Last Updated on March 9, 2019 by Jessica Adams
When you took a team onboard, the chances are that you thought they’d all work together like one big happy workplace family. You may have envisioned a collaborative space of workplace friends, where everyone is a happy camper. Sadly, that’s not the way things seem to have worked out so far huh?
As it stands, your team members seem to keep themselves and that’s the best case scenario. If they do start mingling, you have endless complaints about miscommunications and unavoidable personality clashes (not to mention thieves in the lunchroom!).
At this stage, issues like these are causing a lack of moral and a general low mood. The people always make the job, after all. So, to some extent, you can’t always win this battle. The chances are that some people on your team are never going to get along.
Pushing that issue will only make things worse. If no one seems to be close, though, it may be a sign that you aren’t doing as much as you can. In many ways, after all, you’re the ‘Mama’ of this group.
By putting in a little effort, you may find that you can create that happy workplace family you been dreaming of. It’s well worth doing when you consider how much help good relations can be for things like productivity. But, how exactly can you create a happy workplace family?
Fostering A Happy
Workplace Family
Arrange Meetings For the Entire Office
Methods like morning meetings are old news at this point. Endless managers use these as a way to help grow their business and delegate tasks. This regular opportunity to come together would help you to keep on top of everything in one place.
But, you might not have thought about how meetings can also help to support inter-office relationships. Even in a small work environment, it’s possible that some team members would never otherwise come together.
They could work across the room from each other and never once need to talk. In larger office spaces, you may even find that team members never even set eyes on each other. Again, that isn’t fantastic for team bonding. By setting up meetings like these, though, you can overcome this issue once and for all.
That’s because you make sure that every team member is in the same room at least a few times a week. Keep these meetings casual and urge your employees to share ideas. Then, this effort can go a considerable way towards team building and eventually, bonding.
Encourage Collaborations
There are many benefits to solo work. Various studies have found that creative thinking is at its peak when we work alone. Hence why so many companies now encourage remote working. But, you may find that fostering employee collaborations is just as positive. At the very least, there’s an argument that two minds are better than one.
But, when it comes to office bonding, collaborations like these can be invaluable. This is especially the case if new members of your team are struggling to break the ice.
By asking employees to work together, you give them no choice but to find common ground and get along. Before you know, that enforced communication could lead to ongoing friendships.
Knowing each other’s working style also ensures that team members always know who to turn to if they need help with something specific. We aren’t saying that you need to pair your team members together regularly, of course. But, if you have large projects or things seem strained, this method is worth your attention.
Create Social Spaces
If there’s nowhere for your employees to get social, it’s probably never going to happen. You may find that people only work at their desks, then head out for lunch.
Just like that, they never form any real relationships among themselves. Fortunately, this is an easy enough issue to fix. By creating social spaces throughout your office, you can harbor better relations.
A break room or chill out area can work wonders here. By also taking time to invest in coffee for your office and lunch facilities, you’ll never need to look back.
The chances are that staff members from different departments will start bonding as they wait for their coffee to brew. Every break time may soon become a social occasion for the team instead of a solo affair.
By incorporating comfortable chairs and maybe even a ping-pong table, you can make sure that team members stay there all break long. Before you know it, you’ll have an entire workplace family who gets along. At least, that’s the hope!
Plan Some Bonding Time Outside of Work
Sadly, your efforts in the office can only take you so far. If you still notice that relationships aren’t where you’d like them, you could take things a step further, like outside of working hours. The possibilities for bonding like this are endless. It may be that you want to take your team members out for a meal, or a simple night out.
Or, you could go further with bonding weekends. There are plenty of companies out there who offer activity weekends which are sure to serve your purpose.
These options could come to your rescue when all else fails because they change the setting. Suddenly, your team will start to talk about things which don’t relate to work itself.
And, nothing’s better than that for finally breaking the ice. Bear in mind that you can’t make weekends like these compulsory. What you can do is give tempting reasons why your team should come, such as prepaid accommodation or food.
You may find, anyway, that your employees are keen to take part. No one has more incentive than them for getting along with the rest of their workplace family, after all.
It can be disheartening when office relations don’t get off the ground the way you might like. Don’t think, though, that a shaky start should spell the end. Bear in mind that serious disputes such as discrimination are a whole different issue.
In that instance, you need to go down disciplinary routes and mediations to overcome problems. But, if there just seems to be a lack of communication, this could be an easy fix for the happy workplace family you’re after.
Jessica Rose Adams
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