Team building – does it really make a difference? YES! Why? Glad you asked. Whether you belong to a large global corporation or small shop with a handful of people, team building can prove to be a valuable component to the success of your workforce. Let’s explore some reasons why team building events should be a common part of your business.
First, a well-executed team building experience helps to build comradery amongst fellow coworkers. You’ll start to realize that the folks you work with everyday become your family away from family. Getting away from the office for a go-kart outing, a golf tournament, a fishing trip, or even an event that supports a local charity gives you the chance to cut loose and have a good time with people who are no longer coworkers, but friends. You’ll start to develop stronger bonds with these people when you can get out, act like a kid again, and not spend time talking about that looming deadline on a project or the insufficient budget. As these bonds and friendships grow, the team becomes more in sync and efficient. And like a well-oiled machine, an efficient team improves your bottom line by churning out projects accurately and quickly allowing you to capture more profit.
Second, these events help you build trust in your team and the coworkers you typically don’t work with every day. Let’s face it, if you’ve ever been in the workforce, you have already done one of these events because “corporate made you do it”. We’ve all climbed on stage, crossed our arms, turned our backs to the crowd and yelled “falling!” as you fell backwards into the crowd of coworkers behind you. All the while hoping that accounting lady closest to the stage doesn’t drop you because you are a known delinquent when it comes to turning in your timesheet. The purpose of that exercise is to build trust in your coworkers and to understand that they will be there to help the team succeed. Just ask any Navy SEAL if they trust their team when it comes time to complete a high profile mission. They’ve probably done slightly more challenging trust exercises than just falling off a stage, but you get the point. Trust in your team helps increase productivity since each team member can count on the other member to do their part.
Third, it allows you to blow off some steam, release some stress, and just have some much needed fun! In the ever growing and faster paced workplace, stress levels, blood pressures and tempers are always on the rise. In these days of instant everything, it is hard not to be overwhelmed by it all. Overworked, over-stressed, and angry employees don’t exactly provide good quality products at the end of the day. Get out there and have some fun! It should remind you of why you work so hard in the first place. It doesn’t take a scientific study to show that a happier employee is a more productive and efficient employee and I’m sure, by now, you’ve figured out what that means for the company.
Now it’s your turn! Tell us what activities you do for team building exercises in the comment section below. We’d like to hear from you, the reader!
