How to Plan a Team Building Event for a Large Company
No matter the branch your company is in, its success depends mostly on your employees. That’s why it is important to create a team that is unified and works cohesively together for the good of the company.
Besides improving employees’ working skills through various training sessions and courses, every firm should implement team-building events to build a stronger unit. If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas for the events, the team over at SnackNation has come up with a sizable list of team building games for large groups in which workers can engage to boost their productivity, motivation, collaboration, trust, and respect among everyone in the office.
The great thing about team-building is that it can be held either inside or outdoors giving employees a reason to interact with each other in almost every environment. However, you decide to do it, organizing the best team-building event requires taking several important steps.
So, to help you in the process, here is a brief guide on how to plan your next team-building event in your company.
Identify your goals
Although team-building events are sometimes held simply for the fun of it, there should always be a specific reason behind them. In other words, you need to figure out what the objectives of the event are and what you are trying to get out of it.
One way of accomplishing this is to define your team members’ strengths and weaknesses and engage them in activities that will help you achieve the results you are looking for. Understanding what your employees need is important because this is the only way the entire team-building event will be successful.
For example, if your employees need to work on their collaboration and communication skills, you need to choose an activity that will help them improve just those.
Make a sound investment
Team-building events are company-sponsored which means you need to decide on a location and activities that fall within your budget. This is a very important step to consider especially if you are organizing your event outside the office environment.
For example, if the team-building is going to be in the form of a weekend getaway, then you need to think about transportation, venue booking, activity providers, food, and insurance. This will not only help you successfully plan your event, but it will also help you ensure that the goals you have set at the beginning will be fully achieved.
Plus, if you are planning to reward your employees at the end, don’t forget to include such additional expenses as part of your overall budget.
Come up with the right activities
Fortunately, there are plenty of team-building activities you can look for that will align with your goals. From solving a jigsaw puzzle to going on a scavenger hunt, you can choose any exercise you want that will make all team members work together to solve a problem.
For instance, virtual escape rooms from Escapely are an excellent team-building game that can test your employee’s managing resources and how they think under pressure. Escapely offers many unique and fun rooms to escape from while creating a seamless experience for your employees to enjoy.
To make things more interesting, you can have a reward ready for the winning team such as a day off or some gift cards.
Pick the right time and date
When it comes to scheduling your team-building event, it is important that you pick a time and date that works for everyone and doesn’t interfere with their personal lives. In most cases, this mainly depends on the type of event you have chosen for your employees.
For example, if the team-building consists of activities that can be held indoors, then you can schedule the event during working hours when everyone will be at work.
If you are planning to hold a team-building event over the weekend, you must first consult your employees to see which weekend will best work for them.
Keep also in mind the weather conditions, especially if you are planning an outdoor team-building event.
Create an event agenda
After you’ve chosen your venue and activities, it’s time to create your event agenda so your employees will know what they will be doing. This is a very important step especially if you are hosting a team-building event that is going to last a couple of days.
In general, your agenda should include everything that the teams will be doing, from arrival to departure times, as well as the duration of the activities and their main objectives. You can send out the agenda a week or so before the event takes place in order to leave room to make any changes if necessary.
This will also give team members a chance to physically and mentally prepare for the upcoming tasks and do their best.
Praise your employees for their engagement
No matter how you plan the entire team-building event, it is crucial that you acknowledge your employees’ hard work and dedication at the end. Although the activities may mostly be in the spirit of fun, they will still show everyone’s contribution which can be of huge importance to how engaged your employees can be to the company.
You can start by giving out achievement certificates to all team members at the end of the event. This will be a great way of showing them that you value their hard-working skills and that you appreciate them for everything they have done.
As for the winners, you can surprise them with a day off or even some traveling vouchers to keep things interesting.
Final thoughts
Organizing team-building events is an excellent way to create a strong unit of employees. Not only will this help them collaborate with each other better and work towards solving a problem, but they will also be able to improve their communication skills, increase their productivity levels as well their motivation and engagement. That’s why you should choose team-building activities that will help you achieve the desired results.
In order to successfully plan your event, make sure you follow the steps mentioned here and encourage collaboration and exceptional teamwork between your employees.
