Companies today are always looking for ways to bring their employees together.  Teamwork is the most important aspect of any group environment, but the importance of teamwork can not be stressed enough in an office.  Everyone is working toward a similar goal with the hope of reaping the benefits when the company does well and profits.   

Big companies have so many departments and within those departments you have many different types of people; men, women, married, single, divorced, young and old.  With so many different personalities and ambitions it’s hard to keep everyone happy. And you know what they say about a happy worker; “A happy worker is a productive worker.”

So how do you get all your employees to play nice and get along all the while enjoying their job?  It’s easy, plan excursions outside of the workplace with a “team building” theme.  When employees meet each other outside of the workplace the usual stress or awkwardness isn’t hanging over their head.  It’s a great chance to really get to know your fellow workers without titles and corner offices getting in the way.

Here are a couple interesting and extremely fun “team building” outings:

Laser Tag - Laser Tag is a fast paced game for ages 5 to 85 - a high tech combination of tag and hide and seek. It’s usually played in a large, multi-level arena with specialty lighting, fog and heart pounding music. Players, whether individually or on teams, use their lasers to tag their opponents’ sensors and score as many points as possible. After being hit, your weapon will be deactivated and you cannot receive another hit for several seconds. Either escape from your opponent or take cover. Laser tag has become increasingly popular with employers looking for a fun and safe way to promote teamwork in companies of all sizes.

Paintball - A great teamwork game is “Capture the Flag”. Capture the other team’s flag that’s held at their base and bring it back to yours. The two teams need to have a defensive and offensive strategy in order to succeed in their mission. This game requires the most teamwork and communication skills making it a great activity for a corporate or business outing.

Of course the last team standing in either outing, has to get a team trophy to be proudly displayed in the reception area for all to see! Gone are the “pat on the backs” of yesterday; today’s employees want recognition in the form of gold, silver or bronze. Or, it could be as simple as awarding victory medals. Trophies are also a great way to show the employees what they can accomplish when working as a team.

There’s a great quote from Confucius: “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I might remember, involve me and I will understand.”