How To Organize Team Building

As mentioned earlier, team building is an integral part of any successful workplace. It’s not just limited to having lunch together or attending a conference once a year, though those are great ways to do it.

Teambuilding can be done at any time, anywhere, and anything! All types of groups can benefit from organized activities, but some teams need more structure than others.

For example, if there is never really anyone in the position to lead, then creating an environment where someone feels they can succeed will go a long way towards improving employee morale and productivity.

If there is always one person who wants control, then encouraging teamwork and collaboration will help them find success. If people don’t understand each other well, then try doing something that requires cooperation or communication. Or create a space where everyone can express themselves freely.

There are many different types of teambuilding exercises, so choose ones that fit your goals for the company.

Choose your team

As mentioned earlier, one of the first things you will want to do as a leader is choose your team! You can’t effectively lead someone if they don’t trust you or believe that you are going to take care of them.

As a leader, you will need to develop relationships with people around you – this includes colleagues, superiors, direct reports, and more.

When organizing a group activity, make sure it is appropriate for the workplace. This could be taking an outside group trip, hosting an open movie night, having an informal meeting, etc.

These activities should be geared towards promoting teamwork and understanding individuals in the organization. They can also promote gratitude and respect for the department/team member who organized the event.

Team building events should focus both on friendship formation and learning new skills. Make sure to organize the event according to what each participant needs and what topics they may be interested in.

Organize a team party

This is one of the easiest ways to organize a team building activity. What you will need for this activity is enough supplies to have an open-party style event, your organization’s key people, and some kind of room or space where you can hold the event.

You can use a restaurant with their own private dining room, someone else’s house, or even invite members of your community into your home to meet everyone there.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure it is comfortable and relaxed so that participants feel able to talk about things without feeling uncomfortable.

If possible, find out whether anyone in your organization is interested in other activities, such as taking sports or swimming lessons, or exploring local attractions. These could be done as part of the group outing if they fit into schedule.

Encourage team creativity

As mentioned earlier, one of the biggest issues that can arise in teamwork is lack of motivation. When you do not see progress being made, or your colleagues are doing something that does not feel like it should be done, then it becomes harder to stay motivated yourself.

This can easily turn into idle time for both people and therefore decrease productivity, as well as resentment towards other members of the team.

It is important to create an open environment where everyone feels free to express themselves and ask questions about things they may be unsure of. This creates a more relaxed atmosphere which helps keep momentum going.

Team building activities that focus on encouraging team collaboration and communication are ideal ways to promote team organization.

These types of games and exercises can be fun initiatives that inspire conversations and link teams together.

How about we take this conversation outside? Why don’t you all go out for a lunchtime stroll while I make some tea?”

Organization isn’t just keeping files and notes organized; it’s also ensuring everything has a place and using routines to help use stick. And if someone needs to get away from others, there will be somewhere private they can go to relax.

Let them be themselves

As mentioned before, team building is not about having fun with people who are similar to you. It’s actually making friends with people that may or may not go down more easily than talking to people who share your same hobbies.

By this we mean, if someone likes sports then there should be no awkward silence while watching games together. Or if one person loves seafood then try to find an excuse to order it during lunch so they can enjoy it as well.

It’s also important to remember that some teams will need extra time to gel. Some take weeks to form strong bonds, but once they do, they stick around for quite a while!

So instead of trying to get everyone into a group activity or challenge, why don’t you just let them explore and come up with their own things? This way, they won’t feel like they have to participate in something else that only they wanted to pursue.

They will feel more included because you asked them what they liked doing and gave them enough freedom to choose.

Challenge them

As mentioned before, one of the most important team building exercises is to challenge people. This can be in the form of an open question or statement, a topic that participants must discuss, or even a game.

Ask your colleagues, friends, or family members to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable for a set amount of time. Or ask them to do something they have been avoiding doing because it seems too difficult or scary.

This could be asking someone to share a favorite movie or song that they know little about, agreeing to go out on a first date with them, or asking someone who has done things like quitting their job to see what happens next.

The point of these challenges is to expose individuals’ secrets – whether we want them to be exposed or not! And if everyone agrees to do it, then there are no true secrets left. So, keep looking for opportunities to test this theory.

If anyone refuses to participate, stop inviting them to team meetings and events until they agree to take part.

Be consistent

As mentioned before, team building is not a one-and-done activity. It will continue to reap rewards for your organization as long as you keep doing it.

Teambuilding can be done at any time of year or even outside of business hours, which are great options if you’re too busy during the workday.

You do not have to spend large amounts of money to make this happen either. Many things that are considered teambuilding activities can be free!

If you're looking to organize some teambuilding this summer, here are 10 easy ways to do it.

Take time for team members

As mentioned before, one of the biggest killers of teamwork is not having enough time to spend together as a team. Even if you are working full-time jobs with very tight deadlines, you can make time during lunch or after work to meet up.

Alternatively, some people prefer to start their day early so they have more time in the afternoon to hang out. Or perhaps there’s a way you can get off work earlier than everyone else, making it easier to chat at the end of the day.

Whatever method you choose, be consistent! Make every week a “team building week” by putting aside time each Friday or Monday to talk, do something fun, or just say hello to someone who was absent the last meeting.

Enforce good culture

As discussed before, creating an organizational culture that is productive and motivating can be tricky at times. But ensuring that your team does not work with hateful or derogatory language towards individuals and/or groups of people is one of the first steps in this process.

Whether it’s using racial slurs or other types of derogatory terms, making fun of someone’s religion, gender, or personal life, or otherwise making unsubstantiated accusations, there is no place for such behavior in any professional setting.

When these things occur, it only serves to hurt the individual involved and their confidence in the workplace. This will eventually have a negative effect on the performance of those working under them or alongside them, and thus limiting their effectiveness.

Enforcing good culture means more than just telling people “don’t say things like that!” It is about educating people about what types of behaviors are unacceptable so that they know where to draw the line.

By having clear guidelines, you can prevent situations from even happening in the first place.