Team bonding is the strengthening of the relationship between team members on a personal level. By bonding socially the team members develop a relationship and an understanding of each other outside of the work context. When the team are in the work environment, they are better able to understand each other’s points of view.
Why is Team Bonding Important?
Team bonding helps the team in the following ways:
- Conflicts and disagreements are handled by the team in a more respectful way.
- Team members can develop trust between each other. Developing this trust helps to build a sense of psychological safety in the team, which leads to more open discussions in the team, and sharing of successes and failures.
- Remember the saying ‘everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about’. If you know that someone is having a hard time in their personal life, you an understand why sometimes they are a bit tired, withdrawn, or even not willing to engage with the team. If the team has a bond, they can support each other through the tough times.
- Enjoyable team experiences are a great reference to remind the team of during the hard times. There will be challenges for the team at work, and having a shared enjoyable experience to think about during the tough times will help the team endure them, and come through them stronger.
Team Bonding vs Team Building
Team bonding is all about the social bond between team members, outside of the work environment and work related discussions, so they can develop a personal r. Team building focusses on helping the team members work together more effectively as a team, so their communication and collaboration is enhanced.
Exercises for team building often focus on getting the team to achieve a task together – either real or some more abstract or fun task, whereas team bonding focuses on learning about and understanding the individuals in the team.
How do you Increase Team Bonding?
There are a few ways to increase team bonding:
- Sharing your backstory: Get the team members to give a short presentation on their life, and how they became the person they are. The best way to do this is to give the team a safe space, away from the usual work environment.
- Socially: Not all team members will enjoy the same sort of after work activity, but you might be able to find a middle ground – maybe a few games together before dinner, or perhaps going to the cafe and then a walk.
- Charity work: Working outside the work environment for a good cause helps to show the team member in a different light. There are many non-profit organisations that can accomodate a team for a few hours or a day.
- Pot Luck Lunch at the Office: Get each team member to cook their favourite meal and bring it in for everyone to share at lunch. The team members can talk about why it is their favourite dish.
Team Bonding Online
Team bonding online is more challenging than in person, but not impossible. As a result of the pandemic, there are a number of online activities and games available for your to help your team bond, and some companies will also host online events for your team.
The classic activity “two truths and a lie” is a good start, and then there are simple multi-player games.
Companies like teambuilding.com offer hosted events, plus have a great list of other possible activities.
