Our recent survey of Northern Ireland’s workforce found that 62% will consider looking for a new job in 2017, with general workplace happiness relatively low at 5.8 out of 10. The survey found that better pay, more training, better communication and better holidays are the four most important elements that would make the local workforce happier. The survey also found that 21% of NI workers would be happier in their job with more teambuilding days out.
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With one fifth of the workforce claiming they would be happier in their job with teambuilding events, how can you go about organising a great teambuilding day that will benefit your company, and more importantly your staff.
What are the benefits to teambuilding days?
Teambuilding can take place in many formats, from outdoor activity sessions or corporate nights out, to more structured task-led events and even social outings. The one thing that teambuilding will do for your staff is take them out of their usual working environment and put them into new surroundings with people they may never get to spend a great deal of time with on a daily basis.
Teambuilding is known to improve communication within your team and help your staff develop other core skills such as leadership and management through the tasks they perform during the teambuilding day. Teambuilding can also rejuvenate your team, helping to build relationships in the process. For the individuals involved, teambuilding can also improve creativity, and increase motivation and collaboration.
So, how do you go about organising the perfect teambuilding day for your staff? Below we share 10 tips to organising your teambuilding day.
10 Steps to organising a teambuilding day:
1. Define a goal for the day
A teambuilding day needs to have a purpose. It shouldn’t be a glorified boozing session, but needs to be something that can add real value to both the participants and the organisation. So, if you want to improve communication within the team, or simply use it to reward everyone for the hard work they’ve been putting in, ensure your teambuilding event has a goal and purpose to it.
This goal might even feed into your strategic objectives for the business. Ensure everyone attending on the day understands why the company has organised the teambuilding, and what they will get from it.
2. Organise roles and responsibilities
Teambuilding events can require a lot of organisation, so assigning roles within your organisation to help the day run much smoother will be crucial. It’s also important that your team are aware of their role and responsibilities in their job, and how the teambuilding day will benefit this.
3. Decide on activities
In Northern Ireland, there are many options across the country when it comes to deciding what to do for your teambuilding day. With several companies specialising in organising teambuilding events, and managing corporate teambuilding days, it may be worth looking at experts in helping to organise your day. Try to have a range of options which you can suggest to your team and encourage feedback before deciding on what activity / activities to do on the day. This will also make your staff feel involved from the beginning.
4. Develop a plan
Once you have decided on the activity for your teambuilding day, and have defined the purpose of the day and the roles and responsibilities, it’s important develop a plan to ensure the day runs smoothly. Have a clear plan and breakdown of the day’s activities, and ensure everyone attending the event is aware of the key stages within the plan.
5. Communicate with your team
Communication is vital in ensuring your teambuilding day goes well. It’s clear that communication in general is something that the Northern Ireland workforce want more of in their jobs, with 26% stating they would be happier in their role with better communication. Whether it’s an internal meeting, an email, or a printed memo on your noticeboard, communicating purpose of the teambuilding event, and the information around dates, times and location is an important step in ensuring everything goes well.
6. Encourage everyone to get involved
Teambuilding events can often bring people out of their work silos, and comfort zones.
To really get the most from your day, be sure to involve everyone, and encourage as many people as possible to attend. This will really help in building comradery among your team, and ensures no one is being left out.
7. Allow plenty of time for events
Most teambuilding days will have a range of activities or events, so be sure to allocate an appropriate amount of time for these to run. Not allocating sufficient time for your events will only leave the day feeling rushed, and could leave your team feeling as if they haven’t taken anything of value from the day. Don’t try to cram everything into one day, be realistic in what you can and can’t do, and ensure you have plenty of time to do all your activities.
8. Keep some time to socialise
Teambuilding days are all about socialising. By their nature, they take people from the familiar surroundings of their workspace to a more relaxed social setting. This can often spark up conversation between different groups of people, allowing your workers to chat to staff they otherwise don’t get chatting to every day. Continue this social element by having some options for food and drink for your team after your teambuilding day.
9. Ask for feedback
When you return to the office after your teambuilding day, be sure to ask for feedback from your staff. Provide a form for those who attended, and ask them to share their thoughts on the day; what worked well, what could have gone better, and what did they learn that can be taken into their job. This feedback phase also helps in keeping your staff involved, ensuring regular communication at all key points of your teambuilding.
10. Keep it regular
Finally, don’t just make your teambuilding event a one-off. Try to do it at least once or twice a year, changing what you do in the process. This will give your team something to look forward to, and as our survey uncovered, it will also make them happier in their job.
A happy workforce is a more productive workforce, so teambuilding events not only improve team morale and communication, it will also benefit the productivity of your organisation.
What are your favourite teambuilding activities to do in Northern Ireland?
Did you go on a teambuilding outing with colleagues in 2016? Share your favourite NI teambuilding locations in the comments section below, or over on our Facebook page.
Is a lack of teambuilding events making you consider changing jobs? Check out the latest roles in your sector below and plan your new career today with NI JobFinder.