What is Corporate Team Building and Why is it Important?
Corporate team building is a vital aspect of company culture in the modern world. It’s no longer just enough to be turning a profit to be seen as a healthy, successful business. What’s more – socializing between team members can improve communication patterns by 50% – so it’s well worth the effort.
Offering your employees team building events and getting your entire team together outside the workplace can increase employee engagement, boost morale and simply get your team members to know one another better in a fun way.
We’re going to look at different kinds of team building activities, why they’re important and how you can look after and develop your entire office through team bonding. To fully appreciate the importance of such activities, one must understand team culture and its significance in fostering a collaborative and harmonious work environment.
Different types of team building activities
Team building activities come in all shapes and sizes. Depending on what the needs of your business are, how big your team is and your budget, you’re certain to find the right thing for you and your team members.
Whether you want to go all out and provide your entire group with a big team building event, or implement regular team building exercises on a weekly or monthly basis, we’ve got you covered.
Outdoor team building activities
There’s nothing quite like getting your team out in the open, giving them some fresh air and getting some sun. It could be the best team building event you can provide your team to simply get them out of the conference room and into a more relaxed environment outdoors.
What kind of team building you want to give your team depends on what you want out of it, too. Whether you want to set pulses going with an adrenaline fuelled race or take in some local culture, you’re certain to find the right team building exercise.
Adrenaline Junkies
If you want to get your team out in the open and racing each other through all kinds of terrain, consider splitting them into small teams and having them race from one challenge to the next in your local outdoors.
Engaging them in some healthy competition against other teams can provide the perfect mix of fun and contest – allowing your team members to develop their strategic thinking and communication skills while taking on a series of fun challenges.
Challenges can be local trivia or culture-based, and depending on your budget, you could have your teams take to the sea or the local jungle as they go head to head and create positive memories together.
A culture trip
Getting your teams together for a local scavenger hunt that takes in local cultural landmarks could be another excellent option for outdoor team building activities. Offer them a chance to show their problem solving skills while having so much fun out of the office and into the local community.
Once they’ve reached the finish line and you’ve determined a winner, why not end the day with a cocktail class or evening meal to celebrate your team and your business?
Building blocks for the future
Other great options for your next corporate team building activity are to get your teams literally building! Splitting into small teams and giving each of them a challenge to build something can work wonders for team work, communication skills, how team leaders delegate responsibilities and more.
A number of activities that offer this kind of challenge can also double up as races among your team – and as we’ve already discussed, a bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone.
Consider pitting your teams against one another in soap box derby racing, where they have to build their own soap box car before literally racing against one another. Or a water based activity along the same idea, building boats to then race across a swimming pool or the sea to determine the winning team.
No matter what your group size, you’re sure to find a building exercise that can utilize each team member and develop all your employees. Improve project management, team bonding and more – without them really realising it because they’re having so much fun!
Indoor team building activities
Corporate team building doesn’t have to take place outside – no matter the weather, you can offer your team members an event to remember with a range of team building options.
Whether you want to go extravagant and bring Vegas to your office space, take your team to an escape room or simply give your employees a pop culture quiz, team building activities can be anything you want them to be.
Indoor challenges
If you want to pit your teams against each other, as individuals or in small teams, you can offer an array of challenges that take place indoors.
Consider a murder mystery challenge to offer your team a classic whodunnit event, where you can even get team members to role play as the characters involved in the murder. Or engage them with a giant version of their favourite board game such as monopoly, or pit them on a game show such as Minute It To Win It and see just how smart your sales team is against everyone else!
Seminars and more
If you wish to target certain behaviours and development among your team, you can always offer them a behavioural seminar to really focus in on various behaviours. Improve problem solving skills, leadership skills or strategic thinking in small groups or large groups, depending on who you want to benefit from the event.
Seminars can be an excellent, thought-provoking and educational team building activity to enable your team to reflect on themselves, each other and their roles within your organization.
A team building exercise can also be something as simple as a series of indoor challenges, such as trust falls and office trivia, so you don’t have to break the bank to get your corporate team bonding in a fun way. Offering your entire group a happy hour or scavenger hunt around the office can be just as effective as heading out to sea and testing their sailing skills.
Remote team building activities
It’s also vital to maintain team building activities even if your teams work remotely. Virtual team building activities can help combat the isolation and distance some remote employees may feel when working from home.
Employee engagement can be improved and team building online can help with promoting teamwork – even from a distance. Corporate groups can still get together via video call and take part in fun challenges, murder mysteries or even a virtual happy hour at the end of each week to keep them motivated, collaborative and engaged.
Charity & CSR
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a core part of company success and the way that organisations work in tandem with the wider community. Employees who are engaged recognize that CSR is an essential part of the company they work for.
Charity and CSR team building events are a certain way to give back to your local schools, orphanages and society – while also engaging your team members and showcasing the core values of your company culture.
Taking part in your local community by supporting an orphanage renovation or volunteering at a local school will energize your team members and boost morale for when they return to the office.
CSR corporate team building helps facilitate teamwork, encourage creative thinking and engage your team in a fun and meaningful way! The benefits from charity team building are endless – your organization, your team members and your local community will all be thankful for years to come.
- Increase and encourage creative thinking and problem solving
- Boost team morale
- Positive community impact
- Develop your team
- Enhance your organization’s reputation
With so many opportunities to increase the general happiness and engagement of your team – turning them into a breakfast brigade or helping earn school supplies – there’s no end to the positive impact that premium team building activities can provide.
The importance of corporate team building exercises
Corporate team building exercises are a great way to engage your entire team in a number of ways, offering your organization an opportunity to showcase positive company culture to the people that make your business a success.
The opportunity to exchange ideas, build camaraderie and professional development can never be a bad thing for your organization.
The benefits of team building never really end – and it doesn’t matter whether you’re in person or have a remote team, you’re sure to find something for everyone!
- Improve communication skills amongst team members
- Boost employee engagement
- Increase problem solving skills
- Engage in community service and foster team bonds
- Learn new skills (such as creative thinking) to take into the conference room
- Provide the building blocks for the future of your organization
- Increase staff retention
The way that companies are seen and engaged with by customers has never been more important – and team building activities that encourage team bonding can offer an excellent building block for your organization to work from.
Making Teams
We at Making Teams are delighted to offer premium live and virtual corporate team building activities across Southeast Asia and around the world. Whatever your budget, requirements or group size, we’re certain to have the right team building events for you.
