In June we posted a blog on 5 Fun Team Building Activities in Columbus, last weekend we decided to try one of those activities by taking a trip to the Columbus Zoo. Not only did we have a great time, one of our team members, Sam, got to cross “feed the giraffes” off her bucket list! Our trip to the zoo was also a great way to welcome our new Senior Vice President, Bill, to our team!
Sam, PR Coordinator, fulfilling her dream to feed the giraffes.
Brenda, CEO, feeding the giraffes.
While trips to the Zoo are always exciting, team building activities can offer more than just a fun time. In a small office setting, it is especially important to have a positive company culture and strong office cohesion. Here are three ways team building activities can help make this happen:
- Getting to know one another. The Marketing Works team brought along a friend or family members to join the fun at the Zoo on Saturday. By meeting the family and friends of the team, we all had the opportunity to get to know the people we spend our time with outside of work.. We also had the chance to learn things about your colleagues that you wouldn’t usually get a chance to learn such as favorite animal or part of the Zoo.
- Increase collaboration among employees. When you find something that everyone at the office enjoys or is interested in, people are excited to go and are going to have fun. In finding these commonalities, it can translate in the office to employees working together more often. When we fed the giraffes it was a great opportunity to interact with one another. By sharing a common experience and working together towards a common goal (even if the goal is trying to get a giraffe to eat a leaf) the team can use the same techniques in the office as well.
- Help encourage conversation among employees. Team building activities provide an opportunity to have fun outside the office and that cohesion can translate back into the office as well. Along with encouraging collaboration, team building activities will help employees understand communication preferences. Using team building activities to practice effective communication that can be used inside and outside the office can improve the way any team operates.
Marketing Works team and their friends and family at the Zoo
Regardless of the size of your company, it is important to have strong cohesion among your team. While we already work as a great team here at Marketing Works, it’s always fun to have a company outing especially to welcome new members to our team!
Have other ideas for team building activities? Let us know in the comments!