Traditional team-building activities have become largely obsolete thanks to emerging technology and hybrid work models.
Thankfully, forward-thinking businesses can now integrate new ways of creating stronger teams while boosting morale and productivity.
Why Traditional Team Building is Failing
For decades, the standard corporate approach to building team spirit relied on things like an annual company day out. Going to an escape room or an assault course followed by a meal together was a costly exercise, and it’s fair to say that not everyone agreed that it was an effective method of forging workplace bonds.
As time has passed and the way we work has fundamentally changed, the flaws in the traditional team-building events have become impossible to ignore. The operational disruption caused by closing down operations so everyone can join a day out is one thing, but the fact that many remote and hybrid workers can’t join these events is another reason why new ideas were needed.
How Gamification and Friendly Competition Lead the Way
When looking for ways to replace those outdated annual outings, the switch to workplace gamification seemed like an obvious choice. Adding game mechanics to daily workflows and creating friendly competition elements have been increasingly seen as ways of boosting employee engagement.
Deloitte is one of the companies making waves in this area. Their Deloitte Leadership Academy training portal uses the likes of custom achievement badges and progress bars, as well as leaderboards.
On the other hand, Target’s real-time cashier interface is another interesting innovation that comes with gamified elements. Immediate scoring and performance feedback are used to make the task of scanning purchases into something more satisfying. We can also see companies like Cisco and PricewaterhouseCoopers moving in this direction with gamified processes that turn routine tasks into achievements that can be shared.
Consumer Models As a Blueprint
When companies look to design a more effective workplace engagement system, they don’t need to create everything from scratch. By looking at the digital consumer landscape, they can see a proven blueprint for user participation in various sectors. With YouTube named the most influential single brand in the world recently, there’s much room for improvement that small businesses can learn from atop the shoulders of giants.
Modern websites boast numerous engagement ideas that businesses can learn from in their own continous professional development and team-building programs. Micro-polls, instant reaction loops, and streak mechanics are all worthwhile approaches that can be adapted seamlessly to the corporate team-building environment.
By focusing on a certain type of growing segment, business leaders can look more closely at the dynamics driving it. Looking at daily fantasy sports contests as one example, this PrizePicks promo for new users shows a bonus for new users with clearly laid-out rules. Players can use their bonus on the sports that they’re most interested in, such as baseball, ice hockey, and golf. Everything is designed for a fast start and maximum flexiblity, which is also the right move for business tools.
Other sectors provide different lessons. From the interactive charts on cryptocurrency exchanges to the dynamic indicators on retail sites, there are many ways of presenting information that fit neatly into the requirements for corporate team building and engagement.
The era of office days out may be almost over, but this encroaching new wave of ideas should ensure that there are still enjoyable ways of connecting with colleagues and progressing through the corporate structure while having fun.
