Do Team Building Exercises Work

Many companies organize team-building activities to engage and create relationships among employees. This includes online, indoor, or outdoor events like scavenger hunts or virtual trivia. Ever wondered if these activities are successful at promoting team collaboration?

Team-building activities help employees connect in different settings and create unique shared experiences. They teach workers to partner in achieving a common goal. Read on to discover more about activities and what impacts their effectiveness.

Benefits of Team Building Exercises

Team building activities have various benefits, as illustrated below:

Improves Employee Motivation

Organizing team activities that allow employees to have fun and share ideas makes them feel valued. The American Psychological Association reports that team building leaves employees feeling valued and motivated.  

Employees working in firms that appreciate their ideas and views are more motivated to do their job. They feel proud to be part of an organization that believes in them and supports them in doing their best. 

Breaks Walls Between People

Outdoor team building activities allow employees who never interconnect to communicate and get to know each other. Different departments do not interact daily, creating gaps in the organization. Holding team building events that include all employees bridges the gap between departments.

Employees from different departments get to work as part of a team. This helps to build relationships among them and promote trust in the organization. 

Improves Problem-Solving Skills Among Employees

Team Building activities place employees in situations that need strategic solutions for instance solving board games. This ignites creativity and allows everyone to come up with new ideas. Such exercises allow employees to work together towards solving a common problem.

Better Communication

Outdoor activities create a safer environment for employees to express their ideas. As teams work together to solve problems, everyone is free to provide their thoughts. Team members celebrate when one of them comes up with an idea that helps them succeed in a game. This creates an open environment and encourages everyone to express themselves.

An MIT study discovered positive relations between communication and team success. Open communication displayed during outdoor activities extends to the workplace. It translates to improved team performance and the overall success of the company. 

Factors that Determine Effectiveness of Team Building Programs

The effectiveness of team outdoor activities is determined by various factors, as indicated below.

The Challenges Your Team Faces

For outdoor activities to be effective, they have to target the challenges that you experience in your company. Before you choose the type of team-building event to host, you need to identify the goals for the exercise. 

Identify the qualities that you aim to strengthen in your team. This helps you choose activities that attain your goal. For example, if employees are focused on personal success over the team, identify activities that will demand teamwork. 

Competitive Aspect of the Games

Effective team-building programs promote employees support for each other and healthy competition. The goal of team building is to promote cohesion among teams. Activities that drive competition stray from this goal and affect unity among employees. 

Team building games should embrace healthy competition but focus more on employees supporting each other. Healthy competition makes most employees active and focused, making outdoor activities very fun. 

Type of Team Building Activities

Outdoor activities that create a shared experience and teach employees how to achieve goals and work together are effective. Activities such as board games and fun brainstorming sessions are not only fun but offer valuable lessons.

Activities such as zip lining and rock climbing are perfect whenever you want employees to have fun. A game such as a complement circle (where employees complement each other on their work and life in general) helps to build employee relationships. Sincere admiration helps employees feel valued, and trust and connections are built.

When planning a corporate reunion, organize more collaborative tasks between teams. Use activities that promote connection and mingling among employees. This results in better relations in the workplace. 

Get a Team Building Program Today!

Well-planned team building programs improve employee communication and promote better problem-solving skills among your employees. An effective program considers the challenges your team experiences and identifies activities that help solve them. 

Implementing effective outdoor team building activities improves relationships in your company. This translates to increased employee motivation and performance.