Team building is a collective term for various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams, often involving collaborative tasks. It is not the same as training teams to enhance their competencies, such as is designed by business managers, learning and development experts or HR Business Partners. Team building rather focuses on enhancing interpersonal relations, collaborative working spirit and encouraging enterprise-first behaviours within teams.
How We Choose Team Building Activities
Team-building exercises must aim to expose and address interpersonal problems within the group. The activities are intended to improve performance in a team-based environment. We carefully select activities that must achieve the following objectives:
- Align team members around goals
- build effective working relationships
- reduce team members’ role ambiguity
- find solutions to team problems
- get team members to appreciate their strengths and weaknesses
- encourage team members to take ownership of organisational goals
- offer a moment of relaxation and well being after a crisis or a major project
Purpose of Team Building
Team building is a core process for many organizations that wish to efficiently meet their goals and build a company culture that benefits all employees. The team-building process teaches employees how to trust each other and work together to achieve common objectives. Understanding the purpose of team building and the importance of having strong professional relationships with coworkers can help you become more accustomed to this process and motivated to take part in it.
What is the Ideal Team Building Strategy?
A common strategy is to have a “team-building retreat” or “corporate love-in” or “away days,” where team members try to address underlying concerns and build trust by engaging in activities that are not part of what they ordinarily do as a team.
The best approach is to take the team away from their usual work environment. Experience has shown that when team-building activities are organised in the same environment where workers discharge their functions, team spirit is affected as focus is compromised. Consequently, the event does not always achieve its full potential.
The best places to organise team building activities include:
- Hotels and resorts
- Sports complex
- Beaches
- Mountain trails
- Conference centres
- School campuses
How We Pick the Perfect Venue for Your Team-building Event
One of the most important albeit difficult decisions is picking that ideal venue for your team building activities. This is because the venue affects everything else and plays a critical part in determining if your team-building objectives will be met.
To pick the perfect site for your team building activities, we consider the following elements:
1. Size of the venue
Most team building activities require open or large spaces where people can feel comfortable stretching their legs and moving about, without the risk of bumping into someone or pushing something over. You must ensure that people feel comfortable in that space and time.
2. Accessibility
It must not be stressful getting to the location. The distance is not the problem as traveling to the venue can constitute part of the team building activity if well organised.
3. Safety and Security
You must pick a place that presents all the safety and security promises that appeal to your company’s standards and commonsense. Is help handy in case of accident or incident? Has the place taken adequate incident prevention and mitigation measures?
4. Catering
It is not team building if the food isn’t top notch. Good quality food and drinks are a must for a memorable team building event.
5. Facilities
A good venue must have alluring facilities to keep participants comfortable. It must present opportunities (gadgets, installations) for planned activities and for relaxation.
6. Internet and Audio/Visual Equipment
Is there high-speed Wi-Fi for your attendees to access their social media, event materials, or work emails at the venue? Do you need Audio/Visual Equipment for presentations and fun activities? Some venues have A/V included in their rental agreement or built into their space.
7. Affordability
Above all, an ideal team building venue must be within the budget allocated for that purpose. The company must be comfortable securing that location.
How We Can Help
SPETIV Consulting is the leading firm that proposes and organises team building activities in Cameroon. Many companies feel tempted to organise their team building activities themselves. However, using an external provider allows companies to tap into tried-and-tested programs designed to foster collaboration, trust, and creativity among team members. As an expert in this field, we deliver high-impact experiences that resonate with employees, resulting in a more cohesive work environment. Feel free to contact us for more information.
