Ido Rabiner is co-founder and CEO of Strayboots, the leading provider of mobile team-building scavenger hunts that help companies and individuals explore and connect to the world around them. A longtime entrepreneur and startup industry veteran, Ido brings his vast experience in marketing, technology, operations and management to shepherding the growth and development of products he believes in. Ido is passionate about everything mobile, web, and delivering powerful user experiences that excite and engage customers.
In recent decades, the theory surrounding organizational management has evolved from the idea of competitive workplaces to the concept of a cooperative working environment. As a result, organizations, especially smaller organizations, have come to recognize the importance of team building among employees. Indeed, team building activities designed for the workplace can go a long way in fostering cooperation, trust and camaraderie – whether in the context of a mere 5 minute game or a weekend retreat.
In our experience, these are the four key benefits of effective team building for companies focused on the bottom-line:
Increased Productivity
One of the biggest – and most obvious – reasons to offer team building activities is to improve the way people work together. People working as a team often quickly come to realize how much more efficient they are when working closely with other team members towards shared goals. They see how much time can be saved and how many errors avoided when working together. Corporate team building activities are not just means to building better cross-team or department relationships within a company; it’s a way to significantly enhance productivity, and identify better processes for driving productivity in the long term.
Increased Motivation
Team building games such as scavenger hunts, can improve employees’ motivation in more than one way. Successfully checking items off the list on the scavenger hunt, can give employees’ confidence a big boost – alongside the added motivation to work even harder back at the office. A company’s commitment towards team building sends the message that it cares about its employees enough to invest in their ongoing success. It also lets employees know their hard work and dedication doesn’t go unnoticed by management.
Better Problem-Solving
Most team building activities include problem solving. This offers companies a great opportunity to introduce problems that require teamwork. Team building games that involve problem-solving give employees the chance to practice skills they can apply to the business itself, from actually identifying problems to working cooperatively to solve them. It is also a useful way to help employees determine their team members’ core strengths and how they can best be utilized to support and promote company goals.
Enhanced Creativity
Last but not least on the benefits shortlist is creativity. Removing employees from their usual and oftentimes, stressful work environments for a team building activity can be a welcome opportunity to approach tasks differently. Such activities, by definition, require employees to think “out of the box” to get the job done. Once outside of their day-to-day employees may feel less inhibited about trusting their instincts, trying something completely new or flexing their creative muscle. As such, employees may learn that achieving results by thinking creatively is not only a valued skill but also one that may earn them the admiration of their peers.
These four benefits highlight well how effective team building can serve the ultimately benefit of increasing company performance. When employees enjoy and learn how best to work together, their sense of engagement at work improves too. In the end – everyone benefits.
If you are looking for creative ways to make the most of your next team building activity, find out how Strayboots can help. Our team building games have helped hundreds of companies, increase loyalty and engage their employees towards company goals while having fun.
