In today’s world, the workplace dynamic has changed a lot. The role and value of the employees are identified across the board and the benefits of keeping a happy employee are quite evident. One of the biggest influencers of team morale and spirit is how cohesive the people are in the workplace. To foster better relations and help employees connect better, organizations will at times set aside a day where some employees will go on a team-building day. Even though no actual business work is done here, researchers have found that successful team-building exercises not only help with the cohesion in the workplace but also results in better productivity everywhere. That is because when people are getting along, it's easier and more fun to be at work and therefore getting the job done is that much easier for everyone. You can also make this a long-term objective at the workplace. To develop a strategy where people will not only get the job done but also get better together as a team. However, to pull off a successful team building day, there are a few things you need to adhere to.

Clear roles and responsibilities

For an organization to thrive, every member of the team must know their part and play it very well. This means that when any member of the team comes in, they will then know exactly what to expect, what they should deliver and who is relying on them to also do their jobs. Clear demarcations of roles and responsibilities ensure there is no confusion whatsoever on the team members’ roles and what they should deliver at the end of the day. When choosing a particular employee for a certain task, it’s important that you sit with them and get to know their preferences and how they would approach the job. Before assigning members specific job roles, it’s wise to talk to them about the said roles and also if they are green, assist them in learning the ropes. Here, team roles often include:

 The champions: these are people who love driving change, rallying the group and promoting ideas.

 The creators: these are people who love tackling challenges and finding creative ways to tackle them. This means generating ideas and designing solutions that can work to complete objectives.

 The implementors: these are people who will often take on the administrative aspect for a particular project and can handle the daily work activities.

 The facilitators: facilitators can be said to be the glue of the whole thing. These people are very good at managing relationships inside and outside the project.

Building trust

For any relationship to last, be it business or otherwise, there needs to be trust between the members of the team. When in a workplace setting, this trust translates to supporting shared goals, delivering on promises, maintaining open communication and pitching during challenging times. Trust in the workplace takes time and effort to build. Forbes has reported that 58% of people say that they trust a stranger more than they do their boss. This means that they are also highly unlikely to trust their fellow employees. A culture of distrust can be very toxic and even affect work. When team members trust each other there is a bond that gets strengthened. You can foster a culture where trust is a core part of the workplace. This can be done by:

 Remaining calm: being a calm person in many situations will give your employees a sense of stability and inspire trust since they know where you stand.

 Patience: in the workplace, many mistakes happen. Since no one is perfect, you need to continue to stay calm and be considerate and tolerant of others’ mistakes. Doing this might actually surprise you since some employees actually outdo themselves with a little guidance. This way work gets done, and you also foster better workplace relationships.

 Being flexible, open and transparent: to get rid of the mistrust in the office, you should do these things so that everyone feels that there is fairness and that they are included.

 Mutual feedback: feedback is an essential part of any process. For things to get better, you need to devise a plan and follow it so that you can see what works and what doesn't.

Synchronizing goals and visions

Since everyone is wired differently, we all take different approaches to various problems in the workplace. And we also have different visions and goals in respect to priorities and the likes. When employees are not in sync, you will find that there are a lot of stumbling blocks while doing the job. To overcome this particular problem, consider creating common goals for your personnel so that they can all work towards a similar goal. To facilitate this, you may consider workshops, training programs and creative team bonding sessions to get members to better know each other.

Arranging a guest

Most companies think that team building is just taking a certain team to a camp and having them enjoy themselves for a day. While this might be a good effort, it’s not a realistic one. Because most teams often work together all year long, it’s important that you foster a healthy working relationship between the employees themselves and management. For it to be ingrained into the culture, it has to be an ongoing activity in the company. The team is the engine that drives the business. This means that as its engine, it needs proper care and attention. If you choose to have a couple of days per year dedicated to fun and team building, it can be very rewarding to bring on guests. You should think about what your team needs and do that to help them. If communication has been a problem, you can bring in conference speakers to help overcome the communication barriers. By providing well speakers, you can also ensure that people will come and listen, and you can take advantage by offering solutions they need.

Teams could also revisit industry best practices so that quality and efficiency are optimized. When teams grow together, you will find that traits and attributes that some posses, while others lacked are sort of distributed within the group. This way you find if someone, for instance, didn’t have the required mental toughness, it will build over time, which makes sure the team gets stronger and more effective.

Teams that perform very well are a source of great pride for their companies and make their companies stand out from the crowd. These teams are not only instrumental in helping the company achieve lasting success, but they also play a pivotal role in embodying the goals and culture of the organization as a whole. When teams are made stronger, their problem-solving abilities go through the roof and therefore accomplish their goals in a better time and more efficiently which in the end benefits the company.