How to Ensure Lockdown Doesn’t Affect Team Building

Home-based working is a trend that is on the increase, especially in the current climate. According to data sourced by the Office for National Statistics, more than one-third of the UK population worked from home in 2020. This showed an increase of 9.4 per cent compared to the previous year.

With more staff members working remotely, there can be a danger that team building could suffer as a result. This danger arises because it can be more difficult for people to spend time together, participate in bonding activities and really get to know each other when they are not regularly in the workplace. Therefore, as a business, it is essential to take measures to promote strong team building.

Team building can:

• Encourage the formation of bonds between managers and colleagues
• Maximise a company’s overall productivity
• Promote positive employee wellbeing
• Inspire individual and team creativity
• Ensure that employees remain motivated and drive their ambitions and goals

Ensure you maintain regular contact with all team members

Remote working can make it easy to become lackadaisical when it comes to checking in with your team and this can be true for both managers and other staff members. Therefore, it is important to schedule daily or weekly slots to meet with your team, both in one-to-one sessions and group meetings. Setting aside this time to bond with your team means that it will not get put on the back burner when other priorities come to the fore, as so often happens in a fast-based business world.

Outdoor Activities

Outdoor team building games are an excellent way to foster camaraderie, communication, and collaboration among team members. These activities often take place in natural settings such as parks, forests, or open fields, providing a refreshing change of environment from the typical office setting. From trust falls to scavenger hunts, these games encourage participants to work together, problem-solve, and think creatively to achieve common goals. Moreover, they offer opportunities for individuals to showcase leadership skills, build trust among team members, and develop a sense of unity and cohesion. By engaging in outdoor team building games, teams not only strengthen their bonds but also enhance their productivity and effectiveness in the workplace.

Implement a buddy system

An excellent way of facilitating the formation of a strong, bonded team is to assign buddies to your staff members. A rotating buddy system can be even more effective because this will prevent individual staff members from becoming overly reliant on a specific individual. Regularly switching up each worker’s buddy will promote wider bonds being formed and will facilitate the overall creation of a strong, productive and happy team.

Online team building activities

Working together on various activities, including in a remote setting, can encourage team members to bond with each other. Online quizzes, karaoke’s or cook-a-longs often lead to general banter which is an excellent way of people getting to know each other and starting to build friendships that can translate into more productive work.

Friendships with co-workers can make team members more productive, so encouraging the formation of these friendships is conducive to optimised productivity of the company. Virtual team building activities are a specially designed and targeted way to encourage the long-lasting formation of bonds between co-workers, maximising their wellbeing and optimising their potential for the business.

To find out more about online team building activities, please visit us at Team Tactics.