As a business owner or manager it’s your job to keep employees happy and engaged. Many spend so much time thinking about building and selling their products that they lose touch with the people who make it all happen. If you manage a team of individuals you should adopt team bonding strategies that help create a healthy workplace. Happy employees equal motivated and productive employees.
That said, take a look at these five team bonding strategies that will work wonders for your company:
Daily Standups (Meetings)
A standup meeting is a very common term used in business today. These meetings are supposed to be short and sweet. They should be about 1o to 15 minutes long and are best used for things like daily status updates or progress reports on certain projects.
Set a time during the day where you hold a daily standup for your team. Ideally it’ll be around the same time and at the end of the workday. Use this time to get updates from each team member and set an agenda for the following day. This keeps everyone on track and engaged.
Personal Check-Ins
As your organization grows this strategy will become increasingly difficult. That said, it still remains as one of the most effective team bonding strategies. If possible try to hold regular one-on-one meetings with your team. If you’re constantly meeting with large groups you are missing out on extremely valuable input from individuals who are too reserved to share in larger settings.
When you set these meetings you give your team the opportunity to share their thoughts in a much less intimidating environment. Whether it’s an issue with their role or even another coworker this is the time when you’ll get that information. If you’re able to address this on a personal level the group will function much better as whole.
Join a Sports League
Studies show that there is a direct link between happiness and getting proper exercise. Some may think about group exercise classes like yoga or spin class. While these may be fun they don’t necessarily encourage team building.
There are plenty of startup or business specific sports leagues that you and your team can join. Your team will be able to compete against teams from other companies which serves as a great networking opportunity as well. Whether it’s soccer, dodgeball, or basketball there’s plenty of opportunities to get your team together and get active!
Team Field Trips
Remember back when your teacher would announce there was going to be a field trip? The level of excitement was always through the roof. Well, the same goes for your employees.
Everyone likes to get out of the office and do work in the field whenever possible. Whether you’re meeting clients or simply a trip to the park you should try to get your team out at least once a month. Try to keep things as light as possible and use the time to encourage personal connection between team members.
Volunteer For Local Charities
As a society we really don’t do enough to give back to our communities. We spend so much time focusing on ourselves and or our financial benefits that we lose grasp of what really brings us all together.
Volunteering is a great way to bond with your coworkers while doing good for your community at the same time. Choose local organizations that offer volunteer opportunities for large groups. Once you volunteer your team will be feel fulfilled and will be that much closer together.
Final Thoughts
Building and maintaining a strong team bond is vital to your businesses success. Building that bond takes time. That said you should definitely start by using the five team bonding strategies above so you can bring people together and get after it!
