5 Ways To Ensure Participation In Team Building Events

Team building is critical to the success of any organisation. It is only when teams work in cohesion, that targets are met, and projects are completed without hiccups. The good part is, most organisations are starting to realise the same.However, the bad part is, that most employees think differently. Most of the times, employees are least interested in a team building event. The fact that many such events demand compulsory attendance contributes even further to the disinterest of the participants.

A team building event in which teams have no interest won’t do much for your team building goals. Participation is critical to the success of any corporate event. If you too, are struggling with the same in your team building efforts, try these ideas to get your team excited:

Take It Out Of The Office

This is probably the most common reason behind the lack on interest for such events. When you host an event right inside the office, the constant buzzing of phones and inflow of emails is going to keep the teams distracted from the activity.

A change of scenery is welcome by most, especially if it comes during the work-week. While retreats work beautifully for team building, they are not an absolute necessity. If your budget or time constraints don’t allow for an all-out team retreat, think about simply taking the activity outside the office, in an open space.

This way, the work distractions won’t be working against your cause, and a change of scenery will get the participants excited about the activity.

Make The Objective Clear

No, we’re not talking about the objective of winning a team building challenge. We’re talking about the objective behind organising the team building activity. Most employees don’t understand the objective behind a team building event or activity, or how it affects their daily work life. In most cases, employees view team building as an unnecessary recreational distraction.

If you don’t want them thinking about their to-do lists during the activity, try relating their role in the activity with their role in the office. This connection will help them clearly see the benefits of the team building activity, ensuring enthusiasm, and hopefully, enthusiastic participation.

Deliver Value and Innovation

Drawing the the point before, if you don’t want employees thinking of the activity as a simple waste of their time, you need to incorporate innovations.

For instance, doing a “trust fall” is an activity older than time itself, and you should not expect a single soul to be excited for a trust fall. Team building events are supposed to be fun while delivering value to the employee, as well as to the organisation.

This value should be clearly stated to all the participants, so as to make them understand that it is not just a recreational waste of time, but a value addition activity.

Involve the Participants in Organisation

This is not to say that you need to take employees off their daily tasks and involve them in the organisation process. However, you can involve them in the ideation process.Ideation for an activity wont take a lot of time off their working hours, while providing you with a list of innovative ideas. Moreover, since the ideas will come from the participants, they won’t require a lot of convincing when it comes to participation.

Keep in mind, when your employees think their ideas are being valued, and their voice is being heard, they will automatically feel obligated to return the gesture with their participation. Moreover, such an initiative will help them see that the event is directed towards them, and their betterment.

Conclusion

Team building events are not a gigantic task to undertake. With the right techniques and preparations, you can easily ensure participation, and in turn, the success of your team building event.

What are the tactics you employ to ensure employee participation in the team building events held at you organisation?