The Importance of Team Building

A couple of months ago, our team planned a retreat so that way we could get away for a bit. We rented a cabin up north for a few days so that way we could work on some team projects, play games, and learn with one another. At the time, I thought we were just going to rent a cabin and work the days away, but it was much more than that. Our leads had plenty of activities planned for us to do that I believe brought us closer together.

First off, what even is team building? Team building can include daily interactions with fellow team members / employees. This is a very natural way of team building and this can build the proper foundation for the team to build off of and work together in a more efficient and cohesive fashion.

Team building can also include structured activities or exercises led by team members. These activities can include just about anything. I will use one of the activities that we did at our retreat as an example.

For this activity, we split up into two teams and were given four cards. These cards had random things on them. We were tasked to create a presentation on how a group of olympic hopefuls weren’t cut out for athletic life and how they were more akin with the wonders of software development. We had to also find a way to incorporate the things that were on cards into our presentations.

Not only did we have to do all of that, but we also had to create the presentation as if we were these olympic hopefuls and that we were trying out for the olympic pair coding team (which unfortunately does not exist). I know, it is a lot to take in. We also had to complete all of this in just 30 minutes.

My team consisted of 4 people; Haeven, Nathaniel, Nate, and myself. This activity brought to light a lot of our individual strengths. Such as Nathianiel’s natural born leadership, Haeven’s off the cuff spontaneity, and Nate’s insightfulness and creativity ideas.

If it wasn’t for activities like these I wouldn’t have known most of things about these individuals. This allowed me to become closer with them and connect with them in ways that I wasn’t able to before.

This activity, as well as others that we have had, have led to an overall more positive and productive work environment. We, as a team, simply feel more connected, accepted, and more comfortable around each other.

Now team building doesn’t have to be as zany as the activity that I described here. And can be as simple as putting people together and throwing a project their way. This forces your team members to learn to work together and gives everyone a chance to learn a couple of things about one another.

Understanding the Importance of Team Building is absolutely essential for any business to understand if they wish to have an environment in which their employees can thrive.