Team Building Ideas to Motivate, Engage, and Encourage1. moTivaTe engage encourage
Team Building ideas
To moTivaTe, engage,
and encourage
2. Baudville 52 ways To a PosiTive culTure eBook Page 1
How To use THis eBook
Keep your team feeling motivated, engaged, and
encouraged with the 15 ideas in this eBook! Maintaining
high team morale will create a work environment that
attracts and retains top talent, achieves goals, and strives
for excellence.
This eBook is the collection of some of our favorite team
building ideas from our customers and our personal
experiences. The ideas in this eBook are organized into
three sections:
1. Team building ideas to motivate
“PeoPle
2. Team building ideas to engage
3. Team building ideas to encourage
wHo work
Regardless of how you choose to use this eBook, we hope
the ideas will serve as a starting point to your own creative
and unique team building ideas. Share your stories, tips,
TogeTHer
and ideas on the Baudville Facebook page and get ideas
from other successful teams, too!
will win,
Cheers!
wHeTHer iT Be againsT com-
Plex fooTBall defenses, or THe
ProBlems of modern socieTy.”
aBouT Baudville – vince lomBardi
Baudville, the place for daily recognition, continues to be the leading
innovator in day-to-day recognition solutions. Baudville’s day-to-day
recognition solutions appeal to today’s increasingly diverse workforce with
contemporary designs and relevant messaging, motivating and engaging
workplaces world-wide. Baudville has been declared one of the best companies
to work for in its area and strives to create the ultimate work experience for
its employees. For more tips and ideas to create a positive culture, visit the
Baudville Recognition Resource Center on Baudville.com.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
3. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 2
Team Building
ideas To moTivaTe
Keeping a team motivated and focused is a constant challenge for leaders. When your
team is motivated, they’ll produce better results and have better attitudes at work.
4. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 3
1. recognize
sHorT Term goals
Set short term goals for your team, keep employees updated on their
progress, and celebrate success. Short term goals should be measured
every month or quarter. Keep employees updated on the progress of
their goals by sending regular emails, creating a dashboard on your
intranet, or giving update reports in regular team meetings. The
frequent communication about the goal reminds employees of what’s
at stake and keeps the goal front of mind.
Also, determine your reward ahead of time for meeting and exceeding
the goal. It doesn’t have to be expensive: pizza lunch or a week of
casual days. When employees know what they can earn, they’ll be
more motivated to work together.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
5. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 4
2. friendly
comPeTiTion
Keep your team motivated with a little friendly competition. We’ve
hosted corn hole/bean bag tossing tournaments in the hallways
at Baudville. The tournament doesn’t take a lot of time out of the
work day, and everyone enjoys the competition and camaraderie.
We recommend following the instructions of the Minute to Win It
games, which you can do with only a few supplies from your local
grocery store. Have employees compete during lunch or on their
breaks, and keep a tally of who gets the best scores. At the end of the
day, award a small prize to the top winners. To make the fun last,
have a different game every week for a month. Track the points and
crown a champion after all the games have been played.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
6. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 5
3. volunTeer
TogeTHer
A great way to build camaraderie and trust among your team is to
take them outside of your office and engage them in community
service. This is also a great opportunity for individuals to build
relationships with teammates they don’t commonly interact with.
For our 25th anniversary, Baudville sponsored a Habitat for
Humanity house in Grand Rapids. All employees were given the
opportunity to volunteer for a day and work on the house. It gave
employees from across the company a chance to engage in a different
environment and get to know each other better. You can learn more
about our experience volunteering as a team in our Recognition
Resource Center.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
7. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 6
4. creaTe Team
awards
Motivate your team toward common goals by creating team awards.
Include the entire team in the nomination process by asking them to
nominate their peers. You can host your awards quarterly or annually
depending on your award criteria. Have fun with it! Make your award
ceremony something employees look forward to by dressing up,
having refreshments, and putting together a video about the team and
the winners. Employees will be excited for the awards and motivated
to earn the honors.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
8. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 7
5. give Time off for
Team BeHaviors
To build a closer team, communicate that you’ll be recognizing
individuals who out of their way to help out their teammate and
demonstrate teamwork. Be clear about what this may look like in
your organization, whether it’s working in a different area to help a
co-worker or covering a shift for someone with a sick child. When you
see team members demonstrating those behaviors, write a note on
a token card, package a Token of Appreciation inside it, and present
it to the individual. Allow individuals to redeem their tokens for 15
minutes off and try to honor the time off as immediately as business
demands will permit. 15 extra minutes in the morning (or at lunch, or
in the evening) is a great way to motivate your team to work together!
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
9. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 8
Team Building
ideas To engage
Employee engagement is key to a successful team and a successful organization. An engaged team will be
more dedicated to the organization, more willing to go above and beyond, and more likely to be innovative.
10. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 9
1. one-on-one
Time
One of the easiest and most effective ways to engage your team is to
spend quality time with them. Schedule regular one-on-one meetings
with your team members and spend time discussing their current
projects, challenges, and new ideas. For a special treat, take them to
lunch. You can do this with individuals on your team or small groups.
