I work for a large corporation that promotes a team environment. The philosophy there is simple. If you enjoy going to work every day, you’re more likely to go to work (not call in sick when you’re not sick, etc) and do a great job. Most people are driven to go to work by one of two things: work they like to do or people they like to work with. Money is always a factor, but even a high-paying job can be lackluster if you don’t enjoy the work or your co-workers.
My work group has been held up as an example to others of great teamwork, because we are close-knit and approach our work with a lot of energy. We have a great team dynamic, because we have found ways to strengthen our bond as a team without costing the company money or affecting productivity.
Are these ideas right for your team?
Before implementing any of these ideas, you need to make sure they’re right for your team. Will they affect productivity or customer service? Will your management approve? Will all, or at least most, of the members of the team enjoy the activities or be able to participate?
Some team building ideas cost money, and in a corporate environment where cost-cutting is the norm, this sort of thing is usually the first thing to go. Be sure to select activities your management will feel comfortable with.
Critical mass
One challenge that some teams face is that they don’t have critical mass to carry the idea off. If only one person supports an idea, it’s very easy for the idea to fall by the wayside. Pretty soon, no one comes up with ideas anymore because they get shot down.
The more people you have on board with trying new things, the better it gets. This is sometimes a matter of hiring the right people into the group, but you won’t always have control over that. Try bringing one or two people from the team aside, explaining your idea, and getting their support. They may be more likely to support you when you present the idea to your team privately like this. The more your team tries different team building ideas that are actually fun, the more willing they will be to come up with their own team building ideas and support each other.
Here are some fun team building activities for you to try with your team. Give them a try, or use them to come up with ideas of your own.
These types of activities foster a much more natural interaction than those annoying team building classes your company might sponsor. I know these team building class activities are scientifically formulated to improve team interaction, and they usually end up being more fun than you expect, but many people go into them with a sense of dread. A lot of people don’t like being forced to interact through some silly activity. However, by playing a team sport like bowling, the same dynamic happens and no one goes into it with a bad attitude.
1. Team breakfast rotation: take turns bringing breakfast for the group one day per week. It can be a homemade breakfast casserole or a box of donuts and some coffee-it’s up to you and whoever’s turn it is. List out everyone’s name and go through the list in the same order. If you have 10 people on your team, each person only has to buy breakfast every 10 weeks. It’s a good idea for someone to keep track of the list and remind each person when it’s their turn. Make sure everyone helps clean up-and that goes for any of the food ideas.
2. Soup day: during the winter months, pick one day per week to be soup day (you can do this every week until you get tired of it). Have people sign up to bring soup or chili, rolls, corn bread, crackers, drinks, and spoons, cups, and bowls. Not everyone has to bring something every week in order to eat, as long as they bring something every other week or so.
3. Themed potlucks: Often, when teams have potlucks, they don’t bother with a sign-up sheet and you end up with three seven-layer dips and a bottle of Pepsi. At the very least, have everyone sign up with what they’re bringing so you can make sure there are no duplicates and all the necessities are covered.
Something that’s fun to do is have a themed potluck instead of the typical Heinz 57 variety. This is similar to the soup idea, except you would do this as a one-off thing instead of every week, and everyone would bring something. Some ideas are: Italian dinner (pasta, garlic bread, salad, etc), ice cream sundaes (ice cream, brownies, sauces, whipped cream, strawberries, etc), or build-your-own burrito or baked potato bar.
4. Off-site, after work activities: I already wrote one article about Meal Assembly as a team building activity. You can also go to theme parks, meals, bowling, miniature golf, etc. Try to pick an activity where you’ll be interacting rather than the movies, where you all just happen to be in the same place at the same time.
5. Hold a daily pow-wow: Pick a time every morning to have a quick group meeting. These should generally last no more than about 15 minutes. You can just meet in the middle of your work area and go around the group to let everyone report on what they’re working on that day. This gives everyone some business insight on the different activities taking place on the team, and makes it easier to ask for help if someone needs it or offer help if someone has down time.
6. Have an American Idol Pool.
I hope you found some good ideas in this article that will improve the team dynamic in your team. How can you make your workplace more fun?
