The importance of team bonding and company culture

Let’s Taco ‘Bout It – Eastern Staffing & Recruiting’s June 2022 Team Bonding Event 

The Eastern Staffing & Recruiting team recently attended a cooking class as a team building activity that strengthened their relationships, gave them the opportunity to step outside of the work environment, and let down their hair. During the class, the team successfully learned new cooking techniques, made authentic tacos, and enjoyed the delicious meal together!  Luckily, no one cried while chopping the onions! Overall, the team was able to successfully produce a delicious meal, reap the fruits of our labor, and enjoy the meal that we worked so hard for together. The event was a big hit, and we were all able to learn, laugh, and have an enjoyable time together. A cooking class is just one fun way that your company can utilize team bonding to help build a better work culture. 

 

The Importance of Company Culture with Team Bonding 

What is company culture and what does it mean for the health of your company?  

According to author Alison Doyle from the Balancecareers, company culture is defined as “shared values, attributes, and characteristics of an organization.” You can identify a company’s culture by how the team interacts with each other, the values they hold and the decisions they make. A company culture that is lively and strong is a big component in the way an organization is evaluated by its employees and their overall happiness. 

Does your company have a positive culture? 

If you feel your workplace culture is lacking, a fantastic way to create a stronger company culture is through team bonding activities. 

Team bonding is a creative way to help strengthen interpersonal work relationships. Different activities are a fun and engaging way to build a better team chemistry and help aid in a more cohesive environment, ultimately creating a stronger team balance.  

What do team building activities do for your organization? 

Having a fully engaged workforce can deliver twice the employee engagement and production. As stated by a news article published by The Economist, “33% of employees believe fostering a collaborative culture leads to increased loyalty” and according to a research study from Queens University of Charlotte, 75% of employers say, “teamwork and collaboration are crucial to corporate success.” Collectively, it is proven that team bonding activities improve the employee’s overall happiness which leads to growth of the everyday work culture/environment that allows for better teamwork on workplace projects. 

Sources: Quay Appointments, Surf Office , The Team Building Company ,  TeamStage , the balancecareers, Queens University of Charlotte , The Economist 

 

Some Creative Ideas for Team Bonding  

A cooking class is just one of the endless ways to create cohesion and build better working partnerships within the office. Here is some other fun, engaging, and simple activities that have been proven to be successful. 

Memory Wall 

A Memory Wall, just as it sounds, is a wall you devote to displaying memories that show an employee’s creativity, hobbies, trips, activities, etc. This activity creates a welcoming environment but also helps the team re-live their shared memories by building camaraderie. Thus, reaffirming positive relationships between team members. You can also write a few general work-related topics on the whiteboard or on sticky notes posted to the wall such as, My First Day, Teamwork, Work Travel, etc. Gather your team together, have everyone choose one of the topics and share a story from a related time to laugh and bond over shared experiences. Another idea is to pass out sticky notes and have everyone write down positive work memories, or special team accomplishments. They can use words or pictures to record these memories. Then, have everyone share their memory and post it on the wall, forming a positive memory cloud. This shows the team’s non-work interests, gives teammates a chance to post something unique they did, or express something about them that others may not know.  

Survivor 

A game of Office Survivor can improve a team’s critical thinking skills through a scenario of unknowns where each teammate must effectively communicate and cooperate with each other in order to survive. By putting each employee to the test, the game will allow them to express themselves creatively with different personality traits and working knowledge. You can make it interesting by creating an extreme scenario. Have one group work with 12 items from around the office they think would be most useful in their survival, ranking each item in order of importance. Have another group of individuals choose 12 different items.  Then, have both groups come together for a analysis to determine what they would choose as their top five main survival tools. This will not only give them team bonding time, but also enhance their creative thinking and analysis skills. 

Office Trivia  

If you are looking for a quick and easy team-building activity, team trivia is a great choice, and you can even involve remote employees as well! Produce a series of questions specific to your company and test your team’s knowledge. Allow your coworkers to get out of their work zones and display their critical thinking skills, point of view, and expertise. Ask questions like, “How many people are in the IT department?”, “What brand are the computer monitors?”, “What month of the year is most common for birthdays among our employees?” Have the team compare their answers and you can make it fun with company swag for the winner! This is a quick team-building activity that tests how observant your team is and gives employees a chance to have some friendly competition. 

Source: Wrike 

Common Types of Team Bonding Activities You Can Try 

• Sport Outings (Baseball, Hockey, Soccer, Football) 

• Escape Rooms  
• Company Dinners (Pizza and Wings, Taco Night, Burger Mondays) 
• Work Retreats – (Golf Trip, Ski Trip) 
• Happy Hour  
• Charity Events (Relay for Life, Light the Night, 5K Run)  

 

Company Culture Can Be Established Through Team Bonding 

Team bonding and company culture goes hand in hand. We all know that routine can make everyday life feel average and mundane, but team building is a great way to shake things up for your company, team, and culture. Whether you decide to plan a cooking class or get the office to a ball game, team bonding will allow employees to escape the typical routine and give them an opportunity to open-up outside of work, discuss interests, and learn new skills. Team bonding allows everyone to learn a little more about each other, recognize commonalities they may not have known they had, and get a better understanding of how teams can work together. Our blog mentions just a few diverse ways to introduce team bonding to build company culture. There are amazingly simple and effective ways you can go about it and we highly recommend that you give team bonding a try!