It certainly isn’t out of the ordinary for folks to enroll their children in sports programs; soccer, softball or baseball, basketball, and even track and field. And there are a number of reasons why parents seem to want their kids involved in these group activities. Yes, these activities help kids to stay active—and the fight against childhood obesity is a serious one—they help with the development of social skills, encouraging communication and healthy relationships with peers, and it teaches children the importance of teamwork, which is something that is undeniably helpful, considering teamwork is a necessity even through one’s adult life.
And companies include team activities for some of the same reasons. It’s been shown that team sports increase staff’s productivity, open up communication, and begins to develop interpersonal relationships between colleagues and employers. But there’s more to these group activities than just company benefit.
A team of awesome employees is already important, but what’s more important is that our team of employees actually feels like a team. Too often are workplaces filled with personnel conflicts. Maybe one employee doesn’t see eye to eye with another, or perhaps someone is just shy and has a difficult time communicating with the people whom he or she doesn’t see or speak with often. More often than not, this issue stems from some sort of lack of communication. The implementation of team-based sports can really encourage staff to break down walls and begin communicating with one another. Additionally, it gives everyone in the company to see each other as peers, not just as a colleague or as a boss.
This open line of communication is vital. Whether it be dissolving the fear of staff-to-boss communication or encouraging staff to speak with one another, this relation with others helps to prevent all kinds of errors and, perhaps more importantly, builds friendships. And this is good, because companies want their employees to have a sense of being comfortable in the workplace.
Company sports are often wonderful team-building experiences, too. Of course, all companies want their staff to be working together as a team, but why? The answer’s pretty simple: when a problem arises, staff isn’t alone. Staff have their peers to fall back on and to get help from, and having an actual sense of teamwork helps to develop problem solving skills, thus helping employees conquer nearly any problem together.
But that’s enough about company benefit. Team-based activities in the workplace isn’t all about building communication, motivating employees, and increasing productivity; those are just some of the benefits that happen to come with sports. Sometimes, company sports are offered just for fun. These activities are great sources indulging in a fun environment with—more often than not—rather fun people, participating in healthy competition, boosting self-confidence, which can affect lives in so many more ways than what impacts the workplace, and building friendships that have the potential to last a lifetime.
I suppose there are still a few things to consider. Do you enjoy lasting, confident friendships? Do you enjoy having a good time? Do you enjoy being able to be competitive without ever being put down? If “yes” is the answer to any of these questions, it’s time to get playing!
