3 minute read
Team Building Helps Your Business Thrive
What comes to mind when we mention “team building”? Maybe your mind goes straight to that crazy trust fall exercise in the 90s or a recent personality test. Team building has evolved greatly as a strategy to effectively manage employees. It refers to activities or events that bring a group of people together outside of their daily work tasks. These can be as simple as an icebreaker or brainstorming exercise before a meeting or as extensive as a full- or multi-day retreat.
Team building is critical in creating a strong foundation rooted in communication and trust. When teams know each member’s preferred communication styles, body language, etc. they can effectively provide more updates on project status, roadblocks and ask for assistance when needed. Likewise, a team cannot be unified if the individuals don’t trust one another. You can have very talented people in a team, but without trust their productivity will come to a standstill.
Collaboration and reinforced commitment are a few more byproducts of team building. When teams trust one another they are less likely to compete with each other and more likely to collaborate to accomplish goals. Team building can help alleviate these very serious issues by engaging employees in meaningful activities to bring them closer together as coworkers and possibly even develop committed friendships.
According to Gallup in 2022, 17% of employees were actively disengaged and 'quietly quitting.'
Team building can benefit your business in any number of ways. You can experience increased productivity and reduced duplication of work when strong communication is in place. When trust is built, teams are comfortable thinking outside-the-box and feel safe to learn from mistakes and find innovative solutions. Managers can use team building performance to identify strengths or weaknesses and while understanding how to best utilize individual talents. Overall, quality team building can boost morale, spark enthusiasm and create a positive work environment.
Your team can incorporate team building into your regular meetings with a simple game or icebreaker to get everyone in the mood to share ideas. Take your team bonding out of the office with a team lunch at a local restaurant or sign up for a community service project in the area. Learning a new skill together can also help build bonds – look for skills training that the team is interested in.
