Oftentimes the holidays team-building ideas can be a point of extra weight and stress- especially in the workplace as employees juggle the tension of workload, shopping budgets and social obligations. Many employers are considering how they can inspire, improve productivity and even bless their workers during the holiday season. There are a few ways that you can impact the team for the better over the coming months:
Give Back
If not already doing so, offer employees the option to contribute to a non-profit. There are ways that the one-time or ongoing donation can simply withdraw from their paycheck, making the reduction much easier. Another way to give goodwill this season is through action and service. An exceptional way to bond as a team and give to others is to serve within the community. Many meal kitchens, inner city Missions, and community centers are lacking for volunteers to serve hot meals to the homeless. Teams can find safe ways to canvas the city shelters and refuges to discover the needs within the homeless areas- be it passing out blankets, hot beverages, warm socks, sandwiches, etc. The cheer that comes from bonding together as a team and reaching out to those less fortunate can have a life-long impact to both parties.
Camaraderie
Actively thinking of how to engage a team of employees during the season can be a challenge but isn’t necessarily impossible. Traditions can be special for families at home, but also for companies that look forward to a certain event every year:
- The annual White Elephant gift exchange
- Secret Santa
- Meals: holiday dinner, luncheons, etc.
An important ingredient in a successful company event is to draw in employees to get involved. Most individuals feel a sense of pride and tend to enjoy an event more when they participate. Have signups for those who want to volunteer their time to help get the event off the ground: supplies, décor, food, etc. Organizing committees to oversee activities can be both relieving to your leadership workload and empowering to the people wishing to be involved in some way. This allows individuals to shine, take ownership and employ creativity if they so desire. Here are some activities that might be easy and still enjoyable activities for an office environment:
- Have a window decoration or workstation contests with teams from different departments or areas.
- Cookie Swaps- Every participant brings enough of their favorite cookie and it’s recipe to share.
- Potluck lunches- Encourage people to bring their favorite holiday dish to share as everyone gets to sample holiday feasts in this toned-down manner.
Offsite Events An option that accomplishes the task of teambuilding, event planning and overcoming personal obstacles would be a Strictly Success activity. We provide the means to bring your team together to unify them, and also help overcome personal obstacles within the group. The most important aspect of the holidays is to keep the morale high, as there are various subterranean emotions and stresses that each person may be feeling. While it is not your job as the leader to make everyone happy, it is a dimension of leadership to inspire and draw your team together to work as a more efficient whole. “For an organization to succeed, it must be capable of fastening hundreds, perhaps thousands of distinct personal reasons for motivation into a handful of shared goals.”- Strictly Success