To foster group cohesion, communicate a clear purpose and roles, hold individuals and departments accountable, and reward good team effort. Use team building exercises, create sports teams, and organize off-site activities. Enforce the idea of team members over employees, and create a corporate culture of communication, respect, and fairness.
To foster group cohesion, communicate a clear group purpose and make sure everyone knows each other’s roles. Each individual and department should be held accountable for a specific outcome for the organization as a whole and rewarded for good team effort. The mission statement and details of what the company does and why should be easily identifiable by all. You may want to create a company policy to refer to workers as team members rather than employees. Experiences outside the workplace, such as a team sport or an outdoor trip, can deepen bonds and trust between people to foster group cohesion.
Hiring a corporate trainer experienced in team building can help you add more social cohesion to the workplace. The exercises that these types of trainers usually do with employees are usually fun and more importantly memorable for the people involved. For example, a classic type of group cohesion exercise to help foster the concept of a team of people working together toward a common goal is a blindfolded egg-and-spoon contest. An employee is blindfolded and must carry a raw egg on a spoon through an obstacle course while her teammates guide the person to the finish line with only her voice prompts.
Some companies like to create sports teams to compete with other companies in the same industry. The idea of everyone working as a team is a very literal way to foster group cohesion. Whether it’s bowling, soccer, or something else entirely, your employees will play on a team, all wearing the same uniform. Another possibility is to organize a company camping or canoe trip where everyone is responsible for one chore, such as cooking, setting up and tearing down tents, doing the dishes, or gathering wood for the fire. These types of off-site activities can be fun while also helping to bond the group.
It’s important to make sure that your company’s policies enforce the idea of team members over just employees. Creating a corporate culture of communication, respect and fairness is also crucial, or workers may feel alienated and not want to be with the company. Fair remuneration and reasonable terms are necessary for team cohesion, but each team member is also expected to do their part to achieve the purpose of the company. At staff meetings, in business councils or office memos, try to include a reminder about the company’s mission and each department’s role in it.
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