting the team out and about and trying something new can really bring out each personality, allow the space for a few light-hearted jokes and get to know each other on a different level.
Learn new skills
By watching how other people on the team address a problem and actively working together, there is an immense opportunity to learn and grow as individuals too. While the games in team building activities may seem unrelated to work in many ways, there are in fact underlying transferable skills that prove highly effective back in the workplace. For example, communication is a major area of development in corporate team activities, after all, you cannot work as a group to solve a problem without effective communication. Trust and leadership are other key areas of personal development that shine through. Individuals must push past any previous ideas they had about their colleagues and embrace the togetherness.
Corporate team activities are more than the usual ‘bonding experiences’ many people have grown to roll their eyes at. With advances in technology and a deeper understanding of tactics that truly work to foster a more solid, together team in the real world, there are some fun and exciting options available. So, what are you waiting for? Book your next corporate team building challenge and emerge with a more creative, tight-knit, happier and more productive workforce.
