No matter how big or small your business is, you most likely want to make the best of it.
No matter how big or small your business is, you most likely want to make the best of it. If you want to make it grow as much as possible, then there are two categories of people you will simply not be able to live without: your employees and your customers. Keeping them happy and united is the key to success, regardless of the field of your activity. We will present a set of tips on how to build an indestructible team any business owner would dream of: One that loves working for you, one that puts in as much effort as they can, and one that knows that there is no first person singular in a group of people working together.
Team Building: Doing It Right Will Save The Day
Most companies organize team building activities on a regular basis. And they know why: creating good relationships between the employees helps to make work much better for them; thus, they will be more effective in working together for the sake of everyone’s happiness.
Team building exercises are of four types: communication exercises, trust exercises, planning exercises, and problem solving exercises. Keep these in mind whenever you want to organize team building activities and try to group them according to their type. Here you have two examples of activities for the first two categories mentioned above:
- The circle of friends. Have everyone sit in a circle. Every person has a chair of their own, except one, who stands in the middle of the circle. This person starts by saying something he/she likes or dislikes. Those who agree with him/her stand up and try to grab another person’s chair. One will be left out. And then the game starts all over.
- The Lie. Have everyone write one true story and one lie on a piece of paper. Every person will have to tell the true story as if it were a lie and the lie as if it were truth. The others will have to guess which story is true and which one is a lie.
- The knot. Split everyone in small groups (5-8 people). Have them close their eyes and put their hands forward. While they have their eyes closed, unify each hand with another hand until it all looks like a knot. Tell them to open their eyes and remake the circle without letting go of their hands.
- The Pharaoh. This one will require a lot of trust between the partners of the game, so try doing it only when the team has already been shaped. Again, group people in small circles of 5-8 and have one person sit in the middle with their hands crossed over their chest (just like a Pharaoh) and their eyes closed. Remember, for this exercise, the circle has to be very tight, so tell everyone to stand as near as possible to their left and right partners. Once the person in the middle has closed their eyes, tell one of the circle members to push him/her gently. The circle will always have to catch softly the person in the middle, as he/she is bouncing from one part of the group to the other.
Making Your Employees Feel Important
Show your workers how much they mean to you and how important they are to the entire business. Sometimes, a raise or a bonus is not an option, especially when on a very tight budget. Still, there are many ways to make them feel good about their work.
- Training. Those who are passionate about their career will always appreciate some extra learning, especially when it is provided by the company and when they can get certificates for it.
- Happy Friday. Once in awhile, organize hangouts: drinks, pizza, karaoke. This is also a great and fun way to break the ice between older employees and newer ones and to build a hardworking, loyal team.
- Small gifts. Be careful with these, and only use this reward system if you know your employees very well. Candy, wine, plush bears- anything can work, really, but only if you know for a fact that they will love that gift.
- Plaques and trophies. If you have an “employee of the month” section, then this is the perfect way of showing them that they are really important. This manner of rewarding is relatively inexpensive, but it will pay off when you see the pride and excitement on your worker’s face. “Hey, I got a plaque with my name and picture on it” will be on his/her lips for the rest of the month.
Whichever of these activities and ways of expressing your gratitude you might choose, always keep in mind that it is your staff that makes things move for your business. They are worth all your attention and all your devotion, the same as you are worth theirs. Treasure them and show them how great they are doing. Eventually, it will lead to the production of high quality products and services and your business will prosper like never before.