Most companies assume that team building is a natural process that occurs as a result of working together toward a shared goal. However, for the purpose of understanding each other, team members need to be in a position of socializing freely. Unfortunately, there is very little time to get to know coworkers at a personal level when you are pressed for time to comply with an urgent deadline.
As a result, it is foolish for business owners to pretend that work assignments can replace social interactions. On the contrary, if you want to bring your team together around a common goal, you need to set a creative objective that isn’t directly related to your income-generating processes. Your team should create for the sake of creativity!
Have a common creative project
You probably remember your time at school when the common class project was nothing more than a poorly prepared play to be introduced to parents at the end of the year. Your creative project needs to be a little more exciting than that! And even though it doesn’t serve any commercial purpose, you can use it as a meaningful milestone for your team. Why not, for example, design the new meeting room decor together? You can divide tasks and let coworkers come up with the best solution. A group can be in charge of designing friendly office signs with a vinyl cutter – you can find guidance here vinylcuttingmachineguide.com –, while others can find the best color combination to revive the space. Decide on a budget ahead of the project to avoid any issue.
Make it a sharing process
Not everyone in your team has the DIY skills to decorate a room – if this is the project you’ve chosen. But it’s a good thing as team members who are more experienced and creative can take others under their wings and share their knowledge. Ultimately, by sharing tips and ideas, your team learn to nurture enhanced creativity and create a bond.
Find new ideas together
The advantage of making creativity the sole purpose of your team building project is that you have to encourage people to come up with ideas. Brainstorming is an essential process of your creative journey. But more importantly, brainstorming ideas also helps everyone to play a role by sharing their individual ideas with the group, as per www.projectmanager.com/brainstorming. It’s not a matter of identifying the best idea, it’s about embracing group thinking and having fun together! Brainstorming is an excellent tool to push boundaries and go above and beyond a spec. But it only works if you know how to set a safe environment for all.
Make mistakes together
Things will go wrong. But in a creative project that doesn’t serve any commercial purpose, you have plenty of room for mistakes. The best way to help everyone to embrace the process as a social game is to embrace errors. Ultimately, the purpose is to get together. Mistakes not only are lessons to learn but they are also shared experiences. It’s ok to get things wrong if it brings us closer.
Creativity is a lot more than a business tool. It’s the bridge that connects your team. Embrace it, nurture it, and use it widely every day!