5 Unexpected Benefits of Company Outings
Lots of businesses like to do team excursions. Some places go out for an afternoon of laser tag, others try their skills in escape rooms, and some go for the more traditional dinner and drinks thing. The benefits of these outings have been well studied: by taking employees out of the office and encouraging fun and socialization, the team grows stronger overall. But there are more benefits than the standard “team building” and “improved communication” that so many bosses like to tout. Recently, Shopivo stepped out of the office for an afternoon of axe throwing and pizza. Here are the 5 unexpected benefits we learned about company outings:
- Departments begin to mingle
- Employees get a mental health break
- We learn each other’s hidden talents
- People break out of their shells
- Smiles abound
Departments Begin to Mingle
Shopivo is a fairly small company. We have just over 20 team members, divided into different departments. Those departments include editors, IT, HR, accounting, social media (yours truly) and more. While all of us know each other by name, a lot of the time we tend to stick to our departments for breaks and lunches, just because those are the people we’re most familiar with. However, shortly after beginning to toss axes at targets, the fun of the excursion took over and we began to mingle freely. The introduction of random team games enforced that behaviour even further. By the end of the outing, some of us chatted and joked with coworkers that we had almost never spoken to before, which will ultimately make us a better team.
Employees Get a Mental Health Break During Company Outings
The work day for most of our employees currently starts at 8 a.m. While we sprinkle several breaks into our day, the grind can be both mentally and physically exhausting. However, our axe throwing excursion began at 11 a.m. and lasted for two hours, followed by a pizza lunch at the end. While we were there, employees were in noticeably more energetic moods. Even after heading back to the office, the energy levels stayed up. The simple act of getting out of the building for a small period of time was a great mental health break, and was excellent for team morale.
We Learn Each Other’s Hidden Talents
Because most company outings are held outside of the office and actively encourage conversations (unlike the act of staring at a computer screen), these excursions are great for learning more about your coworkers than you did two hours previously. In our case, we learned who was really good at throwing axes and who we likely wouldn’t want on our team in the zombie apocalypse.
People Break Out of Their Shells
Almost every office has a blend of introverts, extroverts, and everything in between. For those introverts on the shy side, it can sometimes be difficult to overcome that shyness in an office setting once any non-work related conversation comes up. However, as soon as we began throwing axes, many of our shyest team members began to break out of their shells and have a great time chatting and participating. This is the case for many other workplaces who take advantage of company outings.
Smiles Abound
Shopivo’s excursion made us a workplace of smiles. We grinned, we laughed. We high fived and fist bumped. We clapped and cheered, and we all had a great time together.
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