Team managers often struggle to create a sense of connection among their employees. Studies show that team-building activities improve work performance and that employees with better relationships with other employees and a better sense of belonging are less likely to leave for a different job. Team-building activities are a great way to help create that kind of bond in a team. Here are some of the most effective ones:
For Remote Teams:
- Structured conversations
To make your team members work together more efficiently, make structured conversations about things like team objectives and the personal talents of team members. Several activities incorporate such structured conversations:
- Reflected-best-self exercise:
This exercise asks employees about past times when they were at their best performance so that other team members can learn about their strengths and skills.
- Artifact exercise:
This exercise asks team members to share one of their proud achievements with the rest of the team, using an object that symbolizes that achievement.
- Impact-of-styles exercise:
Team members take a personality or communication test and talk about their results.
- Conversation cards
Conversation cards encourage everyone to participate. The cards have different questions, such as, “What’s your favorite hobby outside of work?” This activity needs a sense of trust in others to help connect the team members.
- Save time for a chat
This activity saves about five minutes every day for regular conversations among the team members. It encourages the team to get to know each other and creates mutual friendships among the employees.
- Use virtual communication tools
This involves using virtual communication to create more casual conversation spaces and more time for conversations, jokes, and emojis.
- Simulation game
Team-building games are a great way to encourage teamwork, but critical-thinking games are even better. These games should put the team members in an unusual position, like surviving an alien invasion or exploring the deep sea. This requires the team members to think critically and strategically, and healthy competition can be a great way to encourage teamwork and help the team members learn more about each other’s personalities.
- Host a “team week”
In-person meetings should be hosted to maintain healthy relationships among team members. The meetings can have team-building exercises, yoga sessions, project sprints, or anything else the team can do to gain a positive experience.
For Hybrid Teams:
- Create fun rituals to do with your team
Start each team meeting with a fun thinking exercise or puzzle to help the team members create new friendships and interact with one another differently. This is the type of activity that the team will look forward to and it will encourage them not to miss or be late for their next meeting because they won’t want to miss out.
- Give your team customized merchandise
Giving your team customized, team-branded merchandise is a good way to create a sense of belonging among your team members.
- Share origin stories
These are stories about how the team members joined the company, why they did so, or how they determined their jobs. Team members can choose how much they want to say. While sharing these stories, members can discover shared interests or similarities.
- Pulse Checks
Use tools like internal communication and team member engagement dashboards to determine the team’s energy level and dynamics. This can be done through a question with options such as emojis or different color stoplights representing how people feel about things and their current mood. This method allows managers to figure out potential problems and find ways to fix them, bolstering trust in the team and creating the sense that the member’s input is appreciated.
- Attend a conference with your team
Try attending a conference, for example, a professional development conference, to give your team a collective experience. This can help build conversations and relationships and break the repetitive work schedule.
For In-Person Teams:
- Go to lunch together (more than once)
Having a shared meal with your team creates a more relaxed conversation. Giving your team lunch sends the message that the organization wants the employees to have time together and cares about providing time for relaxed interactions.
- Share expertise
Creating time for team members to teach each other and share their knowledge fosters an appreciation among the team for what each person can do. Presenters should be rotated so that everyone has a chance to teach and learn.
- Do a physical, fun challenge
Doing challenges like a ropes course, scavenger hunt, or obstacle course encourages teamwork and communication. One downside is that there might be people who won’t be willing to do the challenges.
- Do a creative challenge
Completing challenges like a comedy workshop, escape room, or cooking class can bolster team members’ sense of achievement and morale.
- Do community service
Doing a community service project like cleaning a park can produce a sense of purpose and encourage collaboration among team members.
- Do an off-site
Creating a gathering outside the workplace can help team members build relationships and give them a break to relax. The gathering can include team-building activities or work-related discussions. An off-site gathering can also include a shared meal, which creates a more relaxed environment.
Being successful in team building doesn’t require too much time or planning. Small activities promoting growth culture, like puzzles, fun rituals, and simulation business challenges games, can broadly impact a team and provide the desired results.
To get those results, however, you need to be genuinely interested and committed to bringing your team together and getting to know all its members. Coming from a position of authority will damage the team’s performance.