Careers in the customer service industry can be trying at times; representatives are consistently fielding phone calls from confused and often frustrated customers. However, if you have employees who enjoy coming to work every day due to the positive environment you’ve created, odds are they’ll perform well and do better by those customers.
So, how do you create this environment that encourages happiness amongst employees? It starts with team building.
Why team building?
According to Forbes, team building is the “most important investment you can make for your people.” Team building exercises, though sometimes perceived as boring and unnecessary, can help to build trust, encourage communication and collaboration, and stamp out conflict and unhealthy competition.
Employees who connect with one another on a personal level are more likely to be supportive in the workplace. While this doesn’t mean employees need to be best friends, engaging your team and supporting shared experiences allows a healthier environment to bloom.
How to practice team building
Team building exercises don’t have to be specifically “corporate” in nature. Sharing a meal as a department or planning a bowling night often does the same—if not better—as a corporate retreat. You may even want to think way outside of the box and go on excursions like zip-lining or hiking!
If getting out of the office often isn’t exactly budget-friendly, employers can work to make the office a place of collaboration. Having daily, five-minute check-ins with the group or setting up monthly chats where team members communicate and share can make a significant difference. You may even want to consider having employees from different departments trade roles for an hour or so, just to get a better sense of what it’s like in the other’s shoes and to improve understanding. This can help to eliminate the blame game whenever something goes wrong.
Team communication can mean the difference between a positive workplace and a stressful one. From interdepartmental conversations to external planning, having functional and reliable equipment is a must. Call Vaspian today at 1-855-VASPIAN for more information about our business phone service solutions.
What I appreciated was how you explained that team building activities allow employees to get to know each other better, connect on a personal level and thus, become more supportive in the workplace. I knew that there was something missing in the office, but I didn’t expect that it was this important! We work in an environment wherein we’re interdependent on one another, so I think we will benefit from a corporate team building activity. I’ll let my boss know about this. Thanks!
I really like your point about employees that connect on a personal level are more likely to be supportive in the workplace. If I was an employee in an office environment, I would want to be able to have personal relationships with my coworkers, I think that would also make coming to work much easier. I am actually interested in finding team building activities to do with my friends, I wonder if that is something that is in the same category as what this article is talking about.