Can team-building improve workplace morale?

As a business owner, you’ll be aware that a happy workplace is a productive one. There are a few strategies you can implement to ensure moral is kept high amongst staff. One of these is organising a team-building activity outside of the office, resulting in productive, efficient, motivated and all-round happy staff members throughout your business. Here, we look at some of the reasons why team-work activities should be factored in to your business strategy.

1.    It improves workplace relationships

If your staff have a friendly relationship with each other, they will enjoy working beside each other. However, at present, this doesn’t seem to be the case because 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.

Facts and figures like these underline the importance of getting teams to work together as much as possible. Team-building events will do this, as 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.

2.    It boosts engagement

Activities outside of the office encourage staff to engage with each other, forming a bond amongst staff that they can carry over in the office. 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.

Did you also 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 conference centre and hotel venue 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.”

3.    Communication is vital

Nobody likes to be kept in the dark in the workplace. Whatever your role in the business, it’s important that lines of communication are kept open for staff to regularly consult with one another on current projects. A lack of collaboration or ineffective communication has been linked to 86 per cent of all workplace failures cited by employees and executives, a survey reported on by ClearCompany has revealed. 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.

Communicating in team-building and problem-solving activities outside the workplace 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.
Sources

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