What to Consider Before Organising a Team Building Event

Team building activities and exercises can encourage relationship building and teamwork among employees. Many successful companies organise monthly team building exercises so their employees can improve on their teamwork and achieve higher productivity.

It is not easy to plan for team building events. If planned and executed properly, team building exercises can promote trust and relationship-building among your staff. Your employees will feel happier, motivated and see the organisation more positively.

Do it wrong and employees may regret attending the event. In fact, their morale and overall satisfaction with the organisation might even decrease.

Here's what you should consider before organising a team building exercise:

1. What is your aim?

The first thing that you should think before planning a team building exercise is to have a clearly defined purpose. You should ask your employees so they can give you more relevant feedback and insight into the team building exercise.

You should have a good idea of what you aim to provide your employees through the exercise and what will be the key takeaways for them. Identifying your ultimate objective will help in choosing the right activities that will deliver on what you want them to accomplish. 

Here are some instances of corporate goals:

• Introducing new leadership
• Inspiring a culture of trust and honesty
• Enhancing employees’ skills and competency
• Renewing corporate vision and mission
• Nurturing creativity in the workplace
• Training resilience and adaptability to the team

2. Will the team actually want to participate?

If your staff need to be forced to participate in the activities, you are not doing it right. This is why you should gather feedback across all departments and teams well ahead of time. This way, you'll have a better chance of improving employee engagement and enthusiasm.

Do not assume your staff will share your enthusiasm in a particular activity. They will not necessarily protest and may just "go with the flow" because they want to keep the boss happy. But, this will breed resentment and result in low employee morale and productivity.

3. What is your timeline?

The more time you have on your hands, the better off you are with regards to planning. Remember, a minimum of four to six weeks of planning and preparation is needed for an event consisted of 100-150 people.

Once you have an estimated timeline in mind, create a project plan with your event planning team. Schedule every activity in detail and then keep track of the list and monitor progress.

4. What is your budget?

 Another crucial aspect to consider is to have an accurate idea of the available budget when planning for a corporate team building event. The senior management should approve of the budget so any problems or last-minute cancellations can be avoided.

Keep a realistic budget but leave some room for any unexpected expenses. You can create a budget table to keep track of your expenses. Here are some important items to consider when budgeting for your event: 

• venue booking and permits
• food and beverages
• accommodation ( if the activity lasts longer than a day)
• transportation/travel
• activity providers
• insurance

Make sure to pick a team building exercise that caters to all the participating employees.

5. When is the best time to schedule the exercise?

When scheduling the event, keep your employees' work calendar and obligations in mind. Your staff will be more receptive to activities that are held during work hours and do not interfere with their valuable personal time.

You also need to decide on how long the team building exercise is going to last. You may run the exercise for a few hours or even days to accommodate more people's schedules.

If you're planning for outdoor exercises, you should also check the weather forecast to be safe.

6. What will be the best location for the exercise?

The location for your team building exercise depends on:

• the goal of the event
• the availability of your employees
• the weather
• the budget

Once you have set on what you want to accomplish, you can select the location according to your available budget. An off-site location or short trip to another city may do the job if you wish to reward or appreciate your workers for their efforts.

If your staff are short on time and you also wish to reduce travel time and cost, you can opt for an in-house team building activity.

7. Do you need the services of a professional facilitator?

If you have a particular goal behind the exercise, facilitation can be of great use. This is very useful if you wish to train your employees on certain skills like leadership, communication, resilience, and creativity. 

Professional facilitators will discuss your objectives before the event and organise their activities and materials accordingly.

A high-quality team building exercise should be able to provide employees with new learning and insights that they can channel into their daily work interactions, priorities, and attitudes. This is why proper event planning is crucial. 

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Source: EffortlessHR

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