The 7 hidden benefits of team-building activities
Team-building activities can strengthen company culture and provide a wide variety of benefits. You probably already know that team building creates a stronger bond between employees, improves team communication and encourages collaboration.
But how about some of the other, lesser known benefits that aren’t discussed as much? Here are seven hidden benefits that will provide value to your company’s culture when you invest in team-building activities.
Getting Creative
Sometimes employees can fall into a routine with their work. That’s not always a bad thing since it’s how work gets done. However, a new perspective could add insights into challenges at the office. Taking the team out of their regular work environment to overcome non-work challenges can encourage creative problem solving when they’re back at the office.
Approach-ability
Even the best managers can be intimidating to employees, and this feeling may cause employees to hesitate to reach out to discuss workflow concerns, new ideas and career track wants. In fact, half of employees reported that they don’t regularly speak up about concerns. Having a good relationship with management can increase employee satisfaction, productivity and reduce turnover, giving a boost to the company culture. Team-building exercises can be an excellent way to make managers more approachable, as there’s nothing quite like seeing your manager having fun while crashing into the side of a go kart track, toppling over in the potato sack race or having their precious egg splatter in an egg drop competition.
Identify leaders
Team building gives the opportunity for those outside the management team to take on a leadership role, guiding their group to the successful completion of a team-building exercise. It’s a nice way for management to observe leadership skills outside of the office environment, and to identify potential future leadership candidates. You’ll spot which employees take on planning and tactical roles and which are the most encouraging to other team members, both great qualities of future leaders.
Uncover hidden talents
Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of work, you don’t learn much about your employees. There are often hidden talents that are uncovered while chatting at team-building events outside the office that can be valuable to the company and even advance careers. Maybe an employee writes a blog about their weekend hikes, but those writing skills could be used on the company blog. Or, perhaps an employee has been taking night classes, is part of many professional organizations and is poised to become your next thought leader. Employees who get to use their strengths at work every day are eight percent more productive and 15 percent less likely to quit. Getting to know more about your employees during team bonding activities can help you uncover their hidden talents and tap into their strengths.
Everyone’s a winner
Team-building activities provide an opportunity for everyone to have fun and be successful. It’s a fantastic way to recognize achievement outside of work parameters and can give a self-esteem boost to employees who might be struggling at the office. When the entire team has an opportunity have fun and shine, everyone feels like a winner!
Energy boost
Your company culture likely revolves around the energy in the office. When the team gets back from a fun day of team bonding, the energy in the office can change, giving the company culture a spirited jolt at the same time. It’s best if the team can have a reminder of the event, such as a t-shirt to wear on casual Fridays. Team building event mementos can serve as cool keepsake from the fun and positive energy they created as a team and help keep that vibe flowing back in the office.
Mix & mingle
When you work in a department and have a common task, it makes sense that your work family would be the same as the folks in your department. Team building gives employees the opportunity to mix and mingle with other departments and learn about their roles. If the teams are broken up beforehand to ensure a blend of departments on every team, employees will bond with other departments. This can give everyone new insights into what other departments do and humanize co-workers who were previously only on the other end of an email address. What a fantastic way to cultivate understanding and bond the team on a larger scale!
When your team-building experience helps promote a strong company culture, everyone wins! While team-building activities are known for their generally positive impact on company culture, these specific (and lesser known) benefits provide a strong case for the tangible value of prioritizing team building activities.
Investing in team building can help you tap into these hidden team bonding gems and grow the strong company culture you desire. So, get out there, have some fun with your employees and reap the rewards of a strong company culture.
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