Teaming up is important, especially in new companies that are just starting out. Effective teamwork creates a spirit of unity in the company, which in turn makes the company's employees pull together and pursue the company's goals together.

A good team spirit usually has a very positive effect on both the company's working atmosphere and its set goals. In this article, various practical team building activities have been compiled, which companies can use in their efforts to create a good team spirit in their offices.

Getting to know each other

When the group is new and its members are completely unknown to each other, various introduction games are a nice way to get to know each other. However, you should avoid games that adults may find embarrassing or even humiliating. Companies should therefore stick to fairly neutral options that are easy to get involved in and where you don't have to throw yourself into too close an atmosphere with new colleagues.

One easy get-to-know game is one in which each member of the group first says their name and then one thing that starts with the first letter of their name. For example, it can be agreed that this thing is an animal or, for example, an adjective that describes the person himself. You can also choose something that the person likes.

Another popular familiarization game is one where a large number of different pictures are placed on the table. Each member of the group chooses one of these pictures that speaks to him. After this, everyone introduces themselves in turn using a picture.

If, for example, there is a hedgehog in the picture, the person who chose the picture can be excited to say that he likes animals a lot and likes to offer a fresh drink to the hedgehogs that come to his yard on hot summer days. If he wants to, he can add that he himself may sometimes be like a prickly hedgehog who hides under the protection of his thorns if he feels that he is not understood.

The pictures give each participant the opportunity to decide how deep-creating things he wants to tell about himself in the new group. With the help of pictures, the threshold for telling stories is lowered and the conversation is often so lively after this exercise,

Familiar bingo is one fun option. For this exercise, each participant is given a grid with, say, 4 x 4 squares. Each box reads a statement. Claims can be, for example, things like "I love cats", "I like travelling" or "I have children".

There are plenty of different familiarization games available, and the company should choose a game suitable for its group, always listening to the group's own needs and situation. It is good to familiarize yourself with the different options and, if necessary, even modify the games to suit the employees of your own company.

From getting to know each other to grouping

The very first attempts to get to know each other can be speeded up with the aforementioned games to get to know each other, but when the group is already a little further along in getting to know each other, it is a good time to start the actual group bonding exercises. Of course, these exercises can also be done in companies whose employees have been working together for a long time to maintain a sense of togetherness. They are a popular part of many companies' TYKY days and can help even in situations where the workplace atmosphere has been found to be bad for one reason or another.

There are a lot of different team building exercises, and it is often worth offering the work community at least a few different options, from which they can choose the one they like by voting. When the exercises are already meaningful to the group from the start, they have an even better starting point to hit and immerse their target group. If, on the other hand, the work group feels that the management of the company, as if from above, by force of its own authority, prescribes various team building exercises for the work group, which the employees do not find meaningful, the success of the exercises has a bad starting point right from the start. The feeling of being able to influence one's own situation is one extremely important aspect of well-being at work, and sensible management also takes this into account when choosing actions aimed at raising team spirit.

Orienting towards group spirit

Various orienteering exercises aimed at team building are an excellent way to develop the company's team spirit, and with them it's nice to go into the forest with a safe mind. Moving together in the fresh air while solving orienteering tasks is the best way to form a group. While the group practices map reading and using the compass together, we also get to know other group members and gain new experiences in safe conditions.

Going into the open forest can be exciting if you are not very familiar with the forest as an environment, but facing this excitement together creates an excellent framework for teaming up. However, companies should remember that the orienteering exercise should be carefully constructed, taking into account every detail, and the planning and organization of the exercise should be left to a professional in the field,

More good tips and grouping tips for companies in practice can be found in this video.

After you've practiced using the map and compass for a while, it's time to go off-road together with your own group. What makes the exercise particularly effective is that each member of the group can act in his turn as the group's batch guide, who leads his own group in the terrain.

At the end of the program, it's time to relax and warm up, for example, on a nearby porch, where it's wonderful to enjoy coffee and buns by the campfire and chat with other group members about the day's experiences. It is nice to reminisce about a successful forest trip later together during coffee breaks at the workplace, and the experiences gained through it can lower the threshold to get to know the other employees of the workplace even more deeply.