Top tips to increase team bonding

With remote working on the rise, having a strong team with openly flowing communication channels is vital for productivity in the workplace. When employees are able to work together effectively, the benefits are clear and wide reaching.

From increased morale, to boosted productivity and therefore profitability, teamwork is as important as ever in the work landscape. Without good teamwork, it can be hard for a business to progress. Fear not, if teams aren’t currently gelling as they should, it is possible to introduce initiatives to promote positive team bonding.

Here, 5-star hotel and conference venue The Grand, York, offer their top 5 tips to help accelerate team building initiatives:

Define roles and responsibilities

Ambiguous roles and responsibilities make working together as a team extremely difficult. If people don’t know where they stand, work may be unfairly delegated and lead to feelings of resentment. Thus, it is important that roles and responsibilities are both clearly documented and communicated. To help with this, organisation charts and documentation should be made available for all to see via a company intranet. This information should also be referred to as part of the onboarding process for new starters.

Create common objectives and goals

If you don’t have one already, a vision is the key to success. Once your business has defined its vision, it’s good practice to devise common goals that work towards achieving this. Studies have shown that teams work better when each member is aware of the end goal, so it is important to share goals and milestones early on.

Reward successes

When the team reaches a goal, no matter how small, it is important to celebrate. From team high fives, a simple well done, biscuits to share, or larger financial incentives; rewarding success goes a long way in boosting team morale and effectiveness! Showing gratitude for altruistic behaviour is also an excellent way to create a tight-knit, friendly culture; a workplace that rewards those who help one another will likely have teams working together effectively.

Encourage feedback from all

Communication in the workplace is incredibly important. If people didn’t communicate, good ideas would never be born. Brainstorming sessions are great for generating ideas and gathering feedback, but the natural leaders of a team can often take centre stage. Whether during kick off events, conference days, team huddles or 1-2-1’s, encourage feedback from each and every team member. This will help every employee to feel valued and therefore work together more effectively.

Encourage informal social meet-ups

Planning team building sessions in the office can be distracting with constant streams of emails and phones ringing. To reduce everyday distractions and ensure effective team building sessions, plan these events in locations away from the office, such as in the great outdoors or against quirky backdrops.

Whilst some people can find corporate team bonding days a little forced, you may wish to allow teams to build relations organically. Encourage low-key out of office meet ups to allow team members to get to know each other in low pressure situations. Alternatively, organise a relaxed summer BBQ or plan a work trip to the races!