Many companies have team building days for lots of reasons but mostly because they know that great teamwork is a key factor in assuring their success. All managers and business owners owe it to themselves to find ways to boost morale, inspire and motivate, improve communication and generally get to know each other in an environment that promotes wellbeing and allows for fun and open communication.
A team building day is a great way to improve the effectiveness of how your employees work together. It’s also an opportunity to increase your employee’s understanding of team dynamics such as the group accountability which arises out of working collectively towards common goals.
It’s all in the planning
Creating an enthusiastic and productive team takes time and planning. A well thought out team building day can make all the difference to the way co-workers respond to each other and to management moving forward.
If you decide to involve your staff in the planning, remember that the day needs to involve everyone and if your workplace is similar to others then you will have to take into account the likely diversity of your individual team members.
Let’s get physical – really?
You want the day to be a memorable and enjoyable experience for all, so hyper-activities such as paintball and go-cart racing might be better left for a ‘team recreation’ day.
That’s not to say that all physical activities are out, but go for something that everyone can participate in – the good old tug-of-war is one that comes to mind; a sack race or egg-and-spoon race are another two. We all have different capabilities so you would be better off finding a venue that caters to a variety of needs.
Whatever you decide on, it’s important that everyone can get in and have a go. It’s all about having fun and working in cooperation with each other.
Activities need to be a balanced mix of physical and passive exercises geared towards your goals and what you want your team building day to achieve. Your team building activities need to be about the team and they need to be fun. Long, drawn out PowerPoint presentations are not fun so unless they are about the ‘How To’ of an activity to some humorous anecdote that will inspire your staff, keep them to a minimum, or try not to use them at all.
Free time belongs to the people
We feel the need to point this out as we have had this happen on occasion and believe us when we tell you – it doesn’t work! Make you team building day a work day. Weekends or straight after work are not conducive to great team building. Be generous and this generosity will be repaid over and over again with increased morale and productivity which, after all, is why you are having a team-building day in the first place.
Choose the right venue
Markovina Vineyard Estate has everything you need for your team building day.
When you hire our venue for your team building day you will have the freedom to make use of our extensive gardens and entertaining areas.
You can also arrange team building activities or simply relax between sessions and enjoy the sunlight and wide open spaces.
