Team building: activities to strengthen cohesion within your teams!

For many years, team building has been used by a number of companies seeking to strengthen cohesion among their employees. Organising such an event can only be positive for your organisation's internal image. See external in employer branding strategies.

Find out what team building involves and how to organise it effectively.

What is team building?

Team building involves organising a specific opportunity for collaboration between members of the same organisation (company, association, public authority, etc.). Often fun, sometimes challenging, and even stressful, these moments are an opportunity to get to know each other, improve teamwork, and interact in an informal setting outside the office. It can therefore be a powerful lever for your HR strategy and should be the subject of a specific internal communication strategy.

Why organise team building?

First point: team cohesion cannot be imposed! It is built over time through specific actions and projects, of which team building is one tool.
Second point: developing and expressing leadership skills and improving the perception of each employee's qualities requires a platform for expression both internally and externally.
Third point: the specificities of each job require emotional qualities and interpersonal skills that must be developed and valued...
Finally: every team, no matter how qualified, needs opportunities to practise working together for more efficient collaboration.

How to organise a team-building event?

Organising a team-building event requires time and skill if you want it to add value.

1. First and foremost, you need to think about the objectives of your team-building event. What are the main expectations for this important collective moment for skills development and promoting your organisation's values? It could be stress management, conflict resolution, building team cohesion, boosting verbal communication or simply celebrating good results...
   
2. The objective and the chosen project should be communicated internally. The objectives may be subject to internal consultation on your employees' expectations in terms of collective and/or individual development. The same applies to the choice of project or final activity. The more involved employees are at the outset, the more involved they will be on the day, and the better the results will be.
   
3. Next, draw up a list of employees who will participate. This may be a specific team or all employees.
   
4. Choose the date for your team building event. In this regard, periods of intense activity for your organisation are not the most conducive to team building, as time and emotional availability will not be optimal. Therefore, aim for periods that are accessible and acceptable to the greatest number of people.
   
5. Establish your team-building budget.
   
6. Choose the venue for the team-building event. Ideally, this venue should be located outside the company premises and be suitable for the activities you have chosen.
   
7. Identify the logistical aspects: venue rental, catering, entertainment team, insurance… all these items must be considered to anticipate future expenses.
   
8. Create a schedule for the day, which you will communicate to the guests through targeted event communications.
   
   What activities should you choose for a team-building event?
   The only limit to organizing your team-building event is your creativity.
   However, two approaches exist in the market: bespoke solutions or packaged thematic offers (format and pricing).
   
   For bespoke solutions: this involves co-creating a project specific to your needs and challenges. The advantage of bespoke solutions is that they offer a project and format that your employees are unfamiliar with, or even unexpectedly expect to participate in. The element of surprise can be much more impactful!
   Unlike packaged offers, bespoke solutions require more time for organization in order to develop an original concept, engage specific speakers, and so on.
   

For packaged offers, which we could call plug and play, certain activities are particularly popular with employees. Here is a non-exhaustive list of what you can choose from:

• supervised sports activities
  
• escape games,
  
• question/answer games, maxi quizzes
  
• obstacle courses,
  
• treasure hunts...
  
• themed workshops (gastronomy, wine tasting, etc.)
  
• discovery workshops
  
  The advantages of this format lie primarily in its speed and ease of implementation.
  The disadvantages are that this type of team building is less specific to your objectives and less original or different from what your employees may have already experienced.
  
  Why use a specialized event communication agency to organize your team building event?
  As we've just seen, team building is an effective tool for motivating your employees and improving your internal image. However, it can be time-consuming in your work schedule. I.S Agency (an event communication agency located in the Île-de-France region, near Paris), through its IS Corporate Division, specializes in providing customized services and managing this type of project. Whether your project is local, national, or international in scope, if you have a project or an idea, we can answer your questions and support you in its optimal realization.
  
  In any case, think about what will truly unite your teams and leverage everyone's expertise. And keep in mind : its success depends on its organization...