How To Conduct Team Building

As seen with many other positions, leadership is an ever-changing role that can shift depending on circumstances. This makes team building a tricky process as you never know what kind of leader someone will become next week or even tomorrow.

As a manager, leading a team takes more than just telling people what to do and giving them their job assignments every day. It also means being able to identify potential problems before they arise and finding solutions to make things better.

Team building is a way to increase employee engagement by creating relationships between individuals. This helps promote trust, collaboration, and understanding which are all key success factors in any workplace.

It may also help expose hidden weaknesses and opportunities for growth. If there’s one thing we have learned about successful teams, it’s that great teams often share similar strengths and challenge each other. You don’t always need big money to invest in your organization, but looking into the eyes of your colleagues and recognizing who they are as people is.

This article will go over some ways to conduct effective group activities that inspire teamwork and bring out the best in everyone.

Make it visible

As mentioned before, one of the biggest reasons team building exercises fail is because people do not know what they are doing! People may feel like they are participating in an activity that benefits them, but if they have no idea what the rest of their colleagues are being asked to do, then it can look very awkward.

It’s important to make sure that everyone knows what will be happening next so that nobody feels left out or confused. This way, you won’t find anyone secretly watching TV during the exercise or going for a drink while the others work together.

You also need to check that there aren’t any rules that say that people cannot go outside or take breaks unless someone else organizes it – this could create some funny situations!

Making teambuilding activities as open as possible helps keep the mood light and fun. It also gives other members a chance to contribute and show off how well they play with others.

Provide structure

A good team building activity is to have people join groups of eight individuals. Each member in the group gets a name tag with their own unique title such as “Accountant,” “Secretary,” or something similar.

The members then discuss who they would like to be in this new group and what skills they have that are helpful for the other members. They can also add more details about themselves such as where they work, hobbies, etc.

After doing this activity for several groups, you can evaluate how well each group bonded together. Did anyone feel left out? Were there any secrets shared? Was anything learned from everyone in the group?

These types of questions show that your organization values teamwork and open communication. You can continue to organize teambuilding events to promote healthy workplace relationships.

Challenge team members

As mentioned before, one of the biggest inhibitors to teamwork is challenge. Teams that are not challenged can become comfortable with each other which prevents new ideas from being considered.

Challenge includes things like asking questions, offering alternative points of view, giving feedback, proposing changes to projects, etc.

Ask open-ended questions to get more information such as “What made you choose this company over others?” or “How do you feel your job fits into the larger organization structure?”

If someone does something well, ask them how they accomplished it so you can learn from their strategies.

Give direct, honest, and thoughtful feedback in an appropriate manner (timing, tone, etc.).

Avoid making judgments unless asked directly.

When given a choice, never pick just for yourself; always consider the best option for the group.

Encourage collaboration

As mentioned earlier, team building is not about having fun with your colleagues for an hour or two. It takes longer than that to get significant results. Therefore, you should make it a part of your weekly schedule instead of an event that only happens once a year.

Teambuilding can be done at any time; even while people are working. This way, no one feels like they have to attend a special event to prove their worth. You can hold informal meetings to discuss ideas, find common ground, and work together towards a goal.

These types of meetings can be anything – from sharing experiences, brainstorming new strategies, discussing projects, supporting each other, talking about difficult subjects, etc.

The key thing to remember when doing teambuilding is to keep it productive. If you notice something going too far into playful territory then stop! Keep things professional and business-like to achieve better results.

Also, try to avoid having these meeting in private as this could create a sense of separation between individuals which would likely worsen already poor relationships.

If someone needs some help or guidance, their own level of skill may prevent them from getting the same response from others so invite everyone in the group to join you for a few minutes. This helps promote trust and understanding among coworkers.

Make it clear what is expected

As mentioned before, team building can be done at any time or place, so make sure you understand how others in your department are performing their jobs.

It’s also important to know who else needs help with theirs, as well as what they need assistance with.

By having these conversations, you will learn more about your colleagues and what they need from you. This creates strong working relationships and trust which are key success factors in anyone’s career.

Team members should feel free to ask each other questions, talk about things that matter to them and come together as a group to achieve common goals.

Be consistent

As mentioned before, team building is not about having an event once a year where everyone gathers for two days. It is not a one-and-done activity either. Teambuilding should be done consistently throughout your organization.

This can be tricky at first because some departments feel that they do enough teambuilding by holding meetings every few months. But if you are looking to improve teamwork and communication in your workplace, these events need to happen more frequently!

Team members need to meet with each other on a regular basis to strengthen relationships. This will help eliminate conflicts and keep conversations open and flowing.

It also helps to promote camaraderie as people of different positions, levels, and shifts work together towards a common goal. A lot of companies that claim they have a strong working environment never actually invest in group activities like this.

Making time outside of the office for teambuilding is important so that noone feels left out or alienated. Many employers offer free gym facilities or paid day trips as a way to facilitate such interactions.

Use stories

A good way to do this is to ask about someone’s story or something that happened recently in their life. Ask them to tell you a story, or ask them if there is anything they are aware of that went wrong for their team and what they did to fix it.

By asking questions like these, you give individuals an opportunity to talk about themselves and how they operate. This can be very productive!

Team building doesn’t happen overnight but with repeated attempts, you will find success.

Focus on the team

As mentioned before, one of the main things that can be done to strengthen your team is investing in their growth as individuals and as a unit. This article will talk about some ways to do this.

The first way we will look at is focusing on the team instead of an individual. This will require changing how you view and treat each other, which may not happen quickly.

Another option would be giving up personal goals for the sake of the group goal. If someone who is part of the team wants an expensive new car then by all means get them the best one possible! But perhaps they should consider getting the cheapest one available because it was important to them to recognize good quality cars.

By having these conversations we are able to see what people want from the group and what they don’t. We also learn if there are any tensions within the group or if anyone feels left out.