In our current society, where balancing work and family life is essential, our brains and emotions can quickly be put to the test. Indeed, according to a study conducted by La Tribune, 61% of French people believe it is difficult to maintain a good balance between professional and personal life. It is a fact that work occupies the majority of time in a day, regardless of your status. Whether you are in a startup, an SME, or a large corporation, feeling good at work becomes an important factor and a new challenge for the human resources department. In light of this observation, team building activities have emerged.
What is team building?
While it first appeared in the early 1980s in the United States to help teams within the same company create social bonds, its origins actually date back to the 1920s. Following a study on employee behavior conducted by Elton Mayo, Fritz Roethlisberger, and William Dickson, it was found that participating in a collective effort engages employees more. In response to this finding, leaders understood the importance of workplace relationships and adapted their management models accordingly.
Nowadays, several studies continue to prove the effectiveness of team cohesion within a group and even provide new insights into emotions and the importance of mental health. According to a study conducted by Harvard and MIT on quality of life at work, being happy at work makes one 31% more productive, resulting in employees being half as likely to be sick, six times less absent, nine times more loyal, and 55% more creative.
The work environment is very important to me because it was the cause of my depression last year! ~Sarah, luxury sector
The goal of team building is to strengthen the bond between your colleagues to create team cohesion and therefore improve the quality of work life. While it is generally the human resources department that organizes team building activities for the company, you can also take the initiative and organize one yourself (after getting the budget approved, of course). But you might ask: why organize one? That's a good question! According to a study conducted among our clients, the most common reasons are:
A: To strengthen or create bonds (72.3%)
B: To bring teams together (21.3%)
C: To surprise (17%)
D: For the annual seminar (12.8%)
Building bonds automatically comes up as something very important. According to a study conducted by Queens University of Charlotte, about 75% of employers consider teamwork and collaboration to be "very important." This trend is set to continue growing as one-third of the new generation wishes to work in collaborative workspaces (source: Mercer).
When it comes to types of team building, you are spoiled for choice! Due to strong demand from companies, many businesses have ventured into offering activities conducive to team building.
🥘 Culinary: For an activity that delights your teams, you can opt for cooking, wine tasting, or mixology workshops. These workshops are interactive and encourage team members to interact. At the end of the activity, a tasting is usually planned.
🎨 Artistic: Engage your teams emotionally. Whether it's a dance, singing, theater class, or a more hands-on activity like painting or pottery, your colleagues can express their emotions, showcase their creativity, and reveal hidden talents (or not).
🏃 Sporty: Give your teams a boost. It is well known that team sports bring people together. You can organize a football, basketball game, or even an Olympics-style event, allowing your colleagues to clear their minds while fostering team spirit.
🧠 Cultural: Beyond the company culture, which is very important, take your teams on a treasure hunt to work on listening and reflection. The goal here is to open up to new knowledge, which can sometimes prove useful professionally.
🌱 CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility): Reap the rewards of a meaningful activity. Whether you have a CSR department in your company or are simply environmentally conscious, consider team building activities focused on ecology or community involvement. These activities instill important values in your employees as well as future generations.
🎲 Games: These can be categorized as unusual team building activities. The aim is to experience an immersive experience that makes us feel like children again. It’s about forgetting all your problems to have fun and share a moment of conviviality with your colleagues. It's innate!
The game and thus the adrenaline allowed us to step out of the professional framework and become more familiar with our colleagues ~George at Q Energy
People are more open and approachable in a game setting ~Clarice at SOS Accessoire
The importance of playing daily
If we believe the figures, board games are very popular. Indeed, in 2022, the board game market reached 12 $billion (a constant increase over the past 10 years). In our survey, we asked our clients, "Do you regularly play games (of all kinds)?" The answer from 100% of them was yes, and board games appeared in all responses. But how can we explain these impressive results 🤔?
The first reason is an anxiety-inducing climate, triggered four years ago by the Covid-19 health crisis and its repeated lockdowns. Without going into detail, this unprecedented crisis put life on hold for many of us. Being stuck at home, we needed to find ways to occupy ourselves. While some turned to movies/TV series, video games, or social media, according to a Pyjam’Advisor study, 38% of people brought out board games again, realizing that playing is a great way to laugh and spend quality time with loved ones. For those who weren't lucky enough to spend the lockdowns with family or friends, the need to socialize and laugh again became even more imperative.
