Have you ever been to an ineffective team building event? The kind where nobody is getting involved and everyone is staring at their watches hoping for the end of the day? It’s pretty excruciating isn’t it?

And yet, team building events can also be an effective tool for improving relationships between staff and helping people work together more efficiently. So, how do you organize a team building event that will actually build your team and not bore them to tears?

Include a learning element

If you arrange a team building event that is structured around learning something new, your team will immediately see the value in it, and they will be more engaged from the start. This is particularly true if you give your team input into choosing what they want to learn.

Ideally, it should be a skill that is unrelated to your daily work so that your team can focus on having fun. Some of the activities on offer from veteran entertainment bookers Alive Network are as diverse as circus skills, survival techniques, drawing caricatures and playing the ukulele. So, the activity you choose really can be anything! To learn more about the activities offered through Alive Network, click here.

Learning as a team is not only fun and fulfilling, but it fosters a culture of cooperation and builds a sense of camaraderie which will remain long after the day is over. Spending a day learning something unrelated to work requires the same sense of humility and empathy which is needed to effectively learn and grow in the workplace, and these skills are more easily fostered in the safety of a class where everyone is a beginner. Once your team has learned together in this way, they will be able to bring this ability to learn together back into the workplace.

Allow space for creativity

Choose an activity that allows your team to be collaboratively creative. There is a vulnerability inherent in the creative process which will forge strong bonds, and it will also allow a demonstration of individuality so that teammates can get to know each other better. Creative collaboration is another skill that can be more easily learned in a relaxed environment and will then naturally translate back into the workplace and improve output.

Collaborative problem solving

Problem solving events such as escape rooms and murder mysteries are incredibly popular for a reason. Problem solving activities engage us fully, particularly if there is a ticking clock element involved. The experience of solving a problem together is intensely satisfying and helps people to bond even if they don’t personally have that much in common. And, of course, problem solving is another transferable skill that is invaluable in the workplace.

Keep people moving

If you want to keep your team engaged with the activity you have planned for them, be sure to keep them moving around. Regular movement has been shown to increase cognitive function, so even if you have planned a relatively sedentary activity, be sure to incorporate regular movement as well so that your team gets the most out of it.