Team bonding or team building has become a popular buzz term in our corporate world and indeed its importance cannot be underestimated. The success of any organization depends on the ability of the individual players to effectively communicate with each other and build functioning teams that contribute to the common goals of the business.
The direct result of team bonding is increased motivation and productivity, key elements needed for a positive bottom line in any business. The initial goal in team bonding is open communication among the team members as well as between one team and another, especially when they are located in the same office. Without good communication, any effort to improve team bonding will prove futile. When interaction is encouraged and the vibes are positive, team bonding takes on a whole new dimension.
When implemented properly, team bonding activities improve office morale and develop leadership skills. They identify a team’s strengths and weaknesses so that they can be analyzed and utilized for the good of the company. They also improve the team’s ability to solve problems and leave the door open for team members to introduce their own creative ideas for new procedures and processes that might benefit the organization.
Team Bonding Ideas
With all that in mind, a business owner or company manager must take on the responsibility for creating an office environment that is conducive to team bonding. This is where creativity and innovation come in to play. Here are some ideas:
- One of the most important ingredients for successful team bonding is feedback. As employees of the firm and as part of a team, workers want to know how they are doing. Feedback helps to break the ice among the team members and encourages them to speak their mind freely. An open mike gives workers an assurance that their opinions are valued and makes them feel wanted. Feedback should come from within the team as well as from the boss. Hearing the opinions of other team members pinpoints whatever problems exist and helps to develop worker skills.
- Celebrate special occasions and holidays together with an office party or dinner at a popular eatery. Celebrate the accomplishments of each individual player and the successes of the team as a whole.
- There’s nothing like spending a day together in an informal setting for creating interaction and bonding among employees. Organize a day out of the office and encourage employees to bring along their spouses and children.
- Break up the daily office routine by bringing in guest artists or caricaturists to create funny pictures of each worker. A guest musician can create a song especially for the entire office staff.
- Encourage teamwork. Ask for opinions and ideas at staff meetings and try to implement them. Sometimes even failures can create team spirit.
- Take your employees to an Escape Room. Nothing creates bonding more than being locked in a room with other people that must work together to escape.
- Provide a monthly office breakfast. Use a different theme each time—Japanese sushi, Israeli chumus and falafel, Mexico tacos.
- Set aside a regular day for “show and tell” and give the each team member a turn to bring something in and/or present on a topic. All team members are required to attend. Have a discussion session afterwards.
- How about a pre-technology game day? Bring in some board games such as Monopoly, Risk or even chess. Divide the staff into groups and set a time limit. Avoid card games such as poker!!
- Set aside a time during the day for everyone to exercise, do yoga or just meditate.
At the end of the day, employers must understand the value in team bonding and make every effort to work towards its achievement. Many a company has had the bad fortune of falling apart due to the failure of employees to work together towards a common goal. On the other hand, those businesses that have set team building as a priority have seen tremendous victories not always anticipated. As the expression goes, “United we stand, divided we fall.” This is true in many spheres of our lives and certainly includes the success of many organizations.