Communication styles in the workplace are rapidly evolving, amplified with armies of social media-obsessed millennials entering the work force each year. Companies who want to stay on top of the trends must gear up and work creatively to engage their employees when teaching and inspiring principles of real-life communication and teamwork, which are vital to success.
One creative way to engage and motivate employees is with a team building activity. It has quickly become a trendy concept in corporate America as a quick-fix solution to inspire teamwork and promote camaraderie in the workplace. With the competition of hiring and retaining qualified employees on the rise, it’s valuable for companies to invest in making their work environment more appealing by mixing up the daily grind with a little fun. Savvy managers looking to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace understand the importance of happy employees — those are the folks who give their all each day to help the company innovate and grow.
However, this noteworthy notion laced with good intentions often misleads leadership into believing that making employees happy with effective team building is an offsite outing to the ball game followed by drinks at the local pub. Born out of the trend to offer more engaging team building solutions, small companies have emerged with scavenger hunts, ropes course and field games that are stamped with “team building” as an HR-friendly answer to organized outings away from the office. The games are backed with promises that the activities inspire teamwork and promote cohesive problem-solving skills.
The reality is many of these lackluster activities offer all sugar and no substance. In turn they have proven ineffective, creating a nationwide groan from employees who now associate team building with a forced insult to their education and natural abilities.
Chad Michael, owner and founder of AdVenture Games Team Building has focused his career in catering to the tech-savvy millennial generation.
“We have stepped away from archaic, amateur and silly scavenger hunts…The current generation needs to be challenged and fully engaged in order to teach basic principles of communication, problem-solving and teamwork.”
His fresh style of team building have employees and management eagerly looking forward to their exciting team building events.
So how are fortune 500 companies such as Facebook and Google getting creative in training their management to be effective team players? One way is to kidnap your boss.
A mock kidnapping of course, followed by an elaborate, twisty, espionage-filled rescue of the missing executive by a team of co-workers is just one way the AdVenture Games Team Building helps foster a more cohesive, committed and supportive workplace.
“The most creative way to teach valuable lessons of leadership and communication is to engage employees in an unexpected activity that is carefully designed and backed by parallels to real-life situations…If the team building activity does not come with lessons learned and a creative way to instill valuable skill sets, the investment no more effective than an afternoon at the park.”
AdVenture Games’ signature programs, such as SpyGame, offers a smarter approach to team building through one-of- a-kind adventures. Each game asks team members to use their strategic thinking and interpersonal skills to navigate through a series of assignments. Players choose the path they want, and — just as in life — their choices decide how well they succeed.
“Regardless to how you choose to invest in your team building activity, there needs to be a place where workers feel valued, everyone’s role is celebrated, and communication, consideration and respect are part of the company culture.”
Michael started in his company in 2005 and his games have been successfully played by Asics, Coca-Cola, Dell, Facebook, Google, Home Depot, Mars Chocolate, Walmart and more, along with thousands of their employees throughout the US.
