Team Building in the Workplace

With corporate workplaces becoming increasingly competitive, performance and results are the assessment factors that remain at the top of the management's priority list. Almost every manager is hellbent on achieving, and in many cases, bettering his assigned targets. Consequently, employees are urged to work smarter and not just harder, in an effort to deliver the desired results. Though it definitely contributes in its own way, individual brilliance does not singlehandedly decide the fate of an entire project. Almost always, it is the joint efforts (or the lack thereof) of the whole team that eventually decide the success or failure of a project. In such cases, team building in the workplace becomes absolutely essential for a number of reasons.

Why is Team Building Important
Team building in an office helps to foster better and open communication between the employees themselves, as well as between the employees and the higher management. It goes a long way in improving professional relations, understanding and co-operation, and this is very much reflected in the quality of work being done. Team building in the workplace significantly contributes towards employee motivation and building trust among the employees, thereby ensuring better productivity.

Now that you are aware of the importance of team building for high performance, let us take a look at some simple team building exercises in the workplace:

Simple Team Building Exercises in the Workplace
These are some common team building exercises for communication, success and improved team performance.

• Conduct Employee Feedback Activities: Employee surveys and feedback activities are a great way of breaking the ice and encouraging the employees to speak freely. It makes the employees feel wanted and gives them an assurance of the fact that their opinions are valued.
• Promote Informal Addressing: Step out of the traditional formal way of employee-boss interaction and speak freely. This gives the employees a reassurance that you are one among them and not a corporate Hitler. This will work to your advantage as it will encourage open workplace communication, sharing of ideas, and will help to maintain healthy work relations.
• Organize a Day Trip: Reward your employees for the good work that they have done in the past by organizing a day trip. Encourage employees to bring along their spouses and children. It can be a welcome break from the daily work-related pressures and can help fellow employees and their bosses to interact, bond, and get to know each other better. This can, in many ways, translate into better returns at the workplace.
• Celebrate Each Other's Success: Learn to appreciate and acknowledge each other's efforts. Also, celebrate the success of a job well done or a project delivered well ahead of the deadline. This helps in wiping out any negativity and keeps the team united.
• Initiate Group Discussion Sessions: If you have a major project-related decision to make, which you are not very sure about, try asking your employees for their views on the subject. Have a group discussion on the matter and seek their suggestions and opinions. In any case, it will be you yourself who has the last word, but this particular gesture will promote teamwork, boost employee confidence and, once again, make them feel valued and wanted.

Team Building Slogans
Team building projects and activities are seldom complete without the use of some inspirational team building slogans. Here are some popular inspirational quotes and slogans that you can use when working towards team building for success:

• "There is no 'I' in TEAM" ~ Anonymous
• "A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle" ~ Japanese proverb
• "A boat doesn’t go forward if each one is rowing their own way" ~ Swahili proverb
• "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success" ~ Henry Ford
• "One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team" ~ Kareem Abdul Jabbar
• "A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skill of the others" ~ Norman Hidle
• "You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note" ~ Doug Floyd

Remember, team leadership and team building go hand in hand. Successful team building in the workplace often translates into success for everyone. It is not difficult and does not require you to go out of your way or do anything extraordinary as a common man. As the popular saying goes, "Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results."