engagement

Top 5 Activities for Employee Engagement

Published on May 22, 2023 by Alex Ten Klei

A team building activity is not only a reward for the staff; if you use it well, it is also an investment in future results. The combination of playing and learning allows you to gain experiences in a safe environment that you can use in your daily work.

Based on our Catalyst Team Building model, we distinguish three themes where you can use a team-building activity in a targeted manner.

  • Connect & Engage
  • Practice Skills
  • Activate Culture

In our previous article, I discussed Employee Engagement and why it is important for organisations. This mainly concerned the emotional involvement with the organisation. Three factors influencing this are trust in the organisation's managers and leaders, your work, and your relationship with other employees.

In this article, I show five activities that can contribute to employee engagement.

Spending time with each other is especially important to make employees feel more involved. To create space to get to know and understand each other better. You don't do that by using an activity in which you compete with each other in teams. The activities described here provide room for connection, work on shared goals, make mutual agreements visible and make participants proud of the result.

Knowing me Knowing you

You are guaranteed to get to know your colleagues better through this energizer. The first step is that you answer several questions that say something about you as a person and your relationship to the organization you work for. Then we have a fun way to look for similarities in the whole group. You look for colleagues who have something in common. Or not at all. It is equally interesting to know who you have no similarities with. That also arouses curiosity and gives enough reason to learn more about each other. Read more about Knowing me Knowing You.

What can you use Knowing me Knowing you for?

  • During the start of a congress or conference
  • As an icebreaker during a substantive session

Citybuild

Imagine what a city looks like where you want your children (or grandchildren) to live. What is the perfect picture if you can completely redecorate a city? That is exactly the message you get at Citybuild. The teams elect a city council, including a mayor, and you determine how the city is divided together. Subsequently, all teams make parts of the city and unite in one large model in which your future vision is united. Read more about Citybuild.

What can you use Citybuild for?

  • As a nice break from a substantive program
  • As a banging start or conclusion to a multi-day congress or conference

Go Team

This activity can best be described as a tailor-made treasure hunt. The teams go outside to look for checkpoints where they must carry out an assignment on the tablet's instructions. We tailor the game area depending on the location, which can occur in the forest, dunes, or city. There is enough time for fun conversations along the way, and you carry out the various assignments as a team. Read more about Go Team.

What can you use Go Team for?

  • For a nice outdoor break from an intensive program
  • To discover the area in a different way

Chain Reaction

During Chain Reaction, you work together in teams towards one common goal. A big chain reaction. All teams have access to different materials, varying from dominoes to the craziest utensils you can use. Teams make different machines or constructions that transmit energy. These machines are linked together, and then all tables are linked together. The chain is turned 'on' during the grand finale, and the chain reaction continues throughout the room. Read more about Chain Reaction.

What can you use Chain Reaction for?

  • To underline the importance of a common goal
  • To allow participants to search for creative solutions together.

Global Festival Game

What does your ideal music festival look like? Certainly very different from those of your colleagues! During our Global Festival Game, you and your team will journey along various music stages. Every stage has a different music style, and for every stage, you can choose different questions that fit that music style. So are you going for Rock & Roll, Country or Rithm and Blues? Music connects anytime, anywhere. Read more about Global Festival Game.

What can you use Global Festival Game for?

  • As part of a smashing company party
  • For a team building activity towards the summer

Alex Ten Klei

Chief Play Officer, Catalyst Netherlands

Developing skills and mindsets with gamification and team building solutions.

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