Team building is a vital investment in your company’s success and growth. By organizing events for team building, you help strengthen corporate culture, retain and attract new talent, and drive performance. In addition, team bonding activities are excellent for boosting employee morale and developing vital skills to run a successful business.
So the burning question is this — are you making the most important investment in your company’s future by having a team building strategy?
Team building is one of those topics everyone seems to know about, but not every business wants to make the investment. However, many studies point to the fact that team building is effective because it achieves these goals:
- It increases trust
- It makes employees feel like they’re part of something bigger
- It educates team members on their strengths and weaknesses
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Companies that invest in team building exercises find they have a happier and more productive workforce. Why is this? Team building fosters good relationships, creates bonds, and workmates become friends. This ultimately leads to greater loyalty and commitment.
This article will discuss why every business should view team building as a vital investment. You will also find out what makes team building effective as a long-term investment strategy.
What is the Purpose of Team Building?
Team building exercises are designed to help teams develop their communication skills, improve their ability to work together, and learn how to solve problems collaboratively. These activities can be done in small or large groups. They may include role-playing games, brainstorming sessions, group discussions, and other activities.
Why View Team Building as an Investment?
Every successful company is interested in growth, becoming an industry leader, and securing a lucrative market share. Therefore, organizations invest in customer service, marketing, product development, and other growth strategies. But ask yourself this – does your organization have a robust strategy to develop stronger teams? If not, you are missing out on an important and potentially lucrative investment strategy.
The good news is that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars investing in team building programs.
When is Team Building the Most Effective?
Using team building as a profitable investment strategy is effective when you avoid common team building mistakes. The return on investment is seen in increased collaboration, more employee trust, and conflict mitigation. In addition, investing in team building strengthens your bottom line and company culture.
Two crucial elements can make team building effective — organizing regular events and planning creative activities.
Team building is only an effective investment when your plan fun activities regularly. Too often, business owners make the mistake of planning a team bonding event when problems arise. However, it is rarely possible to fix underlying corporate issues with a single event — no matter how fun.
Related reading: Seven things team building will never fix.
Organizing creative activities is the second way to ensure team building brings good return on investment. Typically, the type of team events that fail is when managers try to force too much corporate stuff into the events. So while team building is effective at developing leadership skills, it shouldn’t be the event’s main focus.
Ten Reasons Why Team Building is a Lucrative Investment
A team building event can be a great investment if done correctly. It’s a chance to get everyone together and build an increased level of trust among employees. This helps team members work better together, increasing productivity. But, are these events truly an investment that brings returns? Here are ten reasons why team building events are so lucrative.
1. Team building helps attract and retain top talent
One reason team building is an investment in business growth is that you attract top talent. Additionally, employee retention improves with less staff turnaround. Organizing fun activities, regular outings, and corporate events show you prioritize employee wellbeing. This is an excellent way to attract and keep your best employees.
Think about how much money your company could save by reducing employee turnaround. According to a Gallup survey, the cost of replacing an employee ranges from one-half to two times their annual salary. However, replacing team members also disrupts productivity, resulting in more losses.
The Work Institute reports that more than three in four employees leave their employment for preventable reasons. The top reasons for leaving a job voluntarily include career development, work-life balance, wellbeing, and management behavior.
2. Team building exercises break down barriers
One of the advantages of team building activities is that they are cost-effective ways of bringing management and employees together. Fun activities remove individuality and get everyone on the same page. In addition, these events allow people to interact and provide opportunities to learn about one another.
Managers and business owners must use these events to connect with employees. For example, a McKinsey report stated that record numbers of employees leave their jobs because they feel disengaged with management. To strengthen the core business, it is crucial to “strengthen the relational ties people have with their colleagues and their employers.”
3. Team building events drive performance
Team building is a way to empower high-performance and effective teamwork. Strong teams that know how to work together effectively accomplish more and do it better than individuals working alone. This is true whether you’re trying to solve complex problems, complete projects faster, or simply perform better at your job.
