Workplace wellbeing: Building relationships through teamwork 

With hybrid working now the norm for many, managers need to find new ways to build connections between staff members

Green Rebel employees enjoy a day out on a ‘pirates versus captains’ cruise of Cork Harbour in July 2022. 

Have you ever spent a day climbing a mountain or clambering in and out of a kayak with co-workers? If you have, it sounds like you’ve participated in a team-building activity organised by your employer.

“Employers have been organising activities to promote team building for decades,” says Caroline McEnery, human resources and employment law expert with the HR Suite. 

“They understand that the better a team works together, the more likely a business is to achieve its goals. An individual can only do so much on their own compared to what a team can do together. It’s like a drop in the river compared to the ocean.”

Employers also realise that by strengthening employees’ connections with each other, they reinforce loyalty to the company itself.

A study by the global workplace analytics provider Humanyze in April 2022 asked 2,000 employees what influenced their decision to stay at a job besides salary or benefits. Almost 28% mentioned their relationship to their direct manager and 24.6% their connection to members of their team.”

“Post pandemic, it’s becoming more and more difficult to retain talent and studies like this show that feeling connected to a team, and an organisation is one of the keys to retaining good people,” says McEnery.

Building connections is just one benefit of team-building exercises, says Aoife Condon, an organisational psychologist with Vitae Consulting. 

“Other benefits include a greater understanding of self, increased effectiveness and job satisfaction,” she says. 

“Sometimes, individuals pick up something really simple during these sessions that changes their performance or experience in the company.”

One example she sees regularly is individuals becoming more aware of how they react under stress. 

“In team-building exercises, they learn to take a step back to breathe and reset. If they do this for even a few minutes, it can help immensely with their daily work.”

Such insights can help employers too. “When they recognise teams’ strengths, they can play to those strengths,” says Condon. 

“They can also keep teams’ blind spots in mind as they move forward so they can continue to develop and not get stuck in old habits.”

A 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study tried to do just that. It aimed to uncover why one department in a call centre had lower performance rates than the others.

A six-week experiment involving employees wearing electronic badges that collected data on their communication behaviours showed the highest-performing teams were those that communicated most outside of formal meetings. This outcome convinced the call centre manager to reschedule breaks so that everyone on a team took their breaks at the same time.

This small change had a big impact. Performance rates increased by 8% and 20% among lower-performing teams. Employee satisfaction increased by 10% too.

Highland in the Midlands

It’s results like this that convince William Highland of the value of what he does. He’s the director of Midlands Escape in Co Laois, which provides group wellness packages for clients like Bank of Ireland and Laya Healthcare. Highland learned the value of investing in teamwork from his years playing inter-country hurling with Laois and now uses his experience to benefit organisations.

“The support network offered by teamwork is everything,” he says. 

“It can promote a positive work environment in which results can be achieved and obstacles overcome.”

The bespoke packages offered by Midlands Escape include activities such as yoga, cocktail making, and paddleboarding.

This variety is vital, according to Highland. “In a previous job, a singing company was brought in as part of a staff day and, because singing really isn’t my thing, I spent the entire day looking for places to hide. I always have this at the back of my mind when assessing clients’ needs and planning their team-building activities. No two companies are the same, and they all require different packages.”

A small group of four road cyclists rides down an empty rural road with the sun at their backs for exercise and fun.

Assessing clients’ needs like this is crucial to the success of team-building activities. 

“You have to start with their purpose in mind,” says McEnery. 

“If you know their goal, you can work back from that. You can organise a business development day with a focus on blue sky thinking or you can bring everyone rock climbing.”

The pandemic has made it more challenging for organisations to create teams. With many employees working remotely or on a hybrid basis, it’s harder for them to develop a sense of connection with co-workers.

“The social bonds established when people go to lunch together, have drinks after work, or conversations by the photocopier aren’t being created in this new world of work,” says McEnery. 

“Organic team building isn’t happening in the way it used to.”

She thinks this should drive employers to prioritise team building even more. 

“It’s vital for new workers to help them understand the culture and feel they are part of something,” she says. 

“It’s also important for long-term employees to further develop the connections they have with each other and their employer.”

However, she warns that rock climbing or business development days should only be the beginning of the process. 

“A day out is all well and good, but the normal workings of an organisation’s culture needs to support a team-building ethos in its everyday work practices,” she says.

An example is employers making the most of the time employees spend in the office. 

“Don’t give them work they could do at home on their own on these days,” says McEnery. 

“Give them tasks that require collaboration - this will help develop a sense of teamwork and build upon pre-existing social bonds.”

Team building days can then be the icing on the corporate cake, further developing those bonds.

“Those days allow people to see a different side to colleagues and to create stronger connections,” says Highland. 

“If you can create powerful connections within your team, the results can be limitless.”

Sports and social

Green Rebel believes in the power of teamwork. Since it was founded in 2020, this Cork-based business providing offshore survey services for offshore wind energy projects has grown its team from three people to 66.

“We have a diverse workforce and supporting them and providing them with the platform to perform at their optimum level has been a focus from the outset,” says

Ciaran Sheehan, the people and culture Lead at Green Rebel. 

“So organising team building activities began as the company started to grow.”

They have their own sports and social committee to organise these activities. Recently, these have included a pirates versus captains cruise of Cork Harbour where teams dressed up and had competitions on board, a fundraising walk/run, and a special opening event to celebrate moving into new offices in Cork City.

Staff gathered at this event in person and virtually. Company owners, investors and charity partners gave speeches. A comedian performed, and there were activities that encouraged employees to mingle.

“This allowed us to find out more about each other and to see the importance that everyone can and will have,” says Sheehan.”

These activities have played a central role in the success of Green Rebel to date, according to Sheehan. 

“They have helped us to maintain employee engagement, improve morale, create a sense of unity, improve communication, and increase confidence. They also have the potential to unearth leadership qualities and potential. 

"One of our values is that we are stronger together and I believe that the outcomes of our team-building exercises have only added to the strength of every individual and the team as a whole.”

Team building is something they will continue to focus on in the future. “We feel it will foster a more engaged and enthusiastic workforce, which is fundamental to our success.”