By lkolowich@hubspot.com (Lindsay Kolowich Cox)

Are you starting to notice some droopy shoulders around the office? It sounds like it’s time to plan a team outing.

Team outings are a great way to facilitate bonding with your team members, reduce employee stress, and give them the chance to get to know one another outside of the office.

And, you know, they’re entertaining.

But how do you find ideas for a great team outing? Maybe you start with a Google search for “team outing ideas” and stumble upon an article that suggests “field trips” and “professional development activities.” It sounds like a starting point, but where’s the real excitement?

Next time you plan an outing for your team, cut the trust-falls and get one of these ideas on the calendar instead. We have something for everyone — from perfect activities for remote teams to large or small in-house groups to events that enhance teamwork and events that all team members can enjoy outdoors.

Why should you do team-building activities for work?

Team building activities can be embarrassing for coworkers, and some don’t even add anything that relates to the workplace. For example, while ‘trust falls’ seems like an excellent idea, forcing it doesn’t improve trust among coworkers, and what is worse, it can result in injuries when pairings are not even.

However, not all team-building activities are detrimental to your workers, as you would see from the ideas we highlight in this post.

One of the most significant advantages of the right team-building activities is that it boosts morale among your workforce. Team members get to work together on exciting and challenging activities and can display their skills and talents.

Team-building activities and games that boost morale can break down barriers among employees and create an environment that is nice to work in, which is vital to a successful and well-functioning business.

The ultimate goal of team-building activities is to get your team members to bond and build trust with each other. People with different backgrounds, needs, ambitions, and personalities make up teams.

By engaging in the right team-building activities, you can bring these different people together to build a bonded, trusting team.

When your team bonds, it results in several benefits for the company. Some of these benefits include:

1. Improved Communication Skills

Communication between staff and departments is essential to a company’s success. Team-building exercises put people in a relaxed environment and encourage them to communicate while completing tasks.

2. Improved Productivity

Better communication skills will have a domino effect on productivity levels. When your employees work together and communicate, there is less work duplication and less friction between workers.

3. Identifies Leaders

Another benefit from team-building exercises is that managers can discover leaders within the workforce while engaging in team-building activities.

Regardless of the type of event that you want to enjoy, here are eight essential things to consider:

1. Define your goals.

You must determine clear areas of focus that you want to …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron