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Team Building Tips Every Small Business Can Use

Here are four creative ideas for simple and hassle-free team building activities to improve your company's workplace.


Developing strong camaraderie amongst your team not only leads to improved employee moral, it also can lead to increased productivity. Simple team building techniques can help forge the bond you need for your company to excel. Here are four creative ideas for simple and hassle-free team activities to improve your company’s workplace.

 

  1. Mix it Up at Lunchtime

    First, order lunch for your staff. It can be anything from pizza to hoagies or Mexican takeout. Before setting up the buffet, number the bottom of the plates you’re using so employees are divided into five groups. Then, once they’ve received their food, ask that they sit with team members that have corresponding numbers. This can encourage employees to get out of their comfort zones and bond with team members they may not otherwise interact with on a daily basis.

  2. Play Two Truths and a Lie

    This party game can also serve as a fun team building exercise for your employees. The premise is simple. Call everyone together for an impromptu town hall and have every employee write down three facts about themselves: two that are true, and one that’s false. Next it’s up to the other employees to guess which of the unusual statements is the one that’s a lie. As your employees get to know their coworkers better, they are more likely to communicate with one another.

  3. Engage in Round Robin Storytelling

    Have your employees sit in a circle, and begin a story with a creative leading sentence. For example, you could say something like “Last night, I was in my robe and slippers when I heard a knock at the door.” Then each team member has to add one sentence to the story, until you’ve gone all the way around the circle. For even more impact, you can limit the story to a topic that’s relevant to your line of work.

  4. Start a Take an Employee to Work Day

    This team building activity works best in a larger small business with many different departments, when you are trying to build a rapport among disparate elements of the business. Assign each team member a guest employee from a different department for the day. Through shadowing a team member with a very different job, your staff can learn more about what makes the organization tick and what successes and challenges other departments face each day.

While engaging team members in these types of bonding exercises can be challenging at first, once the process gets rolling you’ll find that your staff truly opens up to one another and has a good time getting to know employees they may not have much contact with in the past. And stronger bonds makes for a stronger, more productive workforce.

 

Tricia Borren is a mom and a blogger from California. She’s also a big believer in team activities in the workplace for employees to help companies improve their effectiveness.

 

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