If you have decided to have a team building for your group in order to improve their co-operation and effectiveness, then your next step is to start planning. To ensure that your event is successful it is imperative that you plan carefully, and enlist the help of a professional if you feel that this type of event planning is outside of your skill level.
Here are some areas to focus on when planning team building events:
Location
While it is obviously easiest to host your team building event in your office, there are certain advantages of having the activity take place elsewhere. For one, you will find that your employees are more engaged in the activity, as they can't be distracted by e-mails, phone calls, or clients. Being away from work also helps employees relax and may make it easier for them to step outside their normal comfort zone in order to discover new roles.
Message / Lesson
Just having a team building event isn't of much use if you don't have a specific goal to focus on. Leadership, co-operation, synergy, productivity, and team work are all great team building ideas that you can incorporate into your activity. Additionally, if you have any corporate-level messages that you want to reinforce it can also be brought into the event. If you are considering incorporating multiple messages it may be wise to hire professional help to ensure you don't send conflicting messages.
Activity
How you deliver your message is almost as important as the message itself. Luckily there are tons of fun and creative ideas for team building events. Scavenger hunts, amazing race events, sports days, climbing, painting, trivia, building or problem challenges, there is no shortage of great events to choose from - just ensure that it conveys the message you are trying to reinforce.
Timing
If your activity is going to be part of a larger conference, then you will have to consider when the event is going to take place. Usually the start or end of a conference is the best time for team building events, but if you have a multi-day conference you may want to have the activity during the middle or end of a particularly lecture-heavy day, in order to re-energize the group. Some events are also perfect for before or during dinner events, and can add more of a party atmosphere.
It can't be stressed enough how important it is to properly plan team building events - otherwise you may find all your work is for naught. If you need help, get it, as you will get much more value out of the final product - engaged and co-operative employees.
