WORKPLACE SPECIAL ....5 WAYS TO Foster Team Building

5 WAYS TO Foster Team Building   Team-building exercises come handy to beat low performance and boost motivation among employees to do better. Prachi Verma Dadhwal reports on ways to foster team-building activities to improve performance. 1 Town Halls Holding town hall meetings frequently helps in connecting on a regular basis. “Town halls maintain transparency, give clarity of purpose among employees and keep them on the same page which ultimately has a positive effect on their performance,“ says Jubin Shaju, HR head at Chillr. 2 Role Swapping Grass is always greener on the other side: this is how most employees think of others in other departments, roles, levels. However, every role or task has its challenges. “Letting team members branch out and explore roles has multifaceted benefits. Role swapping refreshes a team as well as individual employee,“ says Manu Agarwal, CEO, Naaptol. “It develops empathy, collaboration between teams, which, in turn, results in a cohesive environment,“ he says. 3 Recognition These are two effective tools to motivate your team. “They are vital to creating an engaged and loyal workforce. Giving recognitions helps create bonds with employees,“ says Agarwal. 4 Being Informal Knowing the people around you at work on a more personal level can make the office atmosphere a much happier place. “The bonds that are created while at a team outing will boost motivation, as employees will feel like a much more cohesive unit when the time comes to get back to business,“ says Agarwal. Recreational activities like team outings or playing sports together can act like an ice breaker and break down day-to-day barriers that might be felt in the workplace. 5 Team Events Hold problem-solving events such as hackathons where individuals or teams come together and collaborate to create something new or solve an existing problem. “It is a great source of innovation. These hackathonsevents instigate creative problem solving among the employees,“ says Shaju. It also allows employees to voice their thoughts which they wouldn't get the chance to do otherwise. “This breaks the traditional methods of team participation and results in higher individual performance,“ he says.

Aug 22 2017 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)