In addition, team building provides a safe environment for employees to express themselves. When employees feel comfortable enough to share ideas and opinions, they become more engaged workers. This means they’ll put forth more effort and produce higher-quality results.
Therefore, the investment in team building causes performance at the team and organizational level to increase significantly.
4. Use team building to develop problem-solving skills
Team building activities are designed to help teams develop specific skills they need to perform better. Teams working on a common goal are more effective than members working individually.
For example, the book Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science discussed the phenomenon when individuals work together in a cohesive team. Their interactions amplify their collective behaviors, cognition, and individual characteristics. This effect makes tasks like problem-solving, decision-making, and planning more effective.
Various games can help you develop teamwork and problem-solving skills. For example, scavenger hunts, role-playing, and other similar activities are some examples of using games to develop teamwork and problem-solving skills. In addition, they provide fun opportunities to learn new skills in a relaxed environment.
5. Investing in team building improves conflict resolution
One of the team building is developing skills to resolve conflicts. Conflicts in the workplace significantly impact team performance. Not only can they delay projects, but they can also lead to employees leaving. Team activities teach conflict resolution skills to prevent disagreements in the office.
For example, one of the most popular team building activities at Full Tilt Team Development is our “Kidnapped: A Rescue Mission.” Team members must work together to solve an imaginary crime by identifying the kidnappers and then rescue the hostage. This activity helps develop conflict resolution, problem-solving, and time-management skills.
6. Team building investment improves communication
Communication is the lifeblood of an effective team. And one of the best skills effective team building activities teach is how to communicate successfully. According to Harvard Business Review (HBR), communication patterns are the most crucial predictor of a team’s success.
What was the best way to increase employee productivity? HBR found that communication among team members improves, and teams become more productive when there is strong employee engagement outside formal meetings.
They provide opportunities for team members to connect with each other and learn about one another’s personalities. This helps them understand how they fit into the larger picture and what they bring to the table.
7. Team building takes the work out of work
Regular team building programs make work seem less like work. While employees may not love everything about their jobs, team building events can help mitigate some negative aspects of working. In addition, they give employees something fun to look forward to and interaction outside of the office.
Here are some ideas for team building that Full Tilt can organize to help ensure your employees love the job they are in:
- Fun charitable team building events.
- Mandala leadership project with creative and fun activities.
- Outdoor events like Spuds of Thunder encourage teamwork and negotiation in high-energy, fun activities.
- Our famous and ever-popular cardboard boat build creates exciting challenges in water.
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8. Team building strategies strengthen company culture
Team building activities are an excellent investment to enhance company culture. Organizing regular offsite events is one of the best ways to keep employees engaged. They also do a fantastic job of fostering a positive team spirit and strong relationships among employees, thus improving overall morale.
But there is more. One of its biggest benefits is that team building creates an environment where every person feels valued and appreciated. This positive company culture fosters a healthy work environment and makes employees feel valued. This creates a sense of belonging and ownership. In this environment, engaged employees want to excel because they care about the organization’s success.
9. Fun team building activities improve relationships across the board
Spending time together outside of the office improves relationships between coworkers. During informal events, team members have a greater opportunity to form bonds and friendships. Having stronger relationships increases employee satisfaction and results in a happier workforce. Therefore, team building is a crucial investment in the wellbeing of your employees.
10 Team building eliminates the monotony of the office
Team building is an investment in your company’s success and shouldn’t just happen once a year. In fact, it should become part of your regular routine. Attendance at team building events breaks up the monotony that can come from too much sitting around at the office. And it gives you a chance to reconnect with your coworkers outside of the workplace.
Call Full Tilt to Organize Your Next Team Building Event
Do you want to find out more about the benefits of team building and how to invest in your business success through team building events? If so, please get in touch with our team at Full Tilt Team Development at 310-400-6285 or by completing this online form.
One of our team is ready to discuss how we can help you organize an unforgettable corporate team building adventure. We offer customized activities for groups of 10 to 500+ people. Our custom events are perfect for training sessions, leadership training, charitable events, and offsite meetings.