A prospective employee comes in for a technical discussion. 

Discussion with the HR:

HR: How are you?

Candidate: Doing well, thanks. How about you?

HR: I am well, thanks for asking. How was your experience here?

Candidate: It was good.

HR: Why is reason behind to join our company?

Candidate: When I came in I wasn’t sure, but after spending some time here at the reception, I sure want to!

HR: Oh! That’s good to know. May I ask what changed your mind?

Candidate: While I was waiting for my rounds at the reception, I observed the people here. Most of them were laughing or smiling. This made me realize that this is a happy place to work. 

That’s the impact team building brings when you do it the right way.

There are decades of studies done on the subject and most of them prove that Team Building activities are essential to creating a team for success.

McDougall (1920) holds the credit of being the first team builder and one of the first to define various conditions required to build a high performing team. If we probe deeper into the subject we find names like Sigmund Freud, Frederick Taylor, and Kurt Lewin associated with it. All the hard work done by these geniuses were effectively put to corporate use after WWII.

Let’s come back to the topic Role of Fun activities and Team parties in Team Building, the question is how much do these activities contribute to the process of building a great team. Elton Mayo, The thinker of the Hawthorne Experiments, in his studies suggests that there are internal and external social demands that influence an individual’s performance. He also adds that the informal groups formed within the work environment influence the attitude of the individual. 

Have you heard about the Googleween parties that happen every year on Halloween at Google? As reported by the Huffington Post, the team parties are one of the flashiest perks that Google Offers its employees. The Flashy themes such as Space with Stormtroopers, James Bond, and Game of Thrones, does say that Google knows how to party.

The fun activities give the individual a chance to get committed to working with a team without the pressure of deadlines or expectations. The bonding of team members in a relaxed atmosphere helps them break the monotony quickly and gets them recharged to tackle another day at work together. These activities also bring about the possibility of showcasing some talents that otherwise would be unknown. This in return brings about a social recognition of the individual and also gives him/her the realization that the organization cares. In a few of our events, we discovered that apart from being building super impressive Java projects one had a great talent in classical dancing, another who was a rainmaker in Sales stole the audience’s heart by playing guitar. 

Team parties, on the other hand, bring around the opportunity of building vertical relationships and gaining visibility that boosts morale. It is a suitable occasion where bosses can go ahead and give the long earned pat on the back and the individual can present an idea and show them what a motivated team player he or she is. This helps in making great interpersonal relations such as mutual supportiveness and sharing of feelings, building trust, and open communication amongst team members.  

So, we can say that Fun Activities and Team Parties play an imperative role in building high performing teams. That’s the reason why in the ’80s and ’90s powerful countries started accepting this process to come out of inflation and significant international debt. The impact of consciously applying such methods was so high that the years from 1990 to now is known as the era of high performing teams. 

The celebrations, the competitions, the dancing and cheering in the parties together brings about the bonding that takes the team to the next level with the year-long positive buzzing. At the same time, it also adds to the willingness of all the team members to stay longer with the team. The informal groups created brings harmony within the organization and increases the engagement of team members. When new team members join in such groups they have a positive start and get the motivation to do well and above all to belong. We are no expert but all we know is that all such activities and team parties have brought a smile on the faces of our team members and the achievements had them boasting about it for a long time. In the end, it’s all worth it.

If you want to have a sneak-peek into our software development company, check out our website!