Gone are the days of trust falls and human knots. Team building exercises have taken a serious scientific turn in the past few years and there are many proven exercises that can help bring your team together or get them performing at a higher level. Here are sparkspace, we firmly believe in the importance of team building, and we find it helpful to incorporate team building exercises into key meetings. Corporate team building activities, such as escape rooms, are a growing part of workplace culture as they help to promote teamwork and communication and can even help form friendships that may not have blossomed otherwise. Not sure what that would look like? Here are four ideas to build trust, communication, and creativity within your group.
To Bring a New Team Together
If you’ve just added people to your team or this is the first time a particular set of people have worked together, a great way to bring the group closer is to encourage social bonding in a non-work environment. In a LinkedIn study, 46% of professionals worldwide indicated that having friends in the workplace was crucial for their overall work satisfaction.
Bringing a group of people together socially requires organization and planning. Many people, when left to their own devices, are too shy to speak up in social situations which is why a structured activity that finds common ground between team members is best. One example of this is our North Market Interactive Lunch. Everyone loves to eat, so the engagement and conversations that come with a “foodie adventure” are sure to spark team bonding.
For Better Team Communication
Miscommunication can lead to something as innocent as a missed project deadline or as massive as losing your biggest client. If your team is having trouble communicating clearly, first get everyone out of the office. Typically communication issues are tied to trust so getting everyone out of their usual environment will clear the way for a breakthrough experience. Games are another way of help to build a better team.
Improv Comedy is a great exercise in getting everyone synchronized. As our friends at local improv troupe, Hashtag Comedy say, “Basic improv skills encourage listening and connecting in a collaborative manner. Improv games help employees to suspend judgment and overcome blocks to creative problem-solving. In addition to building better communication among co-workers, improv also aids in interactions and engagement with clients and customers.”
You can add an Improv Team Building Workshop to your next meeting at sparkspace if you want to start improving your team’s ability to communicate with one another.
Gain Cooperation
Perhaps your team is already established, but they just can’t seem to get it together for this particular assignment. Personalities are clashing, and no one can agree on where to head the project next. If you need to encourage cooperation or collaboration amongst your group, try some volunteer activities.
When employees work together for a very clear goal, such as serving lunch at a soup kitchen or participating in a litter cleanup, they gain a sense of pride and accomplishment that carries back into the office.
Increase Creative Problem Solving
Being creative and innovative can be difficult in a rigid corporate world. If you want to encourage problem-solving, the first requirement is to create a problem. I’m sure many groups would consider being locked in a room together with a problem, which is why an escape room is a great activity. These rooms challenge participants to find a final exit key or code through a series of riddles or clues. You should be able to find an escape room local to you no matter where you live/work.
If you want your team to start thinking outside the box and come up with innovative solutions for your project, give them a chance to work together on something completely creative and non-work related.
While some employees will roll their eyes at the first mention of team building exercises, more and more businesses are finding fun and innovative ways to engage employees, bring teams together and increase productivity and their bottom line. Try a new team building activity in your office or join sparkspace for one of ours!