Team building has always been an important part of a successful organization. It helps a team learn about each other – how each person thinks, works, solves problems, and has fun. With employees working remotely as well as in the office, financial institutions still need to build strong partnerships and engage their employees.
The benefits of a team building event for work include improving collaboration, communication, and camaraderie. Enhancing these competencies tends to lead to better morale, strong motivation, and a unified company culture. There is a clear link between the personal bonds between your team members and their engagement level. Also, the closer you are to your co-workers, the happier you will be at work and the more likely you will be to give up some of your discretionary time towards their success.
According to Gettysburg College, one-third of our lives are spent at work, so your job can make a huge impact on your quality of life. Corporate culture sets the foundation for a lot of really important things in the business realm. From improved productivity to sales growth, to employee retainment, bonding with your colleagues has become the secret to success.
Here are several ideas and resources to help ensure your teams are engaged
Snacknation has compiled a list of 75 Insanely Fun Team Building Activities, that include activities for small or large groups, social distancing, virtual, in office, happy hour, and quick icebreakers.
If employees do not find your team building games fun, you can throw out the benefits you are looking to gain. Team building activities are intended to be not only educational, but enjoyable. Financial services companies who invest in their people are rewarded with higher engagement. And that is good for everyone.
Virtual team building has become more important as some employees move to remote positions due to COVID-19
Offices around the world have shifted from employees seeing each other on a daily basis to being remote. Although there are quite a few benefits to working remotely, there are challenges as well. Research has found that employees who work from home report “higher levels of satisfaction and reduced levels of burnout and psychological stress.” Staying connected in a disconnected world can require some creative thinking. Loneliness and the inability to separate work time from personal time are just some of the challenges remote workers face.
Many of the traditional team building games can be adapted for remote teams, but there are also many online or virtual activities as well. There are fun activities that require a small amount of preparation and resources, or fully hosted unique virtual experiences like murder mysteries and trivia. Budget-friendly activities can provide the same benefits to your business as more elaborate ones.
Corporate team building can act as a giant reset button, refreshing your teams
To get the most out of your events, consider hosting them during slow seasons, on Wednesdays to help energize everyone to finish the week strong, or on Fridays since they are the least productive day of the week. Another good time is when Q4 wraps up and employees are facing significant stress at both work and home. Most important, make a conscious effort to schedule your event at a convenient time for everyone if possible.
Sometimes it can be hard to set aside time at a busy financial institute to do team building. You can’t exactly close your bank or credit union for the day. Meaningful activities can take just a few moments but make a big impact on morale. Activities that promote staff discussions about work-related topics is also a fun and memorable way to cultivate morale. If you are focusing on tellers, account specialists, loan officers and others in the financial industries, focusing on activities that involve skills they use can provide added benefits.
Learn new things, together
In addition to fun activities, you can also bring in individuals from different departments that can share their skillsets with your group or bring in a speaker. You can do online courses together as a team or challenge your teams with long-term activities which can include book or movie clubs.
Get moving, together
An office fitness challenge can get your team working towards their fitness goals together and build camaraderie as well. Creating a fitness challenge for your team can also improve your employees’ health, create a more inclusive culture, and promote a healthy level of competition. Organizations that invest in health and wellness actually save money by reducing healthcare costs and curbing lost productivity due to absenteeism.
Give back and sustainability-focused virtual team building activities
A trend in team building that you can expect to see as the world begins returning to normalcy is activities focused on giving back. Since it has been a stressful year for most employees, organizations will look at how they can make that better. The pandemic has challenged us to keep each other safe through physical distancing while focusing on social connections to keep our communities strong. The needs are deep-rooted and deepening in complexity. United we can make the biggest difference and support your local community for a more meaningful 2022. The best investment a financial institution can make is in its community. Be inspired by how these 10 banks and credit unions gave back to theirs.
For more ideas on how to build a unified workforce, you can reference, The Insperity Guide to Employee Engagement.
Working remotely is now pretty common. While this does have its benefits, we know issues can arise. Our Remote Management Series provides your remote managers best practices working from home, such as proper time management and productivity. They will also learn ways to overcome challenges that can come from working from home, including engaging remote teams, managing stress, and setting expectations. Interested in adding this series to your training program? Contact us today!