Whether in the workplace, professional sports or the community, world-class teams don’t simply form out of thin air. They need to be built – and that requires a significant amount of time and effort, not to mention great leadership.
Team building activities, for their part, help employees and managers better understand one another’s strengths and weaknesses. Taking part in tasks together strengthens skills linked with great teamwork – from communication to trust and cooperation – helping them to work more cohesively when back in the office.
Of course, you want to make sure that any team building activities you plan, packs the intended punch and delivers a solid return on investment (ROI). But measuring the effectiveness of such initiatives can be easier said than done; the impact of team building can be difficult to quantify, particularly when it can’t be linked to financial performance or output.
Here are some tips on how you can gauge the effectiveness of team building:
There are certain business baseline metrics that could give an indication of how successful the team building was. These include things like absentee rates, productivity rates, daily/weekly/monthly profit and overtime take-up. Make sure you measure these rates before and after for comparison; this will give you a good idea of how effective the event was.
Your team are likely to be full of energy and enthusiasm the first day back at the office, delivering an immediate return on your investment. But this momentum may not be sustainable and so, you’ll be able to get a better idea of ROI after the second and third week. Measure rates after a month to see if the team building has had a lasting impact.
Finding out if employees enjoyed the team building session and deemed it valuable is simple – just ask them! Put their new-found knowledge to the test with mini quiz, which will give them a chance to reflect and consolidate their learning.
Ask your team for feedback on the event, too – What did they find most valuable? What would they change? Do they think it’s had a positive impact on their role? Doing this will enable you to fine-tune your team building in the future, making sure you squeeze the very best ROI from your efforts.
An element of fun must be woven into any team building activity; if not, your team will not bond and therefore, will not grow. If you bring joy and excitement to the event then they’ll pay attention when taking part, and they’ll have something to look back together on and smile.