Why good team building is a crucial investment
Despite its reputation for being a bit lame and quite repetitive, team building is a really important investment for businesses to make. Effective team building means more engaged employees, which in turn make the company more productive and more efficient.
To some business owners, team building can seem like a waste of money or can take second place to more corporate training. There are plenty of reasons to invest in team building within your company.
1. It builds trust
There can often be a lack of trust amongst employees, particularly in larger workplaces. This is often for no particular reason, but the simple fact is that trust needs to be earned.
People will trust those that they get on with, that they connect with on a more personal level and who they have had a chance to get to know. Team building can help to encourage employees to trust each other as they will be interacting with each other in new ways and will begin to build up a rapport.
Trust in turn helps employees to share ideas with each other, which can help to boost productivity.
2. It improves communication
Employees will often feel comfortable communicating with those closest to them at work or with their direct supervisors, but are it’s unlikely they’ll feel comfortable communicating with staff in a different department or those who work on the other side of their office. Team building brings the whole workforce together and lets different employees from different areas have time to get to know those they might not talk to so often. This will make them feel more confident in approaching different team members when you are back in the office.
This can help different departments to communicate better and make everything more efficient.
3. Encourages teamwork
Everyone knows what teamwork is in theory, but it isn’t always put in to practice. Sometimes, a simple team building event can show employees how important it is to work as a team and what this actually involves in different scenarios.
Some people are naturally better at teamwork, whereas others find it more challenging, so team building exercises can really help to show certain team members what teamwork should look like.
4. Reveals hidden skills
When we relax, we often show a different side to ourselves and start to let our guard down a bit. Whilst some may worry that this could be a negative, it can actually reveal new things about a person in some cases.
Managers and fellow employees can find out more about the people they work with, what they like or dislike and what their passions are. Plus, they may even notice attributes or skills which that person had previously kept hidden at work which could actually be used to benefit the team.
Overall, team building is extremely beneficial for businesses of all sizes. It can really help boost morale and make a workplace more efficient, so it’s time it started getting a better rep!