I spent the first lockdown alone in my apartment in Marina, and I can tell you that I couldn't wait to reunite with my friends to escape my solitude and relive our moments of laughter. Zoom happy hours were nice, but it's not the same. ~Mona at Careem
This crisis also had a significant impact on the world of work. Once the pandemic was over, it was necessary to recreate social connections with teams (especially for those who were isolated during the lockdowns) by organizing team building activities.
With this graph, we can see that interest in team building searches decreased following Covid-19, but once the pandemic passed, queries increased again. Team building, and particularly team building through games, has many benefits. As mentioned earlier, it aims to create connections with teams and sometimes break the ice. In a professional setting, we tend to play a role. Our behavior is more "professional" than in our personal lives, and as a result, we put up barriers. This is partly due to our company hierarchy but also because of professional norms and expectations.
Let's say it allows us to be less formal with colleagues than in the office environment! ~Ahmed at Erimates Post
Behavioral barriers fall away, not only through the game but also through the environment and staging (stress, excitement) ~Sherine at GEMS
In the case of immersive team building through games like at Quiz Room, barriers fall away and even the shyest individuals open up. People from all backgrounds (gender, age, origins, religion, interests) can come together and have fun, even between big bosses and interns. Our Original Quiz covers a wide range of topics. From cinema to sports, daily life to societal questions, it engages the entire team and, most importantly, makes everyone laugh!
A great time with colleagues! We had a lot of laughs. ~Matthew from Emirates ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A skillful blend of cooperation and competition. ~Arnaud from Eurosign ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A little extra at Quiz Room, to truly mix up the teams, we offer to draw pairs or groups by lottery. This is very useful for everyone to get to know each other! Otherwise, your employees might tend to team up with their favorite colleagues.
A random draw of teams that created surprising and effective synergies. Profiles were revealed! ~Lyn, bakery-pastry sector ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Another benefit is that it creates memories among colleagues. People who have come to Quiz Room for their team building agree that even after the experience, they sometimes reminisce about the game. Whether it's by hanging up the team photo taken by our Quiz Masters, calling each other by the nicknames used during player profile registration, or recalling the jokers used.
With my partner, we were public enemy number one. ~Daphné at the State of Geneva ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The photos are hung up in the office, and the end-of-game nicknames have stayed among us! ~Sandy at AFTRAL, logistics and transportation sector ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The most commonly used words to describe the experience (according to our survey) are:
A: Funny, fun, enjoyable
B: Friendly, good atmosphere, cohesion
C: Challenge, competition, strategy
Is team building really effective in the end?
Yes, the goal is to create connections between collaborators, even between colleagues who don't have the chance to work together often, and each attempt has been a success. ~Same from Carrefour
If we look at the entirety of this article, we understand that team building is not just a trend but indeed a tool that truly creates connections and engages employees. Although it is not an exact science, for 89.4% of our respondents, it works well at the team level. According to our survey of the companies we had the pleasure of working with, team building through games is better received because with its aspect of returning to childhood, it is much more fun and friendly.
💯 Team building through games is more fun; employees get more involved compared to or serious team building activities that seem more boring...~Grégoire at Gammadia, tech sector
It's new, it's funny, and with two people per desk, everyone can win and thus have fun 🤩 It doesn't require any physical effort, which can sometimes be a downside for some. ~Maxime at PlayPlay, video sector
No mediator or forced physical activity (ouf); it's done with a certain autonomy in a fun setting, TV show set, with sometimes surprising questions! ~Maud, finance sector ⭐⭐⭐⭐
At Quiz Room, we prioritize fun above all. In fact, our three core principles are based on this:
👨👩👧👦 Fun for everyone! It brings people together around a shared experience with one thing in common: laughter!
🤝 Fun to create connections! At Quiz Room, we laugh, tease each other, and block each other, all in a good atmosphere, which helps create great memories that blend both professional and personal life.
🏢 Immersive fun! What matters in the end is having a timeless moment and letting go. Coming together at Quiz Room means gathering in the same space for a nostalgic experience.
So, what are you waiting for to book your session?
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