Why Team Building is the Most Important Investment You'll Make

• Team building is a long-term investment for the benefit of your team members and overall company performance.
• High employee morale, a shared sense of identity, fewer interpersonal conflicts, and a strong conducive environment, are one of the many benefits of team building. 
• You can use team building as a platform to let team members grow, learn, and collaborate, all of which they’ll be able to carry over into the workplace.

  
  
  

Team building is more than just a game or outing

Some people - and they could be employees or employers - hold the misconception that team building is an unnecessary expense. While this isn’t a correct assumption, it’s understandable why they might think that way. The importance of team building isn’t always easy to see, but once you start reaping the benefits of team building, it’ll become clear as day. 

Team building activities often don’t have a direct link to the actual work the team does. However, these activities make a huge, lasting impact on the execution of their daily tasks. It might be foggy at the moment but team building can take an employee’s performance to a whole new level. Meaningful, well-thought-out team building is a long-term investment for both the employees and the company at large. Whether your company is a tiny startup or a big multinational business, team building is on your side. 

What your company can gain

Is team building an expense? Certainly. But it’s one that gives the team an avenue to build confidence, improve their skills, and create solid, professional relationships. All of which are necessary for a company’s success. If you want a boost in productivity, you need to start from the bottom up. Take the time and energy to plan these sessions out. Remember, it’s a win-win situation and a long-term investment, it’s not just a once in a blue moon break from the workplace. 

Smooth, clear communication

Sometimes, it can be difficult to speak your mind openly in an office setting, even when these thoughts are already work-related. This is mostly because of the invisible barriers your team feels uncomfortable crossing. Due to unfamiliarity and seniority imposed by differing job roles, they might feel weird about speaking candidly. Even among co-workers who are technically on the same level, there’s still some pressure to censor their own thoughts, at risk of interrupting the work flow or being called out for slacking off.

A big part of team building is allowing more openness by giving team members a chance to get to know each other outside office interactions. When they’re not running on company time, there’s less expectation to keep everything at arms length. Team building is the perfect time to talk about personal interests, hobbies, and ideas you wouldn’t normally bring up while working. It’s a time for employees to not just have fun together, but to understand each other on a deeper level.

Strengthens trust

It’s so much easier to get things done when you trust the people you’re working with. Being able to rely on each other is partly knowing each other’s skills and capabilities. This can be known at first glance by simply taking a look at a person’s resume or CV. However, sometimes that’s not enough. Trust within one another is magnified when those skills are seen in action. There’s a feeling of reassurance when you see your co-worker come through whenever they’re needed. That’s a combination of good work ethic, discipline and competency. 

Team building activities can be used to help employees learn and appreciate each person’s role and their ability to fulfill that role. The “getting to know you” part of team building accomplishes this and gives team members an idea of what to expect and how to approach their fellow workmates. It’s crucial that everybody understands how one person’s actions can affect the dynamic of their office. Building trust within the team gives them reassurance that everyone is doing their best to lift each other up, especially when the tasks for the day are extra tricky and anxiety-inducing. 

Improved morale and engagement

There are many jobs that require a lot of screen time. Team building events can give employees who are frequently sedentary a much needed break from their four walled cubicle and squeaky swivel chair. A quick online search will give you loads of ideas for activities your team can bond over, both indoor and outdoor. 

There’s a great sense of belongingness that you can get from these simple activities, this is especially important for team members who normally work alone. Huddling everyone together under a common goal (other than your company's goals) fosters loyalty and partnership. It’s necessary to build on these by emphasizing that each member’s job is more than a transaction. It doesn’t matter if they’re playing a game or delivering a presentation, always let the employees feel that they have the support and recognition of the whole company. 

Employees will feel valued

Even those who have an overflowing passion for their jobs can easily slip into a monotonous work routine. It’s normal and it doesn’t at all mean that you’re a bad employee or you’re betraying your principles. When work starts to feel like a chore, it’s nice to remind team members that they’re more than just a cog in the machine. Team building is a fantastic way to raise the team’s morale and give them a boost of motivation. This matters because the amount of care a company grants to an employee could become a make-or-break factor within their professional commitment. 

Company outings of all kinds can be great for showing employees appreciation for all the effort they put in. Team building doesn’t always have to be about improving specific skills or attending talks. It can just be a day out filled with chit chat about the latest tv shows everyone is watching. If there was ever a time for the team to just relax and enjoy each other’s company, team building is definitely it. After all, team building can be a learning experience and a heartfelt “Thank you” at the same time.