Take advantage of the time outside the office to get to know your
team more personally. Or simply make an effort to visit every desk
over the course of the week to talk with your teammates and get an
update on their life and work.
To help you remember details about your teammates, use our Tell Us
About You Form. You can record employee recognition preferences,
hobbies, favorite foods, and more. It’s a great resource for future
recognition moments.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
11. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 10
2. imPlemenT a
suggesTion sysTem
Employees who feel their opinions are valued demonstrate greater
employee engagement than those that don’t. Implement a suggestion
system for your team as an outlet for individual ideas, proposals,
and suggestions. A basic suggestion system is easy to implement and
use. Simply place the box in a central location, like a break room or
filing cabinet, and communicate with employees what it is and why
it is there. Employees can write down their idea and add it to the box
for review. Ask a small group of members of your team to regularly
review the ideas and give feedback to you.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
12. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 11
3. give
exPosure
Keep your team engaged with the organization by giving them
exposure to different parts of the company. Arrange for teammates to
shadow each other or individuals from different departments. Invite
a teammate to a meeting they haven’t been to before. The increased
exposure to the organization will make them feel like a bigger part
of the team and give them a greater understanding of its systems and
processes.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
13. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 12
4. BrainsTorm in
Team meeTings
Add an item to your team meeting agendas for open discussion.
Allow teammates to use this time to share new opportunities, ideas,
and discuss possible solutions to challenges. During this time, sit
back and let the team work out their ideas themselves. This will be a
great opportunity for team members who tend to be quieter to voice
their thoughts and opinions and engage more with the team.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
14. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 13
5. office walk
around
Catch your team doing something right early in the day by walking
around the office and looking for reasons to recognize. At the
beginning of your day before checking email or reviewing your
to-do list, take a few minutes to walk around your team’s area. Look
for valuable behaviors to recognize, and engage your teammates in
conversation about something they’ve done well lately. It could be
something as simple as bringing a great attitude to work first thing in
the morning or receiving positive feedback from a customer.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
15. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 14
Team Building
ideas To encourage
Recognition is an important part of a team building strategy. By empowering teammates to
recognize one another, they feel more committed to the team and their teammates.
16. team a
shout out !
Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 15
1. Peer-To-Peer
recogniTion
An easy and effective way to introduce recognition to your team is
through a peer-to-peer recognition system. Shout Outs is a customer
favorite because it’s easy to use and popular with teams. Simply set
up the display in a common location. When you want to recognize a
teammate, tear off a note, write your praise, and post it on a bulletin
board. Your teammate will see the note on the bulletin board along
with the rest of the team! Giving public recognition is incredibly
effective at reinforcing desired behaviors.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
17. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 16
2. Provide recogniTion
Tools for everyone
You can create a recognition station in addition to a peer-to-peer
recognition program. Use an empty desk or workstation and stock
it with small tokens of praise, recognition tools, and other fun
stuff. You can use our Kits and Caboodle as one of the resources.
Print out several copies of our Print and Posts and have them in a
folder for teammates to use. Link to ePraise on our website from
your intranet and encourage teammates to send one another free
ecards to say thank you. There are lots of small, low cost items you
can add to your recognition station, and providing a variety of
tools enables individuals to express their appreciation in creative
and meaningful ways.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
18. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 17
3. Traveling
TroPHy
Encourage your team to have fun with recognition by introducing
a traveling trophy. A traveling trophy can be anything – an actual
trophy, a stuffed animal, a framed photo of your CEO – that gets
passed from person to person. Start the traveling trophy yourself
in a team meeting by sharing the kinds of behaviors the trophy
will honor, whether it’s helping out a teammate or putting in extra
effort. Announce the winner and share a specific example of how
she earned the trophy. Next week, she repeats the process and
passes the trophy on to the next person.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
19. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 18
4. HosT a
celeBraTion
When your team hits a major milestone in a project or
exceeds their goal, throw a celebration for them! Honor the
accomplishment with snacks and a social time for the team.
Sometimes your team needs a pick-me-up between goals, too.
Celebrate recognition holidays together. You can get ideas for
recognition events on our Recognition Event Calendar. For
example, National Doughnut Day was the first Friday in June, but
don’t let that stop you from celebrating next week! Or celebrate the
first day of summer with a summer picnic. Provide the burgers and
hot dogs, and ask your team to contribute to a potluck. Enjoy the
beautiful weather, good food, and good company!
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com
20. Baudville Team Building ideas eBook Page 19
5. go
off siTe.
Getting out of the office is a treat for…well, everyone! Get your team
out of the building for some team activities that will strengthen their
trust and their relationships. Go to a park and have your team work
together on a scavenger hunt. Let them know that if they complete it
in a certain amount of time, they can leave work early for the day or
earn free lunch the following week. Arrange to visit a ropes course and
build trust as your team works its way through obstacles and challenges
together. Getting out of the office helps everyone relax and creates a
more conducive environment for relationship building. Plus, it’s a great
way to reward your team for meeting a goal, working diligently on a
project, or landing a new client.
© 2011 by Baudville, Inc. All Rights Reserved. www.baudville.com