Business
Team-building and production in the workplace
Are your staff happy in the workplace? Research shows that a happy workplace is a productive workplace. One way to keep morale high is to organize a team-building activity outside of the office. It could make for a great solution, resulting in productive, efficient, motivated and all-round happy staff members throughout your business. Here, Wyboston Lakes, a conference centre venue, explains some reasons why:
1. Communication
It’s important to keep all lines of communication open within a company – especially cross-departmental and between management and staff. Team-building events outside of the office require effective communication, as members of a group must talk and discuss options in order to solve a problem that they’ve encountered. Communicating in these scenarios could lead to barriers been broken — employees being shy to talk to each other, for instance — which then carries through when staff members are back in the workplace.
A survey reported on by ClearCompany has revealed a lack of collaboration or ineffective communication has been linked to 86 per cent of all workplace failures cited by employees and executives. A study by HerdWisdom also detailed that 33 per cent of employees believe a lack of open and honest communication will have the most negative impact on employee morale.
2. Team-work
For most workers, having a close friend within the company helps you feel comfortable in your team. However, almost three quarters (70 per cent) of respondents to a study set up by the University of Phoenix have stated that they feel they’re part of a dysfunctional team. Meanwhile, research by Gallup suggests that poorly managed work groups are on average 50 per cent less productive and 44 per cent less profitable.
Team-building events are great for getting your staff to work together and teaching them of the importance of being a member of a team. They teach participants about how working together will improve the efficiency of all members involved – for example, how one team member can help another one’s weakness. This can then be mirrored back in the office.
3. Engagement
Did you know that employees who have a high engagement level are 87 per cent less likely to leave a company than those who have a low engagement level? That’s according to research reported on by Officevibe when they were looking into statistics related to disengaged employees.
Mark Jones, the managing director of Wyboston Lakes, was also keen to add: “Any organisation will benefit from an engaged workforce; employees that are committed, passionate and inspired by their performance will of course generate superior customer service and increased profitability.”
Team-building days are likely to boost engagement among colleagues outside the office, which in turn also helps to develop good relationships amongst staff which can be mirrored in day-to-day working life. During a team-building activity, they bond with each other while working together. Friendships could develop during these events too, with research by Gallup claiming that having a close friend at work can increase engagement by 50 per cent.
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