Greater creativity

Plenty of team building activities encourage creative thinking. Even for activities that aren’t strictly about solving problems in a creative way, simply exposing your team to different points of views can have the same effect. They could be learning from the task at hand, or from each other. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be scary, but it’s the best way to learn and grow.

There’s a nice, comfortable space for disagreement when everyone is shooting for the same end goal. When all team members are on the same page, they can discuss differing ideas with open minds and be respectful of each other’s thoughts. Even when the ideas on the table aren’t perfectly aligned, it allows them to think outside their own perspectives and lessens the likelihood of misunderstanding and conflict from arising. 

A sense of community

The shared identity of a team goes beyond working for the same company. The sense of community that comes from spending time together working and bonding is a big motivational factor. It’s what makes team members want to deliver their utmost best every time and it urges them to stay with the company longer. Our brains have the natural tendency to seek out a “tribe”, because for our earliest ancestors, having other people around meant a significantly higher chance of survival. Though you aren’t necessarily in danger of dying without a team, it does make work feel less tedious and more meaningful.

The community vibe is what makes working together fun. More importantly, though, it fuels the desire to be involved in decision-making, performing, and building up that shared identity. Placing value on your team’s identity makes you want to protect it. Quite often, the best way to do that is by cooperating to raise the standards of each other’s work ethic and keeping that standard high. 

Breaking down barriers between leadership and employees

In a more relaxed environment like a team building session, employees probably won’t be as self-conscious about the company hierarchy. This allows leaders the opportunity to talk to them more casually, even on work-related topics. Subjects that aren’t of high priority on staff meetings or day-to-day interactions can rise here and be discussed openly. 

For example, if there’s something about the workplace that certain employees aren’t happy with, team building sessions could be the venue for them to vent it out. It becomes easier to do in a low-pressure context like team building, not to mention being outside of the formal office setting. If no one volunteers any information, a good manager could start the conversation. In this case, it’s important that they reassure team members that the purpose of the probing is to improve productivity in the future - not to put anyone on the spot or to initiate some kind of heated debate. This could also be a time to talk to team members about their individual career goals, and how their peers or leaders can help them towards these ambitions.

Psychological safety

According to Professor Amy Edmonson of Harvard Business School, psychological safety is “a sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject or punish someone for speaking up.” This means that team members feel comfortable enough with each other to take certain risks like asking questions or making suggestions. Although this might not sound like a big deal, employees can still harbor a fear of being judged for simple things like questions and suggestions.

In a team where members feel little to no psychological safety, they might worry that speaking up will get them in trouble. It should be said that this doesn’t mean that everything team members say must be agreed with or praised. But with psychological safety, team members at least know that if they do ask or say something that other team members don’t like, they won’t be scolded or humiliated. This gives them the signal that it’s okay to make clarifications, suggest creative solutions, and generally speak their mind when they are with their team. Google did research into psychological safety and showed it to be one of the biggest predictors of performance in the workplace.

Encouraging teamwork

From board games to escape rooms to hikes up a mountain, there is a wide range of activities that foster smart, and efficient collaboration among team members. Successful teamwork usually means less conflict, because working as a team lets co-workers better understand each other’s personalities. This familiarity helps prevent miscommunications and misunderstandings - a good thing to have both in the work space and in their personal relationships with the team.

Companies like Dell, Reebok, and Adidas are known for extreme team building activities. The goal is always to have co-workers interact, and more importantly, collaborate, in an unfamiliar environment. If you have the time and budget to do something elaborate, you could set up “quests” for the team to fulfill and have them take an adventure around a park. They can prowl the whole city to look for clues in order to solve a puzzle, or even a series of puzzles if it’s a whole-day affair. You may be surprised by how team members take the chance to shine. After all, everybody has different skills and strengths that they use in their work duties. When everyone’s deep into the team building session, some of those skills might come in handy in unexpected ways.

Team building is about tailoring your company culture

Much more than just a chance to bond and take a break from the grind, team building is an opportunity to define what kind of company you’re leading. When you foster a culture where creativity is encouraged and team members feel comfortable seeking and giving guidance among themselves, that is what they’ll end up doing. The purpose of team building is to provide employees space to grow, learn, and collaborate. Allowing these to key attributes to manifest in team buildings will inadvertently take place in many, many working days to follow.