How To Boost Office Teamwork Through Team Sports

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Are you looking to boost office teamwork? Creating cohesive teams in the workplace can be an important part of a company’s overall success. Workers who feel connected to each other will naturally work harder and more joyfully to meet company goals. One activity that can facilitate this connection is playing team sports such as baseball, volleyball, or soccer.

Not only employees benefit from this, however. Playing team sports allows managers to get to know employees better and to understand what motivates each of them. To find out what excites each of them and the individual personalities. This knowledge and understanding easily translates from the playing field into the workplace. A boss that knows employees’ motivations, thought patterns, needs, and desires can adjust his or her leading style accordingly.

How Team Sports Can Boost Office Teamwork

Here are some important tips for coordinating team sports for your company.

Setting Times

Whenever possible, you should schedule the game during normal working hours. Most employees do not enjoy feeling obligated to attend work-related activities off the clock. Schedule one weekday afternoon each week or month for game time. Friday afternoons may be best, as this is when most people are beginning to feel burned out from the workweek. A game will get everyone’s weekend off to a good start.

Gathering Equipment

Rent or purchase good quality equipment. This means you should also get the right protective helmets and padding for everyone, and the right-sized equipment. If you have chosen baseball, you will need to choose baseball bat sizes that match the employees. Your 160 pound, tall male executive, will require a different bat size than a 120 pound, shorter female executive. Good equipment prevents injury and ensures every player has a fair chance in the game.

Creating Teams

Teams may be members of departments, or subgroups within departments. For example, IT professionals could be pitted against the HR department. In shipping, order pickers could be pitted against loaders. Much will depend on the size of your company. For companies with fewer than 40 employees, it may be best to alternate team members. This way, everyone gets to work with each other during the game at some point.

Another option is to play team sports with competing companies. Logistically, this is a bit more difficult to work out. It may be more difficult to find times everyone is comfortable with. However, this is an excellent way to instill extra camaraderie among employees.

Giving Rewards

After the game is over, seal the camaraderie by inviting everyone to a meal or ice cream, regardless of who won the game. Winners can receive other small prizes or trophies relevant to the nature of your company.

Article Author: Jennifer Smith

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

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2 Comments

1. 

   Me

   December 9, 2012 at 8:57 AM

   This well meant advice assumes everyone enjoys team sports. For those who don’t it will be a return to “gym class” and the accompanying discomfort. Additionally, some sports will in fact, sooner or later, lead to an injury of some sort and THAT is not good for the company.

   Reply
2. 

   Milt

   December 8, 2012 at 11:02 AM

   This is a great idea. I know, here in the NY and CT areas, various large multinational companies belong to regional Corporate Leagues. Although I haven’t had the opportunity (yet) to play in this type of team (I’m also currently in between opportunities), I’d happily join a future employer’s soccer team. I’ve met Corporate League players at weekend outdoor co-ed pick-up matches and they definitely present a good professional attitude on the field. I’m connected with several on Linkedin and,in addition, appear to be doing fairly well in their careers.

   Reply