With different personalities and temperaments to each team member, keeping harmony and balance within a team can be difficult. Strong individual talent doesn’t necessarily equate to a strong and harmonised team, so there’s nothing like a little team bonding that can help strengthen that dynamic. No personality is the exact same, and diversity can play into a team’s favour.
You don’t necessarily have to pull out all the stops out for a successful team building session; sometimes things like water sports, obstacle courses and other big events are both out of budget, and may not provide the productive results you’re looking for.
However, there are loads of things you can do to encourage team bonding that are simple, and instantly achievable. Here are just a few we recommend:
Take the 16 Personalities Quiz
While it doesn’t involve a lot of team work to start with, it will provide you with deep insight into the different personality types within your team. The quiz asks a series of questions, concluding with the result of one of the 16 personality types. The results go into detail about your personality in a whole range of situations, from friendships to working style. Learning about other people’s personalities can help you to understand why they behave a certain way, and how you can adapt your communication style to work best with them. We know some may be skeptical of having their personalities analysed – regardless, it’s a good way to get your team thinking about themselves, and how their personality complements others.
Encourage (semi-regular) team lunches
We know it’s not realistic to organise a team lunch every day, or even every week. But blocking out time 1-2 times a month, where everyone can sit down together, with no laptops in sight, will be certain to bring the team closer together while still being productive. The casual lunch environment allows people to let their hair down, talk outside of work and bring ideas to the table, regarding important projects and more. Bringing the team together, enjoying a delicious lunch and making progress on work projects – we’d say that’s a productive use of time.
Take time out from the day-to-day
Reaching even further out of the normal work routine presents the option of having a team away day, or meeting in a different environment. Although it might seem like a small change, doing this can bring a fresh perspective on ideas and bring people closer together. In terms of building team relationships, stepping outside the office can help people feel more relaxed and help them come out of their shell, allowing them to get involved in more discussions, and speaking up more. Just by holding the occasional off-site meeting, you’ll find new things being brought to light, with stronger bonds created between colleagues.
What can team building activities do for your team relationship?
- Build trust and encourage collaboration
- Discover colleagues’ interests outside of work
- Learn how to adapt communication style with different types of people
- Get tasks completed more efficiently
Overall, setting time aside for team building is an important investment. It is beneficial to you and your team to have a variety of personalities in the mix, as people have different ideas and attitudes. Once you have these different personalities gelling well, and you have learnt the best practices of how you work well together, productivity, wellbeing and collaboration will start to fly.
If you’re thinking about booking a meeting or hiring a space for your next event, Avenue HQ has a wide range of meeting rooms and event spaces perfect for all business sizes and sectors.