How to plan and organise a successful team building event
29 March 2023
Team building is essential for creating a successful team that works well together. Team building events and activities are a great way to bring your team together and create a cohesive, motivated team that is all working towards a common goal.
Here at New Forest Activities, we offer a range of team building activities and events in the beautiful setting of the New Forest, Hampshire. We've coordinated and led loads of successful events, so we're confident we can help you with your planning.
In this blog post, we will guide you through the process of planning a successful team building day. We'll cover everything from choosing the right activities to organising the logistics and ensuring your team get everything they need from the experience and it's an event everyone will enjoy.
Benefits of team building events
Before we dive into planning your team building day, it's important to understand the benefits of team building. Team building encourages teamwork and communication and helps team members to bond.
It also helps team members to find common ground and work towards a shared goal. Encouraging employees to work together on problem-solving helps inspire leadership and creativity within the team.
Team building activities can also help teams come together in more ways than one. This is especially important when you have new team members or a team that works remotely.
Guide to planning a team building day
Now that we've covered the benefits of team building, let's dive into the steps you should take to plan a company team building day that the team will love and one that will give you great results.
Step 1: Define your goals
The first step in planning a team building day is to define your goals. What do you hope to achieve with the event? Are you looking to improve teamwork, boost morale, or develop new skills? Once you’ve defined your goals, you can choose activities that will help you achieve them.
Step 2: Choose your activities
There are a wide variety of team building activities to choose from. Some popular choices include problem-solving challenges like team building exercises on a ropes course, or more relaxed outdoor activities like kayaking that get team members out of the office and getting to know each other better.
Consider the size of your team, the time and budget you have available, and the interests the members of your team have when selecting activities. It can be hard to please everyone, which is why when it comes to planning a team day, it's worth getting advice from a team building provider. You want to pick activities that build the structure of the day and ones the team would benefit most from doing.
Step 3: Divide your team into smaller groups
Depending on the team size, consider dividing your team into smaller groups to encourage team bonding and relationship building. This will give team members the opportunity to work closely with each other, and it can be easier for people to bond when they aren't trying to get to know the whole team.
Be sure to mix up the groups so that people with different work experiences and backgrounds have the chance to work together. It's OK for team members to feel a little out of their comfort zone, it's a great way to get to know each other better.
Step 4: Create an environment that encourages teamwork
To get the most out of your team building event, it’s important to create an environment that encourages teamwork. This means creating clear expectations for the day, setting ground rules, and giving team members the tools they need to succeed.
Consider appointing a team leader for each group and providing resources like whiteboards, markers, and sticky notes to help teams work together effectively. Depending on the activities you've chosen, some of the team may be doing one activity while the rest of your team does another. For events like this with big teams, it's worth organising a lunch to get your team all together at some point in the day.
Step 5: Set expectations for the day
To ensure that you get everyone on the same page, it’s important to set expectations for the day. Let your team members know what they can expect from the event, what activities they will be doing, and what outcomes you hope to achieve.
This will help everyone to feel more engaged and invested in the day’s activities. It also gives your team time to prepare and helps you plan to maximise the experience.
Step 6: Delegate responsibilities
To ensure that your team building day runs smoothly, delegating responsibilities is important. This could mean assigning one team member to handle logistics like booking the venue and arranging catering while another takes charge of creating an itinerary for the day. It doesn't all have to sit with one person.
Commit to a day and be sure to assign tasks based on each team member’s strengths and interests. Your activities provider should also be able to shoulder some of the responsibility and help ensure your event runs smoothly.
Step 7: Plan the logistics
When planning the logistics of your team building day, consider the day and time that will work best for your team. If some team members work remotely, you may need to plan an in-person event that works around their schedules.
You’ll also need to consider the price of the event, the location, and any transportation needs. Again, if you work with an event provider, they will be able to advise or book these things for you.
Step 8: Get feedback
Once the team building day is over, it’s important to get feedback. Ask team members what they enjoyed about the event, what they would change, and what they learned. This will help you plan your next team building event and improve based on your team’s feedback.
Discover great team building activities and plan a team building event in the New Forest, Hampshire
New Forest Activities offer a range of team building activities and challenges that would engage and encourage team members to work together.
Whether you're looking to organise a corporate team building event to improve company culture or simply want to plan a fun activity to reward your team, we've got the perfect location and activities your team will learn from and love.