Effective teams are the secret behind every company’s success. Sure, it sounds simple. But what does it really take to bring a diverse mix of people together to do great work?
While we have our own ideas and lessons learned over the years, we decided to find out what some team building pros have to say. Here are 3 team building tips you can start using immediately at your company, or as part of your team building activities in Los Angeles.
Get To Know Your Team
It’s easy to think of your team as simply “co-workers” when you’re all swamped with work. But, of course, there’s so much more to everyone than what they do at work. And taking the time to know these things about your team isn’t a distraction from “real work”. Knowing your team members can actually improve productivity a lot because it allows you to connect and understand one another more quickly, which is key if you expect team members to solve complex problems together. So take the time to get to know them. You don’t have to know everything, but having the right insights into your team can be a perfect ingredient for strong, productive teams.
Treat Your Team Members as if They Were Your Family
When did you last call your parents? How about your best friend? Or an old mentor? For most of us, work and life are getting busier and busier every year. And that means that we can easily (and understandably!) get caught up in our own things. Just like you make sure you’re checking in with family, you should also deliberately check-in with your team members. Even if you’re busy, go out of your way to ask questions, listen earnestly, and engage. Just like calling your mom, these little gestures go a long way to maintaining healthy relationships.
Trust the Icebreaker
There can be a lot of pressure is work settings to maintain surface-level relationships. To some extent, this is just smart protocol (“Nobody wants to hear about you going clubbing again, Jonathan!”). While we don’t need to know everything, it is important that our team’s create opportunities for opening up. Icebreakers – even though they are almost always met with eye rolls still – continue to be used by the most effective organizations. It isn’t because they love making people awkward. Companies use icebreakers because they work. They give us an excuse to open up. They also create moments for being vulnerable, which is a cornerstone of effective teams.
If you’re looking for some icebreaker options to choose from, Museum Hack has put together a list of the 100 best icebreaker questions. You’ll have more than enough to get started!