Organizing Team Building Events

Community Manager — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:02:00 GMT

Teamwork makes companies hum. Enhancing productivity and collaboration through team building events can be as elaborate as an offsite retreat, with presentations, challenges, and social events, or as simple as an after-hours bowling and dinner outing.

Team building events can be more than just opportunities for promoting collaboration, team events can help manage change in your company, reduce stress, introduce new initiatives to your sales force, or say thank-you to your team for a job well done.

Any successful event requires organization. Consider these points when planning:

Theme: Telegraph your message with a specific theme for your event. "Collaboration & Culture" or "Innovation & Enterprise" speak louder than "Annual Team Building Workshop #3."

Communicate: Consider surveying your staff prior to the event for input. Be sure to communicate the goals and event details well in advance. Transparency and communication will help ensure that all participants hit the ground running.

Take it Off-Site: Conducting the event or workshops off-site minimizes disruptions and allows for greater focus.

Mix it Up: Pace the day with a mix of work and entertainment. Workshops and presentations should be interspersed with "play" and physical activities to keep interest and involvement at peak form. Consider capping the day with a social event and meal.

Downtime: Build in downtime for reflection. Allow enough time between each activity for discussion, learning and application. A day with two team building games and discussion/reflection time beats a jam-packed day with little time for reflection.

Personalize: Help link group team building with individual growth. Have employees complete a commitment card, action planning list, personal promise statement or some other vehicle to help integrate new behaviors and collaborative tools into their workday.

Rewards: Thank participants with gift cards or company tee-shirts for their participation. And be sure to give recognition to the event organizers with a public shout-out and special gift.

Do you have any team building games or challenges to share? What is best team building event you've attended? The worst? Share your thoughts here and at the Pendaflex Facebook page.

by Bradley Eggers

Beyond Folders : team building

Organizing Team Building Events