Team building is a term that is used collectively to refer to variety of activities which are used to enhance social relations. The entire team has defined roles and it often involves collaborative tasks. It is such a process where a group of individuals is turned into a cohesive form where everyone is playing their specific role.
Why it is important?
Team building plays an important part in any organization as it helps build trust and mitigates conflict. Similarly, team building leads to effective communication and collaboration. Now when we talk about an effective team, it usually refers to more engaged employees and that is quite good for the company culture thereby boosting the bottom line.
Did you know?
- There are around 64% of the companies who believe that virtual team setup can/will become an important and permanent part of the business operations.
- Now-a-days, 25% of the global workforce is entirely relying on virtual team building solutions.
- Singapore, USA, Australia, Canada, and South Africa are the top 5 countries to be leading virtual team-building strategies.
- Video conferencing is used by 76% of the workforce for their remote working tools.
- 47% of such users who were using the virtual technology for work claimed to have saved on their travel costs. You might be interested in best team building training courses.
Best Group Activities for Team Building
Below you can find details of some of the best group activities for team building.
Battle of the Airbands:
In this type of activity the entire group is split into teams of 3 to 4 people. Then it is their choice to decide what they want. One will become a singer, other can be the drummer, guitarist and so on. Now they would require some time to practice and then they will be asked to perform a lip synced version of the selected song. If you give the team a few days to prepare for this performance then they can also dress up or bring props. Once the performance is over, everyone will vote on the winner. You can also invite the neighboring department to increase the audience.
Back-to-back Drawing:
In this activity, you have to split your group into different pairs and then ask each pair to sit back to back. Now one person will get a picture of any shape or might get a simple image as well and the other one gets a pen and paper. Now one person who has the picture will give verbal instructions to their partner. And the partner has to listen to the instructions carefully and complete the image. Once the time is over, the partners are going to compare the drawn images and see which team has done better.
Office Trivia:
If you are looking for a quick yet effective and fun team building activity then office trivia is it. All you have to do is come up with a series of questions relevant to your workplace and then test your team’s knowledge. The questions can be like the following;
- What is the color of the kitchen tiles?
- IT department has how many people?
- Can you tell the number of windows in the entire office?
- What is the brand of the computer monitors?
- Which month has the most birthdays of our employees?
Questions like these would be fun to answer and will show how observant the team is. Also check out the Best Team Building Activities at takethiscourse platform.
Strength Finder Activities for Teams:
Below you can find some of the activities that can help them identify their strength as a team.
The Paper Towel Activity:
This is a team effort where everyone has to play their part. In this activity, the team has to use paper towel to build the tallest freestanding tower. They can only use masking tape along with paper towel. This activity is quite easy yet helpful to see strengths. And during this activity, you can observe how the team is interacting with one another.
The Marshmallow Challenge:
In this challenge, group members are required to build the tallest and freestanding structure and that too out of spaghetti, string, and tape. It is different from the above game as it has more supplies in it. Lastly, the team has to place a marshmallow on top.
How to Develop Team Building Skills?
Team building skills can be developed through;
- Motivation
- Delegation
- Time Management
- Effective Communication
- Problem Solving
- Showing Empathy
And many more.
How to Effectively Connect with Virtual Teams?
There are many ways for virtual teams to connect with one another and we have mentioned few of them below;
- By setting up regular check-ins and attending weekly virtual meeting.
- Using the right tools.
- Doing effort to build trust among your team.
- Setting achievable goals.
- Making your virtual team feel supported.
- Giving them regular feedback.
- Taking care of their well-being.
- Never leaving any doubts.
- Catering to all the concerns of the team members.
- Communicating the results of success with your team.
- Update them with all the progress regularly.
- Giving them a proper schedule to work on.
These types of ways have been found out to be very helpful in communicating with virtual teams. By following even half of these ways, your communication with virtual team can be improved.
Final Thoughts
So this was everything we had to share about what team building is and what can be done to lead a team effectively. We believe this article would be of great help to those interested.
