La cohésion d’équipe est définie comme de bons rapports entre les salariés d’une entreprise au sein d’une même équipe. Plusieurs éléments comptent : l’entraide, la communication mais aussi les échanges informels entre les salariés. Nous allons voir en quoi cette cohésion influence l’activité des entreprises et allons vous donner quelques astuces pour la booster au sein de votre structure.
Team cohesion: the primary influence on your business!
After the difficult times we have just experienced, cohesion within a company is at the heart of all questions. Interaction between employees has greatly diminished, with some who are working remotely not even having had the opportunity to meet each other, and after the crisis ended, remote working habits remained. However, team cohesion has a considerable impact on the atmosphere within your company, as well as on results. Employees who feel comfortable in their working environment are more likely to give their all. Goals seem more achievable and the desire to give their time is reflected in their work. Similarly, a sense of belonging to a team will influence other factors such as staff turnover and absenteeism, two bêtes noires for business leaders and for the efficiency of the organisation. An employee who feels a positive energy within their group will not necessarily be constantly looking for new opportunities and, above all, will enjoy getting up in the morning to see their colleagues, thereby strengthening cohesion within the group. But how can this team cohesion be boosted?
Work on your company’s spaces!
Provide welcoming spaces that facilitate communication within your company’s teams. Open-plan offices are ideal for encouraging communication between employees. But the non-office environment must also be carefully designed. Make sure that break rooms are welcoming and promote team spirit. For example, opt for large tables where your employees will enjoy chatting with their colleagues about more informal topics during meals. Add a touch of fun to all these spaces. Why not buy a few board games or install a table football table in the break room? We can’t promise that your employees will use all the tools you put in place, but you will have done your part! What’s more, this kind of small gesture will give your organisation a friendly and caring image. Employees will feel all the more attached to it and the bond between them will be all the stronger.
Celebrate as a group!
To encourage interaction and good times among colleagues, don’t forget the little everyday events. Birthdays, holiday departures, the arrival of new recruits—all these events should be celebrated internally to show your commitment to team life! You could also organise a Christmas dinner or a New Year’s drinks party. We’re not asking you to invite your entire team to a restaurant. You can simply communicate about it and ask your employees to bring along a few drinks or snacks. Even better, the ‘participatory’ aspect of the event will further boost team spirit! Your employees will get to know each other in a friendly and reassuring setting.
Raise your goals!
Make sure all your employees understand that they are all working towards the same goal. Even if their tasks are very different, they are all working towards the same objective: ensuring the long-term future of the company. To achieve this, don’t hesitate to hold regular meetings. These objectives do not necessarily have to be based on your business; they can also relate to the working environment. For example, organise a big spring clean, where all employees pitch in to provide the whole team with a healthier working environment.
Make the connection between cohesion and efficiency!
Finally, you can develop cohesion AND competitiveness within your teams by getting your employees to embrace the company’s values. Do you have exciting CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) projects? Why not invite your employees to participate in this initiative to generate a noticeable improvement in your organisation? Obviously, a multinational company cannot gather all its employees together for a meeting, but distributing questionnaires or installing ‘suggestion boxes’ in break rooms are very simple things to implement. It is essential that they feel that their opinions matter, and participatory management is the key! Team cohesion and a sense of belonging also depend on this!
Get out of the company offices!
Team building outings are all the rage! Physically leaving the company is a great way to boost team cohesion. Employees step outside their usual environment, making it much easier to let loose and interact with colleagues. If you need to get some work done, no problem—choose an unusual meeting room and encourage small group workshops. Be careful, if you opt exclusively for a work event, don’t forget to schedule breaks! Organise a nice breakfast or a cocktail lunch where it will be easy to chat with everyone.
Team building events to boost cohesion!
If you want to go further, you can also opt for a fun team-building activity. There are hundreds of them in your area. Leisure professionals offer ‘icebreaker’ activities to encourage mutual support and communication within groups. This day of fun will be the perfect opportunity to get to know each other, but also a liberating break for your employees, and they will thank you for it. Be careful to tailor this outing to your team; the idea is not to go on a commando-style trip if you don’t have any big sports fans around you. It’s up to you to find the providers who will make your company outing a real springboard for cohesion among your employees. At Fontdouce, we have created a multi-faceted offer, L’Odyssée du Totem, which includes a wide range of outdoor activities allowing you to tailor your team-building outing to your team, its aspirations and its way of working. What’s more, the setting offered in this valley cut off from the world encourages a feeling of breaking away from everyday life, reinforces the spirit of sharing and therefore cohesion.
