Whenever you establish a new team, you want to help them work together and improve their experience. Doing so increases employee retention as people enjoy and feel comfortable with the team. It’s also a great way to show your employees that you appreciate them.
However, finding suitable activities can pose challenges if you don’t know what people enjoy. As you think about what to do, go through the suggestions below. Doing so will let them all work together, improve their employee experience, and increase employee retention.
Always Do Icebreakers with New Members
Whenever you establish a new team, you want to get people past the initial awkwardness they may face. Since teams want to develop relationships to get everyone on the same page, you must always start a new group with icebreakers.
Icebreakers work well since everyone can introduce themselves, share interests, and establish work relationships. Not only will it help them get to know each other, but they’ll feel comfortable as they work together.
When the team feels comfortable, they work efficiently and understand how to accomplish their tasks. That way, they have an overall better experience as they tackle their challenges together. If anyone new joins the team, give them a chance to enjoy some icebreakers.
Escape Rooms
Sometimes, people learn how to cooperate when they go into a team setting. Escape rooms work well for this situation since they can coordinate and work towards a specific goal. The team has to solve multiple puzzles throughout the room, so they’ll communicate and interact.
Not only does it help the team work together, but it also lets them have fun. Instead of focusing on an important project, the employees can have fun while they offer advice and help each other. Doing so can also help the quieter members open up and get to know others in the group.
If you do escape rooms together every few months, your employees will look forward to it. Make sure you cover the costs and potentially pay them for their time. Doing so makes it a benefit for them, so they have an incentive to join and stick with the company.
Team-Based Mysteries
If you can’t bring everyone into an escape room, you can try a murder mystery game with your team. Murder mysteries work great since people can talk with each other, go over the details, and try to solve the mystery at hand.
The process will help them work together since they can learn how to solve problems as a team. They can then transfer those communication and problem-solving skills to your team. It also stands out as a fun event, so if you have them regularly, people will look forward to them.
Even if you can’t meet in person, you can find try virtual murder mystery team-building activities. Since some teams have remote members, this approach can help them get involved with the activity. That way, you don’t have to leave anyone out.
Bowling
Sports also work as fun activities you can enjoy with others. While people like to play football, soccer, baseball, and similar sports, physical activities might not work for others. Since you want everyone to have fun, think about inclusive sports you can play with your team.
Bowling sticks out as an excellent option for a team-building activity. People have fun, allowing everyone to take turns, so each team member gets a turn in the spotlight. As a bonus, some bowling alleys include arcades, pool tables, and air hockey.
The activity will let your team encourage and cheer for each other. Even if people aren’t good at bowling, they can improve and receive encouragement from others.
Fun and Simple Games
While you’ll want to do fun activities with your team members, you can also think about fun and simple games. Some small businesses don’t have the budget for different activities. If you pick out simple games, your employees can have fun without spending money.
For example, you can play two truths and a lie to learn exciting facts about each other. You can also try salt and pepper, where people have opposites taped to their backs. They then have to go around the room and ask people yes or no questions until they find their opposites.
While these games are simple, they relieve a ton of tension and anxiety from people. That way, the group feels more relaxed, so they can have an easier time as they start to work as a team.
Wrapping It Up
When you focus on team-building activities, you can let the employees have fun and meet each other. You can increase retention and improve your team by looking through activities and identifying them. That way, they’ll work together and become more effective as a team.
