Use Your Event to Build Team Skills with Fun Activities
Are you planning a corporate event in the near future? The thing to remember when you are organizing an event among coworkers is that big corporate gatherings are not just venues for your associates and employees to get together for small talk; they can actually be wonderful opportunities to cultivate interpersonal communication and relationships between your employees. You can plan a wide number of activities at your next corporate event that will help your employees grow their team building skills and yet still maintain a fun and relaxed atmosphere to separate your event from a regular day of work at the office.
Get Started by Breaking the Ice
In order to start encouraging your employees to work as a team, you first need to make sure that they are all comfortable with one another. A simple icebreaking exercise can go a long way in turning your employees from casual work acquaintances into a group of people who are ready and willing to work together to accomplish a common goal. Ice breaking exercises can be as simple as having each individual stand and give some interesting facts about themselves. However, the best way to break the ice to is make more of a game out of the introductions.
One popular game you can play to break the ice is to have each employee write down two facts about themselves along with one lie. When each person reads off the items they have listed, it will then be up to the group to determine which pieces of information are true, and which is the lie. The game provides a way for everyone to learn interesting pieces of information about their coworkers that might not otherwise have ever come to the surface. It is also beneficial from a manager’s point of view, as it might shed some light on some of the skills and talents that your employees have that you previously had not known. Some of those skills and experiences could prove to be very useful in your business.
Plan Some Problem Solving Activities
Once you have broken the ice among your employees, you can start getting to some meatier activities. As a team, it is essential that your workers are able to put their heads together to solve problems that come up in daily business. For this reason, some of the most important activities you can plan at your corporate event are games that will help your employees refine their group problem solving skills.
Many event planners have developed problem solving games that require your team to band together to solve a series of clues. Everyone loves a good mystery and your employees will have a lot of fun searching for clues and decoding them to solve an imaginary crime. The activity harkens back to fun nights spent around a table playing Clue, yet it can still count as a productive day of work.
When thinking of problem solving activities, you should also consider drawing inspiration from your old science classes. For example, a popular activity for students and workers alike is The Great Egg Drop. The goal of this game is to have separate groups work together to build a contraption that will cushion an egg from breaking when dropped from a distance of eight feet. Whichever team succeeds in getting their egg to the ground unscathed wins.
When you are planning a corporate event, you should make sure that you provide an atmosphere that is beneficial to your work environment, yet still fun for your employees. Taking advantage of the time given at the event to plan activities and games that will help your employees grow together is an excellent way to use your event to its fullest potential. Your employees will have an enjoyable experience, and you will see the positive results when it comes time to roll up your sleeves and get back to work.