Team building exercises can be a great way to build a more cohesive team within your company. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each member will allow companies to identify the areas that need improvement. You could even consider getting custom awards made in advance so that they are ready to go before you start your team building exercises.
Sometimes, for proper team building skills to develop, it it may be necessary to place your participants in an unusual or unfamiliar setting. Below are key areas that can be effectively addressed during team building exercises. Not only are these activities effective, but they are also a lot of fun.
Building Rapport
The very first thing that should take place within any team should be a strong foundation for each participant. This begins with each team member building rapport. You could divide the team into small groups and allow members to get to know one another. They could discuss anything from birthdays, family, favorite hobbies, current affairs, music, vacations, and favorite foods.
This will give them the opportunity to get to know more about their colleagues at an informal level. If you want everyone to build rapport at the same time, you could get them all to take notes and create specific targeted lists, which would force them to step out of their comfort zone. Both are fun ways to build rapport.
Communication
Communication is key to successfully completing a task in any company. You must be able to communicate efficiently and effectively with each team member or group of individuals. There are a few team building exercises that can help with effective communication.
One activity consists of small teams of 2 individuals. One of them is blindfolded while the other can see. The ones with vision lead their blindfolded partners to various parts of a room, house, or outdoor destination.
The partners are not allowed to touch each other, which means that they have to communicat verbally. The best communicators will avoid falls or bumping into obstacles. They will also reach their destinations more quickly than their less communicative counterparts.
This communication activity can become even more challenging if you increase team sizes to three, four, five, etc., members. As people tell the one blindfolded person what to do, they would have to be mindful of working as a team. For example, they would need to avoid interrupting one another.
Diversity Awareness
Teams in the workforce are made up of individuals from all walks of life. Individuals bring their own cultural and ethnic backgrounds to the team, contributing to the diversity of the group. Learning of the differences and similarities of each team member with regards to their backgrounds can eliminate preconceived biases or stereotypes that may exist.
One activity that can focus on alleviating any future issues would include each person sharing a personal story of how they deal with conflict. This would open up the floor to personal moments that would allow teams to get to know each other on a more intimate level. The activity will also give room for team members to gain and express a different level of respect for one another.
Trust
Have you ever heard the saying “Trust is not given, it’s earned?” That is exactly how team members view trust in the workforce. Companies work had to make sure that trust is built between the company and each worker, but trust has to be built amongst team members. Some of the best trust activities are very simple and can be very effective in the beginning stages of trust.
One really great activity centered around trust is the trust fall. Each team member takes turns falling into the arms of the group. They simply let the group know when they are ready to fall and the group catches them. This activity is very simple but it truly takes a lot of courage to fall into someone’s arms. While this may be the beginning of trust being built among the team, it will continue to allow for an amazing bond among team members.
Leadership
Great leaders are always better when working in a group. Each leader brings their own individual strengths to a team and can make up for the the weaknesses of other people. Once you establish the type of leader you would like to be within a team, it makes it a lot easier for each member to work well within the group. Leadership activities range from individual level to group level, but in either situation, growth can be seen within each leader.
In order to build a strong healthy team in your work environment, the areas listed above are great targets to create leaders within your group. Although awards may not be a top priority on your list when the focus is primarily on the exercises, it would represent completion of the exercises and could help your employees feel that they have really accomplished something useful and important..
from Business – Market Business News https://ift.tt/39IXzMR
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