Something you don't know about me
This is a very simple and quick technique for busier workplace environments. When your team get together try to create opportunities for colleagues to get to learn about each other in an icebreaker type exercise. It can be as simple as asking everyone around the table to share something personal such as a hobby or interest, perhaps start with yourself first. This exercise provides room for individuals to open up and find commonalities between each other, allowing empathy, trust and respect to grow. As colleagues get to know each other more they'll become more comfortable with one another. Remember the stronger the relationships of your team members, the stronger the team outcomes.
Create a shared team plan
Team conflict may occur because of an individual's unintentional rude and upsetting behaviour. These conflicts can easily be avoided by setting up a meeting and getting everyone to share one rule that would make their team environment more effective and enjoyable. Write these expressions on a whiteboard, examples include positive tone of voice or responding to emails within 24 hours. Whilst this activity might appear negative it requires teams to collaborate and build rapport. Also, through this exercise employees will become more aware of their own behaviour and seek to improve it.
All about action
Nothing is more important than setting clear expectations for your team and working towards a common goal. Gather your team to set clear defined goals as it will help individuals feel connected and part of something bigger than themselves. By answering these questions as one team it will require everyone to work together and hold each other accountable in following the plan.
Lunch and learn
Develop a weekly lunch and learn schedule for your team. At Off Limits Events we often utilise these sessions as opportunities to build relationships with suppliers, venues and agencies. An outside speaker will visit to share experiences, knowledge or interest in the industry and this will encourage interaction and team building. We often incorporate an icebreaker or short team building activity to make these sessions interactive and all employees can get involved.
Are you listening?
Actively listening to what other individuals in your team is one of the most critical skills an employee can master. Unfortunately, due to the ever busy and evolving workplace environment we can struggle to tune into what our colleagues are trying to say. Turn this into a great opportunity to complete a short, fun team building exercise. This can be done by preparing a list of 20 statements using technical jargon, read the list loudly back to your team in a monotone voice. When done, ask individuals to write down the key points of what has been discussed. This is a great listening exercise plus it really helps tune in to what colleagues are saying to avoid any misunderstandings. This technique can be as simple as asking colleagues how they are, getting to know them on a more personal level, listening and remembering.
Do you build daily team building activities into your workplace environment? Do you have any more examples? We'd love to hear from you on Linkedin or Twitter.
