Unless you are a sole proprietorship, teams are what makes a business successful and helps them grow. Your team is a cumulation of everyone that works under the same roof, or even virtual teams that simply work on the same projects.
When teams come together things get done, but when they fall apart entire businesses can fall apart, which is why working on team building exercises can be a great asset to all businesses. Whether you work with a virtual team, or you spend everyday together in the same office building, here are a couple ways you can help build your team so that you can advance your business.
Schedule Regular Meetings
Business meetings are a great way to build a team. While most meetings are all about getting to the point, you won’t be doing a lot of getting to know each other, but that can be done later. What business meetings should do is determine how things are already going in the meeting and what needs to be done to make changes, if changes are needed.
Regular meetings shouldn’t just be about a manager or team captain doing all the talking though. You want to make sure that each team member gets a chance to speak, and you just might be amazed at the ideas even the most quiet team member might have about building up the business.
Start your meetings with some ice breakers, which will allow your team to all feel comfortable and make it easier for them to participate in the meeting, rather than sit quietly. Ice breakers can even work on phone meetings for people that work remotely.
Plan A Business Retreat
Taking time to get to know your team, and let them get to know one another, can be very beneficial. Think about how much better you work with people that you know as opposed to those that you know nothing about. You have more of a comradery and feel as though you want to help them win when you are more than just co-workers.
One way businesses can help their employees bond and become a better team is to plan a business retreat. It’s as easy as finding a venue where people can get together and do team building exercises, enjoy time with good food and drinks, and it also helps to have speakers come in that talk about the importance of the team and growing the business.
Business retreats can be done once a year, and can be set up right in your business area, or anywhere in the world. Even remote workers can be invited to meet with everyone they work with on a face-to-face level which may help them feel more connected to their co-workers and their business.
Originally posted on August 9, 2015 @ 9:42 am