Corporate Team Building - Events and Themed Parties

As a part of the corporate exercise, most companies conduct special team building events that are meant to promote team spirit and closeness among people working as a team. Usually, this is done in batches. Employees are taken to the location in batches of 2-3 teams, or division wise, where they are introduced to a whole host of themed parties and team building activities. These activities are co-ordinated by companies which specialise in corporate events, and have sufficient experience and knowledge of people management.

Corporate events

You can have your employees taken to some really good locations - like resorts or picnic spots, where they will take part in team building exercises. These are generally fun events, but which teach the employees the importance of team work, and how co-operation and collaboration are the key to success. They give fun activities to perform as individuals, and then as a team. Then, the instructor involves the employees in discussions related to analysing what the team did right, and where they went wrong. They also compare team performance Vs. Individual performance, and include it in their results. You could also have themed parties to add to the fun.

Usually the activities involve fun team building games. For example, employees may be asked to form small groups of 4 or 5 and given a set of spaghetti noodles (uncooked and still straight), some marshmallow and jelly. They will then be asked to build a tower out of this, and the team making the tallest tower wins. This will require the teams to concentrate on the task given. People with leadership qualities immediately take charge and subconsciously ask the employees with the required skills - for example someone with engineering background or degree to concentrate on supporting the beams and so on. The co-ordinator usually makes these observations and sends it back to the HR department of your organisation, which could be used for career as well as succession planning.

Benefits to employees and the organisation

Corporate team building events provide employees a much needed break from routine life. They feel refreshed after being introduced to a whole lot of new team building ideas and sub consciously try to incorporate these when they return. Having spent time with colleagues at a non-formal setting, the employees develop a deeper bond among each other, and are thus able to understand each other better. They also serve as great ice-breaking sessions, and could be used for new entrants to the organisation. You could even have a number of activity days where instead of just one day, employees could be sent for a weekend to a resort for receiving their team building training. It will also serve as a great unexpected vacation for the employees, and improve their productivity when they get back to work.