Team building days and activities are often pitched as a way for staff to have fun and spend time together in a setting outside of work. But you might not realise that they can also be a force for generating greater productivity amongst the team.
It has been well documented that the UK has struggled with productivity for a number of years so if you are looking for a way to get more from your staff, it could be a good idea to organise a team building session. Here are some of the ways that team building is able to strength morale and boost the relationships amongst employees, and improve productivity in the process.
Improve office morale
One reason to use team building activities that is often overlooked is the fact that it can boost morale among your staff. Getting out and doing something different from the usual day-to-day working schedule can be a great opportunity for staff to relax and get away from the standard tasks. This can be a great way to lift a team that might be feeling bogged down in routine.
There is no doubt that a boost to the morale of the staff can do wonders for productivity. There is undoubtedly a correlation between staff with high morale and those with high productivity. So it’s a great idea to offer your staff a choice in the kind of team building activities that they would be interested in doing. If you can use team building as a way to boost happiness in your staff it is a double win for you.
Building rapport in the team
If you want a more productive team it is most important to ensure that the members of that team get along with each other. When employees are working for each other and feel like they share common goals with their team, it can spur them on with tasks. On the flip side, a team that doesn’t get on well is less likely to put effort into their jobs, as they won’t be engaged in the goals of the team overall.
Clearly one of the primary goals of team building is feel a sense of togetherness and ensure that staff feel like they can trust each other. If there is a sense that your team does not work together as well as they should it could be the time to invest in a team building session. Select an activity where there is an opportunity for bonding and building rapport.
A boost for creativity
There are a number of fantastic team building activities that can boost and build creativity in your staff. And while you might think that creativity is not necessarily an important factor in the productivity of your staff, it can actually make a huge difference. Creativity can actually play a huge role in productivity, for example, taking a new and different approach to a problem can allow you to come up with a quicker solution.
And it’s about more than just creative solutions. Once again it is about what will make your team feel happier. Getting the opportunity to be more creative at work can be a real boost for staff and this can lead to better productivity.
Improve communication among staff
A huge benefit of team building days are that they can help to break down barriers between members of staff and improve communication within the team. Whether this comes simply through increasing familiarity between employees or via a specific team building activity that promotes new ways of communicating, it can be extremely valuable.
And there is no doubt that productivity increases when there are no barriers to communication between the members of the team. When communication is strong both from managers to employees and between individuals in the team, it is easier for everyone to do their job.
It can sometimes be the case that certain members of the team are better with communication than others, so it is worth having a think about the kind of team building activities that you can get your team involved in. It’s a good idea, for example, to focus on games that include listening to each other and then acting on those instructions.