According to recent studies, only 24% of employees feel connected with their colleagues, which means that three out of every four employees in a regular organization feel at least partially isolated.
Strong companies are famous for teams that have an enviable level of camaraderie. These strong bonds do not form overnight. They arise from constant personal and professional interactions that last for several months and even years.
Interaction problem
Although in many cases professional communication is largely inevitable, at present colleagues often hold joint meetings, but personal interaction does not always occur organically. In such situations, not only is it difficult for veteran workers to get to know their colleagues working in other departments, but it can also be difficult for new employees to smoothly join the company.
Studies show that colleagues are the first thing you should like at work. When companies do not support team building initiatives, or at least when they do not prioritize, both veterans and beginners are less likely to find friends at work. This not only makes it difficult to create a strong team, but also negatively affects the involvement of employees, their mood and productivity.
Therefore, those business owners who want their companies to be successful must take steps so that their employees get to know the people with whom they work, this increases the chances of successful collaboration.
Case for office games
One of the easiest ways organizations can introduce their employees is through the use of office games, which are short and simple actions designed to help people get to know each other on a personal level.
They can be used to help new employees feel comfortable with their colleagues. They can also be played to help veterans recognize their colleagues with whom they rarely or never communicate.
In addition, office games provide companies with a number of advantages:
- They cheer up, which makes them a welcome break in work.
- Break down barriers that may exist between employees.
- May help start basic meetings or lengthy workouts.
- Make it easier for employees to communicate with each other.
- Encourage interactions that usually don’t occur in the context of a typical work day.
Here are some fun games your staff will love.
"Two truths and one lie"
Organize a team lunch or take a break in the afternoon so your staff can meet the newcomer. Each of the participants must come up with one truth and one lie about themselves. Then everyone should present to others what he has invented. All participants in the game try to guess the correct answer, which leads to stories about life situations and contributes to an interesting and pleasant conversation.
"Find 10 common features"
Suppose you run a large company where departments rarely interact. To encourage employees to get to know each other better, organize a dinner for the whole company. After everyone has eaten, break them into separate groups, making sure that each of them has employees of all departments. Ask groups to search for 10 things in common (besides the obvious, for example, that they are people). Perhaps among them there will be countrymen, or someone will have a common hobby.
"Who did this"
Divide your employees into groups (or couples if you have a small company). Let each person write down something interesting that he did on a note card (for example, parachuting, lived in ten different cities - the funnier the situation, the better). Put the cards in the hat, shake them well, ask each person to take a card with a note that they will read aloud. Then, the one who reads should try to guess “who did this,” and why he came to this conclusion.
"Man-rock-paper-scissors"
Probably everyone at least once played rock-paper-scissors. But you probably did not play it in a group. Break your staff into as many teams as you like. Let everyone propose specific gestures for each movement. After a series of games with each team, the best is determined by the number of victories.
"In one word"
Are you looking for an incredibly easy game to start a meeting or training? In this case, a one-word game is good.
Break participants in a meeting or training into small groups of four or five. Ask them a very simple question, for example: “What word would you use to describe the culture of our company?” Give each team five or 10 minutes to come up with their own answers.
Before coming up with their only word, the members of each team will discuss this with each other. Then the teams share their results.
Marshmallow Challenge
Break your team into groups of four. Give each group 20 sticks of spaghetti, 3 meters of ribbon, 3 meters of rope and one marshmallow. Ask them to build the highest freestanding structure you can.
The easiest way to help your employees get to know each other better and increase their productivity is to stimulate interaction in such a way that most people feel comfortable in the office. Therefore, having fun together is one of the fastest ways to a united team.
