Whether your team is new and need to get to know each other or established and need to work better together, there are various team building activities that can help your business and one of the best times to do these activities is at the start of the New Year.
Companies often look to bring their workers together so that they work better as a team. Some use team-building activities to create an atmosphere of friendship and to increase employee happiness from the sharing experience of meeting a need or reaching a goal.
January has always been a chaotic month, especially in the business world. It’s very essential to make sure that your employees are feeling totally engaged and productive in order to get the New Year off to a flying start at your company. Keep in mind that happy employees are generally more productive.
One of the most effective ways to boost employee happiness and productivity is through team-building exercises. They offer your team a much-needed break from their daily work routine, help to strengthen employee relationships, and can also be a great way to reward your team for recent achievements.
Employee teams can learn to think creatively through team building activities. Participants are usually given several creative challenges and problem solving activities that make them realise that just because they’ve always done something a certain way, doesn’t mean it’s the way they should continue to do it like that.
In order to thrive, not just survive, organisations have to be able to regularly re-evaluate themselves, ask what else is possible and do things differently to get better results.
Why bother with team building activities in the first place?
Below are the top three reasons why you should plan team building activities to celebrate the New Year
Alleviating conflict
If your employee team has been suffering many internal conflicts this past year, you should organise team building exercises that are designed to repair broken relationships and foster peace.
One good example of these is the scavenger hunt, which pairs up the conflicting employees and forces them to rise above their differences and work together to achieve a shared goal for a desired shared prize.
Improving communication
If your employee team has been having misunderstandings and communication issues this past year, plan team building activities that foster better communication.
A good example is the adult telephone game which shows them how the message can get lost through different perceptions and interpretations as it travels from the original sender to the final receiver. This will help your team see their issues in a new light.
Building trust
If your employee team has a great need for members to rely on each other, you should plan trust building activities that foster better bonds.
These exercises teach team members that they can trust each other and depend on each other to get the job done in their daily work. One of the commonest of these trust building is having one employee fall backward and trust that his coworkers will catch him.
How can you go about team building in the New Year?
Below are some ideas you can consider for your team building activities to celebrate the New Year.
Charity work
Volunteer work can be a fantastic way to kick of the New Year with great vibes from giving back to your local community while getting your employee team out of the office for a day or two out of shared involvement and a very relieving break from the daily routine.
Of course, this might not be practical at such a busy time of year and if so, you could do some work in your community over the weekend. You can help out at the local soup kitchen or even host a charity fundraising event at the office.
Extreme sports
What better way to kick off the New Year in high gear than getting a collective adrenaline rush for your employee team? The adrenaline rush from activities such as go-karting, bungee jumping, rafting, scuba diving, surfing, skydiving, mountain climbing and the like is sure to get your team bonding in motion.
Although such activities are often expensive, this can be a great way to reward your employees for their efforts in the past year and get them pumped to take on the New Year with even more vigour.
Board games
Bringing out some classic board games such as Monopoly, Twister and Cluedo for a fun evening at the office with some drinks and snacks can also be a great team building activity for the New Year. You can set up a few stations with different games around the office, so that everyone gets a turn on whatever it is they are into.
It’s a load of fun for everyone at a very affordable cost and, if you choose your games carefully, can be a great way to strengthen your team and increase your employee engagement.
In Summary
Lack of motivation and morale is proven to lead to low productivity, poor team work and a higher staff turnover. Employee morale is more important than many companies care to admit and can essentially make or break a company.
On the other hand boosting employee morale is a lot easier than you think. Simple team building activities can go a long way in bringing the team closer especially at the New Year starts.
