Good employees are essential for any business to succeed. However, hiring great and qualified employees is just one part of the equation to success. Companies must ensure that their employees are productive and efficient in working together. This is where team building comes in.
A lot of companies often overlook team bonding activities or events as an unnecessary expense. This outlook on team building is what separates the good from the bad companies. Successful organizations understand that team building is an investment in forming high-quality teams. Employees must often work together within teams to accomplish tasks and achieve organizational goals, so devoting resources to good team-building exercises is a rewarding long-term investment.
What is Team-Building?
Team building is all about improving the relationships among members of a work group to help enhance their ability to coordinate as a team. This strategy of deepening bonds between teammates would often involve activities, competitions, or events that make members of a group work together to reach a common goal. Employees may learn about their team members and form friendships with them during a team-building event. This would greatly help in forming a good team culture of cooperation and mutual respect.
Effective and efficient teams don’t just happen by simply hiring qualified employees. Instead, good teams must be built through events and activities designed to unite employees and bring them together. The ultimate goal of any team-building activity is to build stronger relationships among employees. Team building is a vital element in forming a healthy work culture, and it provides a variety of benefits to an organization as a whole.
Benefits of Team-Building
1. Improved Communication
Team building exercises promote team members to communicate with each other so that they could solve problems and achieve a common goal. Team building activities would create an environment of open communication, which would lead to team members understanding one another and reducing any miscommunications. Effective Communication between team members and different departments is the key to success for any organization.
Creating a fun and relaxing environment outside the workplace to improve team chemistry will encourage employees to relax and open up to others. Friendships and mutual respect among team members would naturally develop as they undergo team-building events and activities. This would make cooperation and the sharing of ideas in the group easier.
2. Increased productivity
Increasing productivity is every company’s goal. As such, one of the main benefits of team building is the increase in employee productivity. Improved communication and collaboration inside the organization will lead to reduced delays, work duplication, and team disputes. Open and effective communication would also lead to positive results in terms of increasing team output and in unifying every employee toward achieving a common goal. Teams that are unified and feel connected are more likely to do their best for the group.
3. Encouraged creativity
Conducting the team-building exercise in a different and fun environment can help your employees in gaining a new and more creative perspective on their regular work situations. It could also allow for new ideas and solutions on how to approach or solve problems at work.
Team building activities that require groups to think outside the box to solve a problem are great ways to encourage your employees to be creative and use their initiative. This would inspire them to apply creative solutions to workplace problems and issues.
4. Heightened morale
Team building often includes group games, competitions, and fun activities, so it can be an effective way to boost employee morale. It allows for a break in the monotony of regular workplace routines and deadlines. Additionally, participating in fun and exciting events such as a team bonding exercise would increase employee motivation, as it makes them feel they are appreciated by the organization.
An eager and motivated staff that feels they are appreciated will promote a work culture of positivity throughout the office, which creates an environment that is fun and nice to work in.
5. Identify Leadership Qualities
Leaders would naturally stand out during group competitions and activities. As such, employers and managers can identify potential leaders within the organization during team-building events. This can provide managers with helpful insights into an employee’s personality that might not be visible during normal work settings. Employees with leadership qualities can be noticed by managers and fast-tracked for leadership evaluation.
6. Develops confidence
Team building activities can increase both an employee’s personal confidence and confidence in their team members. When teams accomplish a task together they would naturally rely on one another’s strengths to solve problems and overcome obstacles. Higher personal and group confidence levels will lead to more cooperation, open communication of new ideas, and willingness to depend on other members of the group.
7. Team-building Promotes Collaboration
Groups of employees working together during a team-building activity can unite team members and encourage collaboration. This will promote a healthy work environment where employees are comfortable enough to ask for the help they need while also willingly helping their team members. This work environment could also function not just between team members but also among different groups within an organization. All employees work together to achieve the common organizational goal.
8. Fosters Trust
Team building is especially useful for recently created teams. It allows for the building of trust among team members that might not have known one another for long periods of time. Working together on group activities would allow employees to depend and rely on their peers, which naturally promotes trust.
Getting to know your work teammates would also develop trust. Team building activities would allow for the sharing of each member’s capabilities, interests, and personality. This would lead to better team cohesion.
9. Team-building Teaches Responsibility
In a team-building competition or activity, every member has to contribute, or else they are letting the team down. Team building emphasizes the fact that each member has responsibilities to the group. This is an excellent lesson to take back to the workplace.
10. Better Overall-Health
Team building is a great way to promote good health for your employees. Companies can hold sports competitions or other physical activities as team-building events. A day outside the office where your employees are exercising and are not just sitting in front of a desk is a great way to improve their physical health.
Team building could also greatly improve employees’ mental health. Accomplishing problem-solving challenges and winning in competitions are good ways of providing a huge boost for employee confidence and self-esteem. Events and activities would also serve as a great way to take a break from regular office work and stressful deadlines.
Inspired to hold a team-building event for your employees? SSA Academy, in collaboration with the SSA Culinary Institute, has the perfect team-building activities for you.
