What's a team building day?

Team building days have become a must for strengthening cohesion and collaboration within companies. This article guides you through the various stages of a typical day, the objectives to be achieved and the benefits it can bring to your team.

What is a team building day?

A team building day is an activity organized by a company to improve communication, collaboration and team spirit among its employees. These events are designed to foster strong relationships and reinforce cohesion, outside the usual professional setting.

The activities chosen for these days are often playful, participative and sometimes even physical, to see who can chase a ball the fastest! The aim is to create bonds while working together on common challenges.

The stages of a team building day

1) Planning and organization

The first crucial step is to define the day's objectives. Why are you organizing this activity? Do you want to strengthen team spirit, improve communication or develop specific skills? Based on these objectives, you'll choose the right activities. You can also survey your teams to find out what they expect from the team building event, and what activities they prefer, so that the day will be just like them. Next, you'll need to decide on the location, duration and participants, as well as a budget.

2) Welcome and presentation of objectives

Right from the start of the day, it's essential to explain to participants why they're there (no, this isn't a surprise meeting). A presentation of the objectives gets everyone involved and gives a clear framework for the activities. It's also the ideal time to remind everyone that the aim is to have fun... and not to turn the activity into a ruthless competition.

3) Group activities

Team building activities are often the most appreciated moments. They must be adapted to the objectives and dynamics of the team. Here are a few examples:

- Role-playing: To test team communication and decision-making (and discover who would have made a good actor in another life).

- Creative workshops: To boost innovation and solve problems differently (yes, even in business, coloring can be serious).

- Physical challenges: to build trust and cooperation.

- Treasure hunts or escape games: Perfect for stimulating team spirit and seeing who can keep their cool under pressure.

4) Debriefing and analysis

After the activities, a debriefing is essential. This is the time when everyone can share their feelings, discuss the challenges encountered and the skills developed. The idea is to analyze what worked... and what could be improved.

It also helps you to better understand what your employees are looking for in a future team building activity. After all, if they survived a raft-building workshop together, they deserve a say in the next activity!

5) After team building

A successful team building day doesn't stop once the activities are over. It's important to make the link with day-to-day professional life, and to encourage employees to apply what they've learned to their work. Because if you can solve an enigma in less than three minutes in an escape game, you should also be able to resolve a tense situation in a meeting, shouldn't you?

Objectives of a team building day

The main objectives of a team building day are many and varied:

• Strengthening team cohesion Activities enable members to get to know each other better and create strong bonds that will facilitate collaboration at work.
• Improve motivation and commitment: Team-building activities increase work motivation by 14.4% (University of Berkeley).
• Increase productivity: Team building strengthens team cohesion and boosts business efficiency by 30% (AGEFI).
• Attracting and retaining talent: 80% of candidates prefer companies with a good reputation as an employer (Talent Board).
• Reduce absenteeism: Team building strengthens employee commitment, and an engaged employee has a 41% lowerabsenteeism rate than a disengaged one (Gallup).

The benefits of a team building day

The benefits of a team-building day are both short-term and long-term:

• Better cohesion: Team members who spend time together outside the formal work setting develop a better understanding of each other, which in turn improves collaboration.
• Improved communication: once you've shouted "Pass me the rope!" in the middle of a tree-climbing activity, you're more likely to ask the office for a small favor.
• Boosting morale: These events provide a break from the daily grind, bring a bit of fun and create a more relaxed atmosphere, which can have a positive impact on the working atmosphere.
• Conflict resolution: Group activities can also be used to resolve latent conflicts by bringing employees to understand each other in a more informal setting.
• Personal development: Activities enable everyone to develop stress management, leadership and problem-solving skills.

 Organizing a team building day is an excellent way of strengthening team cohesion. A successful day can have a lasting impact on your team's productivity and motivation! If you're interested in activity ideas or organizational tips, don't hesitate to contact us! We promise we won't make you climb Everest (unless you ask for it 😉 ).

By Candice Lhomme