In the printing industry, as in any industry, it’s important for employees to get along, bond or even establish friendships with co-workers.
This does not mean we need to have regular BBQ’s or go out together every weekend, but it’s important for us to get to know, help, and share ideas with each other. As the old saying goes: There is no I in TEAM.
When people get along with each other at work and have work-related friendships, this can help with productivity, general happiness, and job satisfaction, resulting in a better running and more profitable business.
Getting started
It’s sad but true that many companies only get everyone together once a year at a Christmas party. You’ve likely experienced company departments sticking together with little to no mingling with others.
Team building can be realized in many ways. It may not seem effective the first time, but if team-building activities take place regularly, at least every 3 or 6 months, you will soon see an improvement in relations between employees.
A committee of employees can be formed who together brainstorm for ideas and the location/virtual platform. When selecting teams for your team building activity, be sure to include people from all different areas and departments (avoid forming groups from just one department) so that people from diverse fields are all working together.
This helps build wider company relationships between employees, which is especially important in companies where employees work in shifts or in other countries.
Activities for team building
Before restrictions in face-to-face contact due to the coronavirus, activities for team building such as scavenger hunts, cooking classes, and sport games took place indoor or outdoor depending on location and time of year. Fortunately, here in Asia it’s always summer, so most of our team building activities are outdoors at the beach.
Today with many employees now working from home, team building activities can still take place in a virtual way. For example, companies have organized online coffee breaks, happy hours, and games such as Escape Room especially designed for virtual team building across departments.
The goal of each team building activity is the opportunity to bring your employees together and get to know each other more in an informal way, outside of day-to-day work meetings and email communication.
Summary
This snippet is shorter than my others, and not related to printing processes but to the company as a whole. I believe it’s important for team building to take place for the company’s overall success.
It’s common for most employees to never really know many people outside of their department. Please consider this if you are in a position to help; it will make a big difference for your company. I guarantee you will see the positive changes that team building can bring.
Get in touch
If you have questions or suggestions on this or any of my other snippets, please feel free to contact me.
You can reach me via LinkedIn or via email k.marsh@mps4u.com.