Successfully putting together a team-building event that actually works is a lot more challenging than most people make it out to be. Suffice it to say, it is significantly more challenging than simply renting out a killer corporate event venue in Ottawa and crossing your fingers while hoping for the best.
There’s a lot of heavy lifting that goes into creating team-building events that will have you and your staff coming together a lot closer, and you’ll want to knock as much of that heavy lifting out in advance as humanly possible.
We’ve put together a quick list of details that you’ll want to be sure to cover when assembling this kind of event, and hopefully you’ll be able to put them into play and make the most of the time that you all spend together.
Outlined Goals and Expectations
Every single team-building event on the planet can do with some proper organization and set goals and objectives. Don’t expect a spontaneous, unplanned team-building event to be successful or achieve the objectives you set out at the beginning.
You want to be sure that you are outlining goals and expectations based upon the type of attitude and approach that you want your team to have going forward.
For example, if you are merging two teams or departments together, you want to be able to foster new relationships built on trust and acceptance. You may also want to instill an appreciation and respect for technical proficiency. You will want to plan an event that focus on these sorts of characteristics.
Keep Teams Small
Even if you are dedicated to bringing your entire company to a team-building event, you’ll want to further break that organization down into “squads.” Not only will you be able to manage the team-building activities more effectively, but there will also be a strong sense of cohesion.
It’s really easy to get engaged with up to ten different team members that you’re working in close ranks with, but it’s almost impossible to get (and stay) engaged when you’re trying to build a team out of everyone in your 250+ person organization.
Keep Things Fun but Keep Things Focused
Team-building events and exercises can really run off the rails rather quickly if they are seen as nothing more than social of events, but that doesn’t mean that you want to rule your team of events with an iron fist, either.
Instead, try to walk that line between keeping things fun, keeping things light, and keeping things exciting – and as “non-work” related as humanly possible – without ever forgetting that this is a company function through and through and that you’re here to complete objectives.
St. Elias Centre is a leading corporate events centre in Ottawa. Get in touch to book our venue for your upcoming team-building event!