Due to market uncertainty and negative economic context, several companies canceled their team building events in 2023. Many of them later realized that they needed to hold such an event though, that the company and their colleagues needed to have activities, to relax and develop relationships. It was the reason why we shall make up for these events in spring and fall. In the course of talking to them, we asked ourselves why we, and they, think corporate team building is important in 2024.
Conversations like these inspired the writing of our article.
So, why is corporate team building important for a company today?
Your company is made up of employees.
Your employees are constantly interacting with each other, with your product, with your partners, with other players in the market. The relationships and interactions that take place here have a huge impact on the success of your company, the results you achieve and your future prospects.
To make your company the most successful, and to maintain your leadership position in your market, you need to recognise that the key is to motivate, integrate and train your colleagues.
At an individual level, they may not perform well if they create constant internal tensions or fail to work together, or create a toxic workplace climate in which even your most loyal and valuable colleagues cannot survive. Not to mention that these internal problems often spill over to partners, subcontractors, family members, friends, prospective new colleagues, which also has a negative impact on your company’s image.
We understand that it takes a lot of energy, time and money to build a strong team and to maintain the positive and supportive environment needed to do this. Corporate team building can be used as a tool to do just that. The event focuses on the human side of your employees, their relationships with each other and any problems they may encounter.
All you have to do is be open and really listen. Spend as much time as you can with your colleagues, talk to them, ask them questions and listen carefully to their responses, to the stories and life situations they share with you. You might even want to take notes on what was said so that you can remember the information in the weeks after the team-building session. Good leaders are aware of their colleagues’ situations, are interested in them, and are keen to know what’s going on. This makes them feel that they are important to you, that you care about them, and that they are not just important as long as they are doing their job. Also ask the members of your management to do the same.
Unfortunately, the quite opposite was often the case in team-building events. Managers pay the bills, let the employees participate and they believe they have done their part. From then on, it is the responsibility of the event management company to ensure that the team building programme remains a rewarding experience for colleagues. The managers are completely isolated: they do not participate in the activities, and when they do, they only talk to their colleagues within immediate reach of pay grade; they are not open, they are not at all curious about their own colleagues. There is such a distance between them that you can immediately discern from the outside perspective what are the main bottlenecks within the company.
Team building is also used to improve the relationship and connection between colleagues, but one very important area is left out, consequently that cathartic feeling of how amazing the experience was and together is missing.
And one more hint: if you’re organising a corporate team building event, choose from professional event management companies so that your HR or marketing team can relax too.
Author: Kinga
