How To Design A Team Building Development Programme


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Teams are an integral part of most successful corporations, and creating strong teams is one of the biggest priorities in any organization’s development plan.
Building trust between team members and motivating them towards common goals can be very difficult at times, especially when there are significant differences in personality or style. This can lead to poor teamwork and collaboration, which only end up hurting productivity and efficiency.
Team-building exercises are a great way to promote communication, cooperation, and understanding within your group. There are many types of activities that you can use to facilitate this, so here are our top eight tips for designing the best team-building program.
1) Use A Briefing
Before starting the activity, discuss the purpose of the exercise with everyone involved. Make sure they understand what will be done and why it’s important.
Next, decide where people should sit together to create a sense of cohesion. In some cases, people may need separate rooms to talk privately, so make sure these are available.
After the meeting, have someone prepare a summary (or even no more than five minutes) about what happened during the activity. This person should be able to speak about the topic clearly without getting too long or rambling.
2) Let Go And Observe
Many team-building programs ask participants to play a game, such as badminton or a table tennis.
Decide the date and time
The first step in designing any team-building activity is deciding when and where it will be held. This can be done at either close of business or during non-work hours, depending on what type of event you are doing and who your audience is.
It’s important to know that not everyone will respond to the same activities and themes equally. Some people may need more formal lessons such as teamwork training, while others might enjoy games like badminton or swimming instead.
By being aware of this, you can choose which ones to include in your program.
Tell your coworkers when they can join you
The second key component of any team-building event is telling your colleagues when they can attend. This will depend on how many people are attending the activity, but typically it’s advised that no one attends for more than two hours at a time.
If someone needs to get back home early because of work, chances are there’s nothing anyone can do about this fact. If a colleague has an appointment that cannot be changed, ask if anyone else could take their place so they don’t have to miss out too!
By being aware of these limitations ahead of time, everyone can agree upon a start time and then stick to it. This helps eliminate unnecessary tensions since nobody feels left out or like things are happening without them.
Check the weather
This is an important part of any team-building activity as it can be dependent on whether or not you have to meet at a certain location. If there’s a lot of rain predicted, then finding somewhere appropriate to hold the meeting may be difficult if people cannot make it outside.
If possible, find out what the members of your development team are interested in doing and see if they are willing to do these things during their free time.
This could mean going for a coffee together or taking a more formal trip somewhere like a restaurant or bowling alley that doesn’t cost too much money.
Including such activities in the program, it will help promote workplace relationships and teamwork!
General tips
To avoid having to change locations or facilities, check before booking where the best place to hold the meeting is. Ask around and read reviews so you know what to expect.
Don’t forget to factor in how long it takes to get from one place to another and the price of each depending on who needs transport.
Plan for different weather conditions
Teams will quickly lose their focus when it comes to attending events outside of work. Some may even feel uncomfortable going as some people struggle to relate to others who do not share the same religion, culture, or language.
This can be particularly difficult when planning team-building activities as there are often differences in beliefs and values about how to treat individuals.
Many employers find that creating an event program is very time-consuming so it is best to plan by designing a team development program at least six months before you want to run them.
You should try to have at least two per quarter depending on what season we are in! Spring, summer, autumn, and winter all require different types of events.
Winter teambuilding exercises could involve skiing or snowboarding, spring could include taking part in sports like rugby or football, and during summers you could enjoy outdoor activity courses or surf lessons.
Prepare some fun team-building games
While having an open conversation about things such as career paths, goals, and dreams is very productive, nothing is more effective in creating conversations than a game.
There are many types of games that can be used for this. The best type of game to use depends on what kind of topic you want to bring up!
For example, if you wanted to test teamwork, then asking your players to work together to pull off an impromptu dance performance would be perfect.
If you wanted to discuss motivation, have your participants do something they’re not accustomed to doing (like throwing a party) at the end of the day.
The goal here should be to see who will give their all to achieve the mission and/or win the prize at the end!
Games like these promote trust, solidarity, cooperation, and communication. They also create momentum, as people keep playing after the initial setup.
These are important concepts when trying to foster growth among individuals in a team setting.
Decide the location
Choosing your venue is an important first step in designing a team-building activity or event. Depending on the size of the group, you can choose to have it at your workplace, somewhere close by, or even outside!
If you are choosing an outdoor activity, make sure there are adequate protections in place for people who may be sensitive to strong sunlight or cold weather. If possible, hold the activity during daylight time so that participants can enjoy sun exposure while also being aware of how much light might affect others with photosensitive conditions like vitiligo or photodermatitis.
Given that some teams consist mostly of men, offering a gender-balanced activity may be appropriate. You could opt to do something that is targeted towards either side of the spectrum (for example, doing an exercise session together) or includes both within one activity!
When planning your event, think about what types of activities would appeal to different groups in your organization. For instance, maybe you could organize hiking or kayaking as an activity that’s interesting to anyone but not for everyone, and then add in a second activity that focuses more on teamwork under pressure.
Choose the right theme and theme party
Choosing a theme and hosting a themed event are two of the first steps in designing a team-building activity. A well-laid-out plan will include choosing a theme, organizing a meeting or event that fits the theme, and promoting the event using appropriate media.
Themes can be for any type of gathering, but they typically focus on educating participants about an area of knowledge or having fun together. The average person agrees that spending time with friends is a good thing, so why not make it educational while still having some fun?
Theme parties often include activities related to the theme, such as watching a movie set in the theme’s setting, playing games inspired by the topic, or even eating food matching the theme.
Making sure your theme is relevant to the audience is very important to success. If you pick a clichéd theme like ‘Team Building Day!’, people may feel overwhelmed because there isn’t anything specific to learn.
Make it clear what the team-building event is for
Now, this isn’t an event that happens every week or even every month – so you have some leeway as to how formal the setting is. But having a meeting where people can connect beyond work is extremely valuable.
Having these meetings away from the workplace gives participants opportunities to discuss things other than the projects they are working on at the time.
This was very important to us when we held our annual retreats. We would pack them full of rich conversations about the business, personal lives, and career goals of everyone involved.
We also asked lots of open-ended questions, which gave people chana ce to say whatever they wanted without feeling pressured.
These types of events should be organized with care because they afford chances for someone to feel uncomfortable. If anyone feels nervous or stressed out, make sure to acknowledge those signals and give them some extra support.