Nowadays, when organizing a team building activity, you can no longer easily get away with an afternoon of karting or a barbecue on Friday afternoon. By teambuilding a goal is expected, a unique experience that will be talked about for months and preferably as unique as possible. But how do you even organize a team building activity? Which activity is absurdly original and will become the hot topic at the coffee maker for months? This blog provides a short step-by-step plan on how to best approach a team building activity and then some inspiration for organizing one of the most original team building activities.
Step-by-step plan
No matter how original the idea for a team building activity is, with poor preparation an activity can still end in failure. Below is a short step-by-step plan to prevent this.
1. A purpose
Why are you organizing a team-building activity? What do you want to achieve? What are areas for improvement within the organization? By setting goals, you make a team-building activity measurable, and moreover, you can search purposefully for an (original) activity. Examples of goals:
Collaboration
The most common goal for team building, which focuses on specific behavioral characteristics.
Trust
In some organizations mutual distrust is greater than in others, especially in the event of a reorganization or merger, new faces can quickly cause conflict. A team building activity is a start to rebuilding this trust.
Communication
Clear and effective communication is essential for the functioning of an organization. But is this being done correctly, and what is the state of the distance between management and staff?
Vision
Every management must be able to explain how staff are part of the bigger picture. With a team building activity, staff can be involved in this vision in an accessible way.
Promote shared values
A team building activity with a social character to draw attention to the shared values ​​of the organization.
2. The activity
How much budget is available? Which date is efficient? How many people are involved? Make an inventory with the staff before making a decision about the activity.
3. The follow-up
After the activity it is time to evaluate whether the desired goal has been achieved. Make the preset goals measurable by, for example, sending out a short survey. This way you immediately know how you can make the team building activity a resounding success again next year.
Original ideas for team building
Sheep herding workshop
Want to collaborate and communicate on a whole new level? Then try sheep herding with your organization . Just mentioning the activity will provide some amusement. But make no mistake, this activity puts leadership skills and perseverance to the test.
Escape room
The Escape Room, a huge hype since last year and now also popular as a team-building activity. In an escape room, as the name suggests, you have to escape from a room within a certain time by solving various puzzles and riddles. The focus of this activity is therefore on teamwork. You can find an overview of all escape rooms in the Netherlands here.
Product pitch
An activity where collaboration is central. The staff is split into teams, with each team having to create its own product or service. For example, consider making your own wine at a vineyard or making a TV commercial starring the staff. Every team ultimately has to pitch its product or service. An activity where the battle will break out.
Flashmob
The trend for flash mobs is now over, but as a team building activity the flash mob is certainly still original. For those who missed the trend, a flash mob is a group of people who suddenly gather in a public place, do something unusual like a dance, and then disappear.
What goals do you set for a team building activity? What are your original ideas for a team building activity?
