Don’t miss out on the top team building trends of 2024. Some noticeable practices are becoming more prominent in the wonderful world of team building. As we progress into the new year, companies can take advantage of these popular tools and strategies for creating effective teams in the workplace.
These trends include:
- The use of technology
- Gamification
- Smaller teams
- Team building focused on company culture
These advancements in the team building industry will help organizations form stronger teams of more productive employees.
Technology-Driven Activities as the Next “It” Service in Team Building
The next big trend related to team building in 2024 is using technology to promote learning. More specifically, we’re talking about the technology on personal devices. Such as smartphones and tablets. Mobile devices are becoming more popular in schools as teachers realize the benefits they provide by increasing student engagement. Team leaders can achieve similar benefits by using smartphones to engage their staff during team building.
Smartphone apps can connect each member of a team to a common goal. During team building events, this connectivity increases inclusion and encourages effective communication. Many apps exist to connect employees for better teamwork, such as Slack or Trello. Other apps are focused on the gamification of group activities, such as Strayboots. These are valuable resources that should never be forgotten in a work environment.
For example, technology can make orientation days engaging and fun. Orientation is a very critical aspect of a successful employee onboarding process. An orientation day should be welcoming and fun, as it marks the beginning of a new employee’s integration into the organization. Technology can be used to help new employees learn about the company, find their way around their new workplace, and break the ice with other team members.
Strayboots’ team building activities are focused on this. We provide activities to groups, such as scavenger hunts and trivia challenges. These activities are accessed directly from each individual’s personal device via our downloadable app. We use technology to turn team building best-practices into fun and inclusive games.
Developing your team’s communication skills is also very important. With so much communication occurring online, being expressive and concise is very important. Advanced communication skills involve guiding and directing communication between yourself and others to achieve common goals in the most efficient way possible. Technology is a key factor in developing better communication with your team.
A Drive Towards Smaller Groups to Increase Learning Opportunities
The next major trend that will continue to develop in 2024 is the move towards smaller team sizes. Perhaps you’ve heard of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ “two pizza rule”. He simply states that if you can’t feed your group with just two pizzas, then your group is too large to be productive.
Larger teams run into countless obstacles that slow down their productivity and efficiency. There’s more communication occurring, more clashing opinions, more chaos, and a high chance that someone will be left out or won’t pull their weight. In a small group, the contribution of each individual team member is necessary for the group to succeed. As a result, small teams are more engaged in whatever project they’re working on. Consider that 42% of people at companies with less than 10 employees were engaged at work compared to 30% at bigger companies. Simply put, smaller teams work better together.
When it comes to team building, smaller groups result in a more effective team building day. Smaller groups tend to open up more and are more willing to get involved in activities. They also enjoy increased individual effort and engagement.
We recommend tackling team building on a small scale at first. Team building can be done between small groups within the same department of an organization. Get these teams together to play some Strayboots games so they can develop strong teamwork skills within their department. Then, you can bring in other departments and mix up the teams. This lets your employees get involved in company-wide team building as well.
Company Culture is Becoming a Focal Point for Team Engagement
Team building is leaning towards a focus on employee engagement rather than teamwork alone. There’s no surprise there, considering the fact that employee engagement increases company revenue and drastically reduces employee turnover. Team building is a great way to increase engagement, and many companies are beginning to realize this. Better yet, team building with a heavy focus on company culture is even better.
Company culture is essentially the personality of the company. It includes the values, ethics, goals, missions, and expectations of the company. Traditional company culture is fairly individualistic. Today, the modern company culture is vastly team-based and encourages all levels of participation. Think about Google. The company’s fun and casual culture are based on engaged, teamwork-centered employees.
Team building that focuses on company culture strengthens the ties between departments as everyone aligns themselves with company values. Traditional team building activities, like sports games or rock climbing outings, don’t achieve this. On the other hand, engaging teambuilding gets employees thinking about the company and its role in it.
One way you can accomplish this is by using Strayboots’ team building activities because our challenges are customizable. Team leaders can alter our activities to teach employees about the company values and test them on key aspects of their mission. This keeps company culture at the forefront of team building, creating a foundation for an engaged employee workforce.
Jump on the Team Building Bandwagon in 2024
Recently, there’s been an increasing desire for gamification in team building and the incorporation of technology into activities. Additionally, we’ve seen a shift towards a focus on small teams and company culture over impersonal staff events. These trends will make 2024 a great year for team building. If you want to get your company involved in the future of team building, contact us at Strayboots and we’ll help you set up an event!
