Balancing professional and personal responsibilities is a challenge for many people today. Many feels burnt out and demotivated, two trends that often permeate their personal lives as well. As a team building exercise and an investment in long-term team stability, recreational opportunities are an efficient counter to the effects of burnout or demoralization.
Whether your organization depends on a model of direct hire recruiting or contractual engagements, cohesion and team building be a vital focus. Recreational activities in the workplace reduce stress, increase employee’s confidence, and foster a positive impact on performance. These activities are also a great way to improve employee relationships. Here are a few recreational activities that companies might consider to encourage team building:
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The Egg-Drop Game
The egg-drop game is an effective team-centric activity. In this exercise, multiple teams are formed; each is given an egg and some scarce resources to protect the egg when thrown from a height. The teams must think critically to employ their resources in order to protect their egg. The team whose egg best survives the fall is declared the winner.
Sporting Event
Sporting events are an amazing way to boost morale, introduce team dynamics, and improve mental and physical health. Vote on the most popular games among your employees and plan accordingly. This activity could be done in the office premises or in a nearby park.
Quiz Night
Who said quiz nights are for brainiacs only? They are also a good way to improve critical thinking skills. The human resources department or team managers can prepare questions. For interdepartmental quiz nights, they can use general questions; for intradepartmental ones, they can prepare more technical questions geared at sharpening everyone’s skills.
This activity might also lend itself to talent acquisition initiatives as questions to ask during interviews and vetting processes. Thought-provoking questions often allow companies to assess the mental and technical abilities of the candidates.
Barter Test
Bring two puzzles and mix their pieces to make it difficult. Divide the employees into teams and ask them to use the best strategies to persuade the other team to get pieces of their puzzle. Teams can swap pieces or people. This is a great activity for the sales team specifically, honing both listening and negotiating skills.
Joint Lunch
You can allot a specific day of the week for all employees to have lunch together. In this fashion, employees will socialize, and a social bond will begin to form. Such activities could also lend itself to an innovative talent acquisition strategy – a team lunch to introduce new hires to the existing team members is a great way to make the new hires feel welcomed and comfortable.
Birthday Celebrations
As with a joint lunch, companies can allocate a single day at the end of each month to celebrate the birthdays that occurred during that month. Small nods of appreciation like this radically increase a team member’s sense of belonging. Other small celebrations could also be held to celebrate employees’ achievements, on Administrative Assistant Day or another comparable holiday.
Foosball Setup
Foosball is an entertaining game and requires a low budget to establish and maintain. Employees can play the game during break time and can converse with each other during play.
Workplace Cook-Off
This is also a fascinating and enjoyable team-building activity. Form teams, and encourage the members of each team to be creative together. Nominate a judge or judges and ask teams to advise the panel as to the dish they are going to make. This will enhance productivity, encourage creative thinking, and result in a social activity for all. Nothing makes people happier than a surprise meal!
Marketing Concentration
There are thirty tiles, all facing downwards. Each title has an identical counterpart, and each employee turns over one tile at a time. The goal is to flip matching tiles consecutively.
Whether you are a tech company, or a staffing agency in Pittsburgh, you can add a marketing touch to it by adding slogans of your company and clients on the tiles and creating a customized game for your employees.
Board Games
There is nothing worse than a boring board game. Instead, pick one that is enjoyed by everyone. You can poll the team beforehand to determine which games are most liked, thereby building excitement and a healthy sense of competition.
Two Truths and a Lie
We have all heard about this game. A person tells two truths & one lie about him or herself. The other members have to guess the lie. In the workplace, two truths and a lie can help everyone to get to know their colleagues better, in an informal and fun environment.
Conclusion
Companies must consider the mental and physical well-being of their employees, and not simply their output, especially in light of the fast pace of life, and increased competition in the workplace. Besides being fun, recreational activities offer a great medium for communication between leaders and their teams, thereby improving employee attitude and behavior, especially among problematic or insubordinate employees.
A happy and motivated workforce results in lower levels of absenteeism, a significant improvement in the quality of work, and productivity overall.
