How To Be Successful In Team Building

Team building is an integral part of any successful organization, not just because it helps you form stronger working relationships, but also because it increases employee productivity and engagement.

As we've discussed before, being able to relate to people is one of the most important skills you can develop as a leader. And while having strong leadership qualities like confidence, assertiveness and communication are all very helpful, none of them matter if you're unable to motivate others to do their job.

Teambuilding events are a great way to boost motivation and inspire action within your employees by giving them something they want. They're also a cost-effective way to increase workplace morale.

Here are some tips for hosting the best teambuilding exercises possible so that your participants enjoy themselves and take away meaningful lessons. Also, read our article about how to motivate your team at work.

This article will help you plan effective team-building activities that promote teamwork, trust, and friendship. You'll learn what types of activities are effective and what ones are not along with strategies and examples.

Make it clear what time the event starts

As mentioned before, one of the biggest hurdles for people when joining an organization is knowing how things work. This can be tricky if you’re not given adequate information!

If you are being asked to join a team, make sure that you know what time the event begins so that you can get there early enough to learn something.

This will help you feel more comfortable in your surroundings and helps you establish trust with other members of the team.

It also gives you time to prepare yourself for the event which leaves feeling better than rushing to find out what happens next.

General team-building events typically start at a specified time, but as we know, not every event follows this rule. If yours does, make sure that you check the time frame very carefully because you do not want to be late for your gathering.

Dress the part

Being successful at team building depends heavily on your dress code. If you are wearing sweats, there can be no doubt that you do not care about teamwork. You are trying to create an atmosphere where you drop as many hints as possible for people to join your team as their next employer.

If you wear jeans with a collared shirt, this signals to others that you believe yourself to be more important than everyone else around you. This does not motivate them to try harder or work together but instead creates a feeling of jealousy toward you.

For example, when someone comes across as being better than you, it could easily make them lose the motivation they have already put into showing up. They may even feel intimidated by you since you made a clear statement about how much you think you are worth.

Dress like someone who cares about teamwork. Make statements about teams and what makes them work, show examples of powerful groups working together, and emphasize the importance of relationships in business.

When men’s fashion magazines talk about fashionable shirts, they often mention how soft the fabric is. A lot of people outside of workplace settings assume that professional-looking clothing means stiff, casual clothes.

However, having a white shirt that is slightly wrinkled and lacey sleeves says “I take my job seriously, but I also enjoy coming together to achieve a common goal.

Be familiar with the area

As mentioned before, team building is an integral part of any successful organization. If you are not comfortable in your field or areas of the business, that can be a big problem factor when trying to organize a group activity.

Finding team-building activities requires knowing what types of environments you’re looking for and how to identify them. You also need to know which type of event best fits the needs of the participants and the goal of the organizer.

Teambuilding exercises will always emphasize communication, cooperation, and understanding of others. This is why it is important to be aware of the surrounding area and environment of the company you work for.

It’s very easy to get stuck in your little circle at work, so making an effort to connect outside of this is crucial to success. Take time off to do things as a group — go somewhere together, take a tour of the office, meet at a coffee shop once a week, etc.

Running into another person outside of work is more likely to happen if you make socializing a habit! Plan events like lunch dates, happy hours, or game nights to facilitate casual conversations beyond the workplace.

Prepare your team in advance

As we mentioned before, being able to identify what qualities each member of your team has and developing relationships with them is an integral part of successful teamwork. But there’s another important thing you can do to ensure that your team works well together- something that may seem easier said than done – planning!

Planning means thinking about how groups work and individual responsibilities within those groups so that when situations arise, everyone knows who does what. It also means making sure that everyone is aware of their respective roles so that they don’t feel left out or underappreciated.

This way, when things get tough, no one is wondering who will step up and take action, because someone always has. And this takes trust, which is always a good thing.

It sounds like a lot, but it isn’t. When was the last time you planned a party? All you had to do was make a list of all the items needed and go buy them. Same for organizing a meeting or a trip. So why are group organization and responsibility such hard concepts?

Because we as individuals tend to forget or ignore what we have already paid for (ourselves) and focus only on getting our own needs met. But investing in others is just as important if not more so.

That is the difference between having a strong team and having a weak one.

Make it clear what you expect

As mentioned before, one of the biggest reasons why team building exercises fail is because people do not know what they are being asked to do. You may have gathered already that I am talking about here! Making sure your group members understand the goals of the exercise is an essential part of success.

Some groups will be able to agree that having a party is a good idea but then nothing gets done due to a lack of motivation. Or maybe someone agrees with the aim but no one knows how to plan the event or who will bring what to contribute.

Teambuilding can get expensive so making sure everyone is on board and contributing is important.

Bring your “A” game

Being successful at team building depends on you being very committed to the success of the project. You need to show up every day with all the materials you have been given and put in the effort that is needed to succeed.

If there are any last-minute changes or shifts, this can be difficult. If someone else has done their part and everything seems ready, they may feel like it is not worth going to work because nothing will get done today.

This could create a lot of stress for them as well as for you.

Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and not everyone is the same. This makes projects take longer than expected sometimes. This can make people unhappy which can then affect the rest of the team.

You must remember that these things happen and it is okay. No one is perfect and doing a good job performance takes practice.

People who do good team building also use teamwork skills such as communication, collaboration, and understanding other personality types. While some may feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they have to do, others can help them out.

Set clear objectives

As mentioned before, team building is not about having fun together, it’s not an opportunity for you to show off your leadership skills, and it’s not designed to strengthen relationships. It’s quite the opposite – team-building exercises can be very challenging!

That’s why it's important to make sure that your participants are going to gain something from this activity. They must feel like they got their time worth it, or they will lose interest and/or walk away.

Of course, there are some soft touches such as good food and drinks, but most importantly - strong motivation. Make sure that everyone involved in the exercise feels like they accomplished something while attending the event.

It sounds pretty straightforward, but making sure that happens takes more than just a few minutes of speaker talk. You have to check if people are engaged with the topic at hand, and if they left the meeting feeling motivated and inspired.

If you notice that someone didn't seem interested, try to understand why that was.

Take notes

Taking good notes is a helpful skill that can strengthen your team's communication and organization skills. Even if you are not taking notes, you should!

Most successful teams have people who take lots of notes and they know what makes someone effective as a note-taker. It’s like being able to tell when someone is well prepared before a meeting and how they organize thoughts before talking.

Good note-taking comes from thinking about the other person, and what they want, and then incorporating those things into your preparation. This creates more efficient conversations and collaborations.

Team members may feel overwhelmed by all of the information they need to gather for a meeting, so having someone else do some research or work ahead of time can help keep everyone relaxed and focused.

If there’s something important you need to bring to a group discussion, ask if anyone has done any research on it yet.