As a small business owner with a small group of employees you may not give much thought to teambuilding exercises but the fact is that, if your people know each other well and care about each other a lot, the success level of your business can be increased exponentially.
The fact is that the people who work for you will, over time, become your extended family. Being part of a family, as you no doubt already know, can be a very rewarding experience but can also be very challenging and at times a bit frustrating too.
Have you ever noticed however that, if you go on vacation as a family, relationships after that vacation are usually much better and bonds between family members much stronger. Sharing an experience together does that for a family end, for a group of employees, can do the same.
While we’re not suggesting that you take your employees to Tahiti on vacation (although if your business is really doing well and you can afford it, it might be a consideration) there are certainly plenty of activities that you and your employees can do as a group that will help them to bond and increase everyone’s affinity for each other greatly.
For example, enrolling your team in a softball or bowling league and competing against other small businesses is a great way to bond as well as have a lot of fun.
Taking the entire group out to lunch or dinner is also a fantastic idea. The Italians call this “breaking bread” and the fact is that eating good food is a positive experience that, when shared, can create long-lasting bonds between your employees and yourself.
In many industries there are conventions, expositions and other events that could certainly be attended by you and your entire group of employees. You’d be amazed how many people that work for you don’t really have an idea about the intricacies of your industry. One or two days at an organized industry event can help them to learn a lot about what is your company actually does, as well as get to know their fellow employees at the same time.
Something much simpler and easy to do, as well as being relatively inexpensive, would be to order out for food for the entire group and, while everyone is eating together, have a “BS” session and listen to the comments and feedback that everyone brings to the table. This is not only a great way to get to know your employees but also to hear about any problems, situations or frustrations that they are facing.
At the end of the day the fact is that, as a business owner, you’re sort of like the “proud papa” of the business and your employees are your “children”. You need to keep them in line, reward them when necessary and scold them when necessary as well.
Just like a family you also need to spend time with them doing something fun, interesting or different outside of work. If you do, you’ll find that the rewards are definitely worth the investment.
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