Project management seems relatively straightforward on the surface. How hard could it be, right? You simply create a list of goals and objectives, allocate the work to your team, and stay on top of everyone to make sure they’re meeting expectations. Well, while those obvious steps are certainly the three main facets to focus on, there are many other things you can do to get better results in every project.
Team building is an often overlooked yet powerful tool for strengthening in-house relationships between employees. Studies have shown that socially compatible employees tend to be more productive and creative. Plus, with a reinforced team mentality and proper policies and procedures in place, your team will be less likely to run into conflicts or performance shortcomings.
So, what exactly is team building and how can it help your business? Essentially, team building is a term used to describe a wide range of corporate events in which co-workers get together and engage in group activities with the intention of improving team dynamics in the workplace. With that said, here are three ways team building activities can simplify the process of managing a project:
1. Getting Everyone Acquainted
You might think that people don’t need to know each other to get along at work but helping team members become familiar with each other’s personalities and skill sets will help any time you’re going to be working with a group on an important project or for an extended period of time.
Team Tactics is a leading provider of corporate hospitality services in the UK. They can help you arrange team building events and activities that will elevate your ability to personally manage projects and assign ideal project managers within your organisation.
2. Selecting Compatible Team Members
The familiarisation of teammates not only helps to eliminate social awkwardness and anti-social behaviour in the workplace; it also gives you the opportunity to observe interactions and choose your leaders and managers. Likewise, if you’re in the process of assembling a department for allocation of segmented project duties in the long-term, you can use a team building event to section off your employees into compatible groups.
In addition, you can observe attitudes and personalities at the event to recognise employees who might have the propensity to play dirty or act nefariously. Unfortunately, there’s a percentage of the working population that will resort to shady tactics to sabotage, belittle, or one-up their co-workers. By spotting these potentially problematic team members in the beginning, you can be prepared to keep an eye out for such productivity-hurting behaviour during the course of managing the upcoming project.
3. Boosting Morale to Encourage Enthusiastic Efforts
Finally, the third and perhaps most beneficial way that team building gives you an advantage as a project manager is by breaking the ice and making everyone comfortable with each other. That might seem insignificant, but studies have shown that co-workers who get along well are more likely to show up to work with an enthusiastic and positive attitude.
Additionally, incentivizing with gift cards can further motivate the team to actively participate in team-building activities, fostering stronger connections and camaraderie among colleagues.
It’s kind of like sports – when you have a group of players who have good chemistry, their ability to make plays and win games is improved dramatically. By boosting morale with a well-planned ice-breaking event, you can ensure your team is showing up ready to tackle the toughest obstacles.
Teamwork is More Important Than You Think
The primary difference between small businesses and large corporations is that the latter will always make an effort to hold comprehensive board meetings, conferences, brainstorming sessions, and other team-based events, whereas most small businesses are just a collection of individuals working separately.
