Nothing strikes fear and apprehension into employees more than a senior manager announcing that there’s going to be a team building day. We’ve all been there, done the ice breakers, built the raft and got the t-shirt to remind us. But team building and team bonding can genuinely be fun, productive and engaging.
There’s a huge range of options out there and the world of corporate away days and engagement activities is big business, from axe throwing to bee keeping and everything in between. However, you don’t need to spend a fortune to achieve what you want. Some of the best engagement activities are simple and don’t actually cost a penny. Going for a team walk is a fabulous way for people to spend time together and get to know each other. It’s good for your health and wellbeing and employees are likely to naturally move around and interact with each other whilst walking instead of being stuck in a small group sat around a table. You can let conversation flow or set the team some topics to discuss as they walk and then feed back on later.
A team lunch where employees all bring different dishes or where the company provide food based on what individuals would like is also a great way for staff to get together and to build engagement. A team gathering like this helps to create opportunities for conversation and community and you can build in a work element before or after where current projects are discussed or the team try and tackle problems together.
Another, sometimes overlooked, way in which you can get your team together is by doing something for charity like volunteering or organising an event. This is a great way to get employees to bond and work with each other for the common good. First of all, give staff a chance to nominate a charity of their choice and even do a pitch on the reasons why they think that charity is deserving of support so that you can reach a consensus. Once you have agreed on a charity then get in touch with them, find out how you can help and then give staff the opportunity to get involved. This will not only be of benefit to the charity but also to your business as staff will welcome the chance to do something different, they’ll understand that you care and this will build engagement and team spirit.
It’s really not rocket science, ask people what they want to do, try your best to arrange that and then you’ll have instant buy in and engagement and the fun will be just that, it won’t be contrived or forced and employees will thank you for it and want to do more. As a business you should also get more motivated and productive staff who collaborate better, feel valued and are therefore less likely to leave.
Do you have questions about employee engagement or want our help to organise your team day?
Give us a call at CUBE HR on 01282 678321, we’ll be happy to advise you and we have policies and templates available to meet every HR need.
Why not check out our blog on a similar topic Measuring Employee Engagement.
We also have a YouTube channel with loads of handy videos.
