Successful organizations in Bangkok all have one thing in common, they have great team chemistry. The strong working relationships that exist within these companies can be attributed to a number of things: effective hiring, trust among colleagues and a unified organization working towards a common goal. In developing these traits within a company, a powerful tool in achieving this environment are team building events.
As an experienced search firm, we know immediately when we walk into a client’s office if they have a good working environment. The people walking around the office are smiling and in good spirits, the employees are constantly acknowledging each other and there is an “energy” in the room. In comparison, an office with a bad working environment is cold and tense the moment you walk through the doors. There is little interaction amongst people in the office and in most cases, the company is not experiencing much success.
Team building events help to create a family atmosphere as it gives people a chance to learn something about their colleagues that they would never have learned in the office. It may be something about their children, mutual interests or shared experiences which all help develop relationships build on trust and appreciation. The reality is quite clear, if you like the people you work with, you’ll enjoy going to work and this leads to a number of benefits for the company. First, people will likely stay longer in the office which results to greater productivity. This increased productivity offers the organization cost savings as the company is getting more working hours for paid salaries. Then, the increase in working hours and productivity contributes to increased earnings as the organization’s financial performance is directly tied to production. The aforementioned benefits are only a very outline of all the great things things than can achieved by organizing out-of-office team building events.
A team building activity needs to be something where people are interacting with one another doing something that is fun and stress free. Many companies like to organize things like dinners or attending sports events yet people often sit next to individuals they already know which defeats the purpose of bringing the entire office together. Effective team building events are things like organizing a charity walk, boat rides, themed office parties (such as “best costume” day), office tug-of-wars, etc. These activities allow the office to take a break from the serious nature of everyone’s daily work while allowing colleagues to share a laugh and have a good time.
The entire office should also have a voice in what activities the company chooses to do for various team building events. In some companies, a senior manager will often choose the activities and those events will likely reflect their interests and tastes. As an example, one senior level executive recently shared with us that every month he takes the company to the golf driving range to hit golf balls and have food afterwards. The problem with that is not everyone likes golf and spending several hours at the golf course on a hot day is not exactly an enjoyable experience if you don’t want to hit golf balls. After speaking with us, the executive surveyed his staff to find out what they thought of going to the golf course every month and he discovered people hated it. Now, everyone gets a vote and its led to improved morale and job satisfaction as once a month employees get to enjoy a fun night out in Bangkok at the company’s expense. Furthermore, the new and improved team building nights out are something the company can use in selling opportunities to potential employees.
