The importance of team building is widely recognised in business and it can do a great deal to help you and your employees. There are many team building activities which can be incredibly effective, so here are some top tips for getting as much out of them as possible:

• Have a clear purpose in your mind before you begin. This is the best way to ensure long-term success and prevent people from going back to their old habits once back in work.
• Organise teams and get them to attend a meeting before the event. This will open up the dialogue between employees and will give them the opportunity to develop strategies amongst themselves.
• Assign a team leader. This person will be responsible for overseeing the success of the activities and can help to co-ordinate the rest of the team. It will give them the chance to practice their leadership skills.
• Choose your teams carefully. Make sure that there are a mix of skills and personalities, but also consider individuals who ought to be working together in their everyday roles and put them into the same team.
• Utilise these newly formed relationships in the workplace. Make sure that people continue to work together once they’re back inside work.
• Ask employees to analyse the activities afterwards. This debrief will allow them to work out what they learned, what they achieved together and what could have been improved on.

Follow these important steps and you can create a team building exercise which will really make a difference to your team’s communication, co-operation, effectiveness and morale.