Teamwork in the Workplace
By Kylee Harrison, Community Vitality Agent
How many of you groan a little when your boss mentions ‘team building activities’? I’m sure many of us could raise our hands. Going outside of your normal work duties, getting closer to co-workers is sometimes not on the top of your to-do lists. In reality, these are extremely important tasks to every workplace for the progression of their business. Teamwork has been proven to boost morale of your company. Happy workers generally mean more productive workers, in return, boosting your bottom line. In this article you will learn a little more of what teamwork actually is and some simple tips to implement into your workforce.
What are some attributes that good teamwork would bring to your company?
- New Ideas
- Improved Efficiency
- Better Quality
- Higher Morale
- Group Cohesion
- More Learning Opportunities
- Sense of Accomplishment
- Faster Innovation
- Less Managerial Interference
- Stronger Working Relationships
This sounds wonderful, right? So how do you get your business to this point? Here are a few adult-focused, simple team building activities.
Code of Conduct
A simple but meaningful activity that sets the tone for an event and builds consensus on shared values. Teams list what matters to them on a whiteboard. Perfect for the start of an event or workshop.
Number of participants: 10-30
Duration: 30+ min
Objectives: Build mutual trust, establish group values.
How to play
- On a whiteboard, write down the words “Meaningful” and “Pleasant”
- Ask everyone in the group to shout out what will make this workshop meaningful and pleasant. Alternatively, ask them to write their ideas on sticky notes.
- Record each participant’s suggestion in the form of a mind map.
- For each suggestion, ensure that all participants have the same understanding of the idea. If not, change the suggestion until it has consensus from all participants.
- Go through each suggested item and ask participants how they would ensure that the idea is carried out during the workshop. Record these on the whiteboard in sticky notes.
- All ideas mutually agreed on as being “pleasant” and “meaningful” make up the Code of Conduct for the group. The group has the responsibility to uphold this code through the remainder of the workshop.
Strategy
For any team building activity to be successful, the team has to have a few common values and beliefs about what makes a successful team meeting. Establishing these values early in the workshop/team meeting can make the rest of the workshop run much smoother.
Odd Couples
On any team, you’ll have people with different personalities. But sometimes, these different personalities actually have things in common. Getting these team members to appreciate their differences and similarities can improve team bonding.
Number of participants: 6-20 people
Duration: 45-60 minutes
Objective: Improve team bonding and communication skills
How to play
- Create a list of odd pairs of objects that, for some reason, go well together. Like “Peanut butter & jelly”, “chocolate & coffee”, “salt & pepper”, etc.
- Write down the names of objects from each pair on separate sheets of paper.
- Tape a sheet of paper to a participant’s back. Do this for all participants. Try to tape opposing pairs on people with opposing personalities, though this is isn’t necessary.
- Ask participants to mingle with the group. Their objective is to figure out what’s written on their backs. The trick is: they can only ask yes/no questions (“Do I add flavor to food? Do I make the food spicy?”).
- Once participants figure out what’s written on their backs, they have to find the other half of their pair.
- After they’ve found their pairs, participants have to find three things they share in common with their opposing pair.
Strategy
In any team building event, one of your biggest challenges is bringing different people together. An exercise like this can give participants a reason to sit down and share experiences with people they might not mingle with otherwise. The focus on yes/no questions also improves communication skills.
