In the corporate context of Singapore team building tends to be viewed by employees as either a way to pass the time and break the monotony of daily work, or for some, as boring activities that waste time. But don’t worry, Happy Sparrow activities are guaranteed to be both fun and productive for your staff and your company.
Team building activities are a wonderful way to further increase the bond between members of a small company or of a department in a large company. But what about employees from different departments? How do you go about creating a sense of togetherness among people who may not have much or any interaction on a regular workday? Unfortunately, most companies never really take an interest in this as they don’t feel that it is important for employees in unrelated departments to connect. However, it has been demonstrated that this is actually critical to a company’s success. When different departments relate better, then they tend to cooperate more and produce better results. Fortunately, there are some easy and fun ways to encourage and nurture inter-department team building.
Trying Out Another Division
Perhaps the most engaging and meaningful way to build a sense of togetherness between departments is what is called ‘take an employee to work’ day. This allows a member of one department to go to another department, under the care of a particular employee, in order to learn the nature of that department. While they won’t be expected to necessarily learn any of the skills required to work in that department, a day of observation will allow them to better understand the function of that department and how it relates to their own department. This helps to establish a sense of the big picture and the significant role each element of the company plays in that picture. As well as being a fun way to experience what others do, this experience can also establish a level of communication that can help improve inter-department relations and cooperation.
Creating In-House Clubs
Another way to bring members of different departments together is to create in-house clubs. Just because two people have different jobs within a company doesn’t mean they don’t have anything in common. Such things as chess clubs, book clubs or any other interest-based group can bring like-minded people together no matter where their desks or offices might otherwise be. Not only will this build friendships within the workplace, but it will also encourage more positive and friendly communication between departments. Suddenly, instead of an ‘us and them’ environment, you have a workplace where the employees act as one large happy family. This will go a long way to creating and maintaining morale and a sense of unity that lasts well beyond specific team building exercises.
Holding Charity Events
One of the best ways to bring people together is to give them a common cause. Few things achieve this goal better than charity events. Setting up opportunities for employees from different departments to volunteer for charity work will not only enable them to build stronger bonds between themselves, but it will also enable them to build stronger bonds with the community. By working together to help others employees will gain a sense of respect for each other as well as a sense of self-respect as well. Furthermore, such events will also put a better face on the company as a whole—which is good for any business, large or small.
