RedBalloon's Top 5 Team Building Tips

Henry Ford once said “coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success” Team events are a great way to acknowledge and recognise group wide contribution to the business’ overall purpose, keeping organisations aligned and playing as one.

At RedBalloon Team Building Events are strategies, not just ‘nice to haves’ and essential in recognising collective contribution and celebrating group progress toward the organisation’s goals.

RedBalloon’s Employee Experience Manager Megan Simpson, is a qualified HR Professional and the mastermind behind the employee experience at RedBalloon. Her objective is to create alignment with company values and team events are her way of achieving this.

RedBalloon’s Team Building Tips:

1) There’s no ‘I’ in Team:
Team building events are an opportunity to reinforce and improve on your everyday team environment in a memorable way. When planning your team event, build on what you have by ensuring your event involves: open communication, trust, idea generation, bonding and intermingling. This removes the sense of ‘I’ and promotes a culture of ‘we’. Now more than ever we need our people feel ‘part of something’, and a little attachment goes a long way when employees begin to have more career options as the economy improves.

2) Choose an event and a supplier that reflects who the company is:
Take the time to get to know your people’s interests and what makes them tick. Celebrationary rewards that are worth striving for build momentum behind your company performance. Personalised rewards are the most meaningful and the most effective way of saying genuine thanks. Give them variety according to the business’ budget.

3) Justifying spend:
The following questions will help you justify spend on team events, will it increase employee productivity and group cohesiveness? Will it change or enhance employees’ perception of our employer brand? Will it show our customers and those who come in contact that we treat our people well?

4) Use team events as incentives to achieve business goals:
At RedBalloon, the trimester that has just passed was themed “Attack the mountain” and the entire company new that they had to achieve 90% of their personal promises (KPI’s) in order to go on a company wide trip to the Blue Mountains. The trimester before the team took part in the ‘Hook Me Up’ challenge over four months, with the goal of increasing the business’ Google Rating for each website by 1 point and lifting our SEO profile. The reward was a red carpet night in our own private theatre to celebrate each team’s part in achieving the desired outcome. Last year the business took part in the Black Diamond Challenge to reach $20 million in revenue, the reward was a weekend at the snow for the entire company, all expenses paid.

5) Make it fun & create excitement:
Break down barriers between teams, allow people to show ‘their true colours’, let their hair down and bond with their colleagues. RedBalloon’s art experience is a popular way for employees to douse their team mates in paint and let loose on the canvas. Rock Climbing & Abseiling, V8 Buggy Racing gets your team outdoors, and Cooking Classes allow people to get their competitive spirit going.

Don’t forget the element of surprise, the ‘wow factor’. Lawn Bowling, Ten Pin Bowling, Trivia and Karaoke nights, Trophies or possessions that get thrown in the bin or stored away don’t have the initial thrill of a unique team experience people have not done before. It doesn’t have to break the budget, popular team building experiences in high demand by RedBalloon clients are Treasure Hunts, sailing regattas and Team Paparazzi competitions around major cities also have an element of strategy and team work getting team dynamics put into practice.

In the lead up to the event and post event, this cements your employer brand and contributes to better engagement levels throughout the business. It fosters a culture of success and winning, which makes people feel they are a company of champions and generates pride. Use Flickr, Facebook and Twitter as your avenues to tell the story creating word of mouth about what your employer brand has done for its people. Marketing collateral is also useful to launch the event in the lead up, or to remind employees of what they have to look forward to.

For event ideas suggestions and advice, take a look at our Team Building Experiences or contact our specialised Events Team by emailing events@redballoon.com.au or calling us on 1300 87 55 00.

Author: Kate Rolfe, RedBalloon

Date: 11/08/2009

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