As a business owner, you ultimately must ensure that new recruits mesh well with your established team. Unfamiliarity can breed problems and inefficiencies, and it hampers proper communication. One way to bring new employees into the fold is through team building exercises. These activities help foster interdependence and trust among your employees. New employees learn to work with each other and with old-timers for the good of the team. In the end, the time and money spent on team building should be repaid many times over. What follows are several team building ideas that can strengthen your business.
Charity Run
In a charity run, sponsors donate money based on how many miles are covered by walking, running, or biking. This idea has several strong points. First, it helps a worthy cause, such as medical research or victim support. Secondly, it gets employees out of the office and helps establish interpersonal relationships. Thirdly, it’s a fantastic marketing tool that will raise your social profile. Finally, it helps promote fitness and reduce stress for your staff. Consider creating T-shirts for your staff to wear during the run and see if you can involve other organizations as well. Usual course length is a few miles or kilometers, but any length will do.
Christmas Tree Decorating
Malls, hotels, and other venues often host displays of Christmas trees during the holiday season. You might participate by having a decorating contest for teams of employees, with the winning selection submitted to the sponsor for display. Each team could be given a tree, a budget, and a few hours to acquire and apply decorations. Perhaps you’ll emphasize a theme, such as environment responsibility by allowing only recycled materials for decorations. Reward the winning team with some prize, such as free pizza. Even though there is only one winning team, everyone wins by participating in a competitive and enjoyable activity.
Scavenger Hunt
Teams of employees compete with each other to be the first to collect a list of items. A newer twist is to have each team also perform some tasks as well. A proper scavenger hunt requires a decent amount of preparation, but employees seem to love them, especially when you hand out prizes in the end. You can conduct the hunt at your office, but its more fun to pick an outdoor venue, such as a local campground. With proper preparation, this can be a hugely successful team-building activity.
Karaoke Night
Employees who would never individually go up and sing at a karaoke bar might be willing to sing in a group. You can set up teams of participants and make arrangements with your local karaoke bar to sponsor a contest. Winners should receive a fun gift, and all participants should be acknowledged.
Paintball
What better way for your staff to work off their aggressiveness than with a paintball contest. Your town probably has a nearby paintball course you can hire for the day. Organize teams of employees to compete for prizes and recognition. Paintball rewards strategic thinking, bravery, and common sense — all traits you should cultivate among your staff.
Conclusion
Team-building is well worth the expenses involved in promoting it. You can set up activities that range from modest to challenging, with negligible to substantial budgets. If you plan something elaborate that you’d like to finance with a loan, contact us at IOU Financial for a quick business loan that’s easy to repay.
