Team building can improve team performance, conflict resolution, and, most importantly, your company culture.
There are many other benefits, too, including a more engaged workforce, better interpersonal relationships, and a more positive work environment.
So, how do you use team building to build a positive and productive company culture? Continue reading to find out.
Table of Contents
- What Is Corporate Culture and Why Is Team Building So Essential?
- 7 Ways Team Building Enhances Corporate Culture
- How To Build a Team Culture at Your Company
- Improve Your Corporate Culture From the Ground Up
- Author bio
What Is Corporate Culture and Why Is Team Building So Essential?
Corporate culture is the behavior and beliefs of your workforce. It’s how your organization and co-workers interact with each other. Culture affects everything from hiring and employee retention to productivity and sales performance.
Team building is essential for building a company culture you can be proud of. It can help build a positive work environment with shared values and high employee morale and engagement.
7 Ways Team Building Enhances Corporate Culture
Team building improves every aspect of your corporate culture, from productivity to employee retention.
Productivity
Employee scheduling apps enhance productivity in the workplace by optimizing shift management, reducing scheduling conflicts, and ensuring optimal staffing levels.
These tools provide real-time updates, allowing employees to stay informed about their schedules and easily make necessary adjustments.
When combined with deliberate team-building activities, the impact is even greater. It can significantly boost productivity by improving employee morale and fostering a sense of unity.
Team-building activities create a supportive and collaborative environment. When paired with efficient scheduling, this helps employees be more engaged and more willing to cooperate and support each other. The combination leads to a more harmonious and productive workplace.
Cooperation
Whether you’re participating in a company escape room, office trivia, or working on a project as a team, cooperation is essential.
When your team works together, they strengthen relationships and build trust with each other. They also learn how to communicate more effectively. That’s what happens when you have a good team!
When you first try team-building activities, cooperation might not come naturally. But, working together with a shared goal helps improve cooperation. It can also simplify decision-making while fostering a culture of collaboration.
Collaboration
Indeed mentions how collaboration at work can improve productivity and reduce turnover rates. It can also improve job satisfaction and, ultimately, help your company thrive.
Other benefits include:
- Resolving conflicts more effectively
- Improving employee engagement
- Developing better communication
- Expanding professional skills
Working on a team-building project allows you to pair co-workers’ strengths and weaknesses for more effective collaboration.
Communication
Communication is fundamental in any team-building exercise and in your day-to-day work.
Working in teams where employees are unfamiliar with the other team members can help build relationships for better communication at work.
When working towards a shared goal, open communication – where anyone can speak freely – is encouraged. This allows for the sharing of ideas and can even improve the quality of work produced.
But what if you have shy or introverted people at work – is team building still possible? Yes!
In fact, it creates opportunities for employees to meet and collaborate with colleagues from other departments, further improving communication.
Furthermore, other benefits of team building for shy individuals include:
- Helps employees feel more comfortable with each other
- Creates a safe space for collaboration
- Helps introduce co-workers
- Builds trust and team skills
- Better teamwork
Engagement
Gallup describes employee engagement as the enthusiasm and involvement of your employees at work. Engaged employees are more likely to be more productive and happy and have better morale. They are also more likely to have higher job satisfaction.
In contrast, a company that has low employee engagement may encounter:
- Increased employee turnover and hiring/training costs
- Increased healthcare costs
- Poor performance metrics
- High absenteeism
Team-building activities can help increase employee engagement, improve morale, and improve job satisfaction. To get started, implement deliberate team-building activities.
Retention
Team-building and a healthy culture can strengthen your organization and decrease employee turnover. A 2020 report by Gallup found that companies with engaged employees saw 18% less turnover in high-turnover organizations and 43% less turnover in low-turnover organizations.
So, while team building can reduce turnover, other factors also contribute to employee retention:
- A healthy team culture
- Growth opportunities
- Work-life balance
- Employee culture
Team building is one piece of the company culture jigsaw. But without the piece, you’ll struggle to achieve effective retention rates.
Development
Team building promotes healthy professional development within your company culture. It helps improve communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills.
Stephanie Conway, Senior Director of Talent Development at LinkedIn, says, “We’ve long known that employees consider career-development opportunities to be one of the top reasons to stay at – or leave – their company.”
Likewise, career development opportunities are equally important for attracting top talent.
For instance, shadowing and internal rotations are a great place to start. These can help keep employees happy, motivated, and more likely to stay with your company.
How To Build a Team Culture at Your Company
Here’s how to build a team culture you can be proud of.
Actively promote team-building
For the best results, actively promote team-building at work. This can include team-building activities such as quizzes, team bingo, and cooking classes. You can also incorporate team-building into your day-to-day work environment.
Below are a few ideas to promote team building at work:
- Celebrate milestones and reward successful teamwork
- Set communication expectations and guidelines
- Lead by example
Outback team-building solutions can help you with your team-building. We provide a mix of virtual and in-person team-building activities to help increase employee engagement.
Examples include Hollywood-themed murder mystery events, escape rooms, family-themed game shows, and more. The image below shows more in-person events.
Demonstrate transparency
At work, transparency is sharing ideas, admitting when you don’t know the answer, and taking responsibility.
Examples of transparency include:
- Set clear goals: Creating and sharing a vision and holding each other accountable to help achieve a mutual goal.
- Open and honest communication: Speaking up when you don’t know the answer and taking ownership of decisions (good and bad).
- Create a judgment-free culture: Sharing ideas in a non-judgemental environment to encourage collaboration and problem-solving.
- Take accountability: Hold yourself and co-workers accountable and manage deadlines using project management.
Provide tools for training and development
Team building can help you identify areas for improvement and development at work.
For example, training and development opportunities may include:
- Shadowing a higher-level employee
- Further training opportunities
- Succession planning
- Coaching
Additionally, team-building exercises can improve communication and collaboration. When done correctly, they are a training and development tool.
These tools can help foster creativity and learning while providing necessary talent development. And as you already know, employees who have development opportunities are more likely to stay at your company.
Normalize rewards and recognition
Normalizing rewards and recognition at work helps foster a positive and motivating environment. Acknowledging and appreciating employees’ efforts can increase motivation, improve performance, and enhance morale.
One effective strategy is to implement a rewards program that includes tangible incentives. For instance, offering high-quality rewards like leather jackets for men and women can make employees feel valued and appreciated. Such recognition boosts their confidence and encourages a culture of excellence.
Improve Your Corporate Culture From the Ground Up
Team building is a valuable tool for improving company culture. Although, you won’t get overnight results. Add team-building activities to your workplace to reap the many benefits.
Key takeaways:
- Company culture is the beliefs and behavior of employees and management
- Introduce deliberate team-building activities for the best results
- Provide professional tools for training and development
- Team building is vital for improving the culture at work
Are you ready to improve team-building at work for a better company culture? Request a quote from Outback Team Building today to get started.
Author bio
Catalina Grigoriev is an incurable optimist with a bubbly personality. That’s what my colleagues say. Secret mission: cat lover disguised as a dog person.
Ex law student who switched into the digital marketing lane. Currently delving into the depths of SEO and content marketing at Planable.
