Many companies think of team building as a one-time activity, which means your efforts will be quickly forgotten. Incorporating team building as part of your meeting and events strategy ensures that you’re continuing to invest in your talent and their relationship with their co-workers as well as your company. Regular, focused time on team building with your employees will pay dividends later—think of it as an investment! Here are some examples of the ROI:
- Increase productivity and morale
When you get your employees moving, interacting and collaborating, it breaks up a stagnant workday and shakes up stale routines. Working together on an activity, team members bond and build trust, improve workplace quality of life and boost productivity.
- Improve team dynamics and communication
Team building activities encourage employees to connect in a new context and interact with co-workers they might not otherwise cross paths with, which can improve cross-department communication and foster out-of-the-box thinking. Working on constructive problem solving translates to the workplace, benefiting problem-solving, teamwork and conflict resolution.
- Identify strengths and weaknesses
Interacting with your employees in a different environment helps you observe team dynamics and identify untapped potential or bad chemistry. You may want to course correct or offer further training to improve weaknesses or take advantage of under-used skills.
- Forge long-term commitments
Investing in team building sends a signal to employees that you want to help them grow professionally and strengthen their position within the company. It also inspires and produces loyalty, ownership and accountability. A team with a shared vision is much stronger and more effective.
- Bring out the creativity
Getting team members out of their comfort zone results in more creative, strategic thinking, and fosters innovative solutions to challenges. Many team-building activities encourage problem solving-skills and help employees see problems with new eyes when they revisit their work.
Team-building activities can take many forms, from all-day off sites (taking a cooking class, building bikes for charity, etc.) to shorter activities (trivia games, scavenger hunts around the office). Most importantly, make it fun, meaningful and memorable. If you can’t take the time for a full day of team building, think about how you can incorporate it into your existing company events or meetings.
Let us know if we can help you with your meeting and employee engagement strategy. Contact us at (866) 337-7799 or bd@AmericanMeetings.com.