Large corporations benefit from the use of team building activities. It gives employees a chance to get to know one another, creates a bond between members of a team and helps to generate cohesiveness among departments.
What about smaller companies? Within a small office, everyone knows each other and work well together. Is there really a benefit to doing team building?
Within a small company, individuals can have a huge impact on the effectiveness and the morale of the other employees. The addition of even just one new employee can severely alter the trajectory of a company. This makes it essential generate a culture that promotes corporate unity and success – no matter how big (or small) the office may be.
In addition, companies with little employee turnover can find themselves in a rut, operating under the assumption that they’ve reached the pinnacle of productivity. Both examples can benefit from strategic team building and may find that they reach new heights of success as a result.
What benefits are there from team building in a small company?
Reduce Conflicts
In a small office, there are few secrets. If there is tension between employees, it can become ‘the elephant in the room’. When this happens, everyone can quickly take sides, creating an environment that derails productivity.
Particularly in an office with several personality types, conflict can escalate quickly and hurt feelings can linger long after an incident occurs. The use of team building can help ease tensions between employees and offers the opportunity to repair any damaged relationships.
Regular team building activities promote team cohesiveness among the employees, helping to form bonds that translate into improved work relationships. This in turn can reduce the number of conflicts that arise, and eliminate productivity loss due to strife in the office.
Improve Communication
Often, communication between employees can be reduced to a bare minimum, due to conflict or tension. On the other hand, employees may spend so much time in non-work related conversation that they fail to be productive. How can you improve both problems in a small company? This can be achieved through the use of team building activities that focus on effective communication. Working together to pool resources and ideas to complete tasks helps demonstrate the necessity of using communication as a tool for success.
Even in a small office, improving communication can dramatically affect the success of a team. Creating opportunities for employees to talk outside of the work environment can allow employees to
see each other as real people – not just as another cog in the wheel or an industry title.
Informal conversations can be prompted by encouraging teams to take breaks together, promoting shared activities, and setting up an environment that makes it easy for team members to collaborate on tasks.
Promote Teamwork
It seems counterintuitive to suggest that small companies need to promote teamwork. However, many employees in small companies become pigeonholed in their roles, causing a
stalemate of productivity. When people are locked into their job role, it limits creative problem solving and can hamper success. Using team building to generate opportunities to step outside their normal roles gives employees a fresh, new perspective on what’s possible.
Even small companies can benefit from team building activities. Look for opportunities to get involved in community projects, taking work-related field trips or simply closing down the office to take everyone to lunch. These simple events can payoff in big ways, and provide long-lasting benefits to both the success of the company and the unity of your team.
Michele Bailey is the Founder of My Big Idea™. The My Big Idea™
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