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Business event future is shrouded in uncertainty which the outlook depends on several factors in Australia and overseas such as resurgences of the virus, medical advances, restrictions on travel, the economy at large after easing restriction. The industry will bounce back. After all, we can't wait to see other people face-to-face because we like a strong sense of community and other people. Speak to many of our event planners, they share with us:

If your team is experienced and hard-working but its performance has been "hit and miss". You may find the team has lost some of its energy and motivation and morale is beginning to drop. You can get people back on track by exploring some team-building strategies and activities. Team building is about providing bonding time that your people need so that they can work in harmony. But, to be truly effective, it needs to be a continual process, embedded in your team and business culture.

There's a place for one-off team-building exercises, but they need to have a clear purpose, such as improving a particular skill and must be well designed to avoid conflict. In this article, you can explore how to use team-building activities and exercises as part of an ongoing strategy for developing a strong and effective team.

Getting Started with Identifying Your Team’s Needs

The first and most important step when planning team building activities is to identify your team’s strengths and weaknesses. Start by asking questions to identify the root of any problems. 

• Are there any conflicts within the team?
• Do they need to know one another better?
• Is poor communication affecting the team progress?
• Do people need to learn to work together, instead of individually?
• Does the group need a morale boost?

Making Team Building Part of Your Business

Regular team-building sessions are one way to strengthen the bonds within your team, but they are not a shortcut to success. Instead, you need to make team-building part of your team thinking. Think about the team-building potential of routine workplace activities. You can use the four strategies to develop your team’s strength, cohesiveness and effectiveness:

1. Get to Know Your Team

Your team is made up of people with different needs, ambitions and personalities. Getting to know your team, and helping them to get to know each other, can build a happy, trusting team.

Hosting an evening drink is an easy way to start to get your team members mixing and mingling. Attending social events such as cooking classes is a great way to build relationships. People will more likely to open up and reveal more of their personalities in a relaxed setting. We think sharing aspects of your personal life increases your likability, as it shows others that you can be an empathic, compassionate and authentic manager.

2. Work Toward a Common Goal

You can unite your team by inspiring them to get behind a shared vision or goal. Having an identified destination can prevent individuals from pulling in different directions, which is frustrating and ineffective. Creating a plan can provide your people with a written definition of the team’s purpose and goals. You can find strategies for bringing a team together to achieve a particular goal.

3. Develop Strong Team Skills

Your team needs to develop the right skills and competencies to achieve its goals. Developing stronger skill sets, and matching your people to the roles best suited to them, can result in a more able, more motivated team. Chances are, as more and more people work from home or remotely, you could find yourself managing a virtual workplace. It can be hard to get to know team members who have limited meeting face-to-face. Time zones and cultural differences can present challenges when considering team building activities or strategies for virtual teams. It is possible to stay in regular and effective communication with virtual team members, given the wide range of available online tools. However, the key to building an effective team lies more in how its members to meet face-to-face than in the technology they use.

TEAM BUILDING AT OTAO KITCHEN

Team building can only occur when relevant and timely activities that address specific needs are part of your business. One-off exercises can help with this, but they are not a shortcut to success. The purpose of team building activities is to motivate your people to work together, to develop their strengths, and to address any weaknesses. So, any team-building exercise should encourage collaboration rather than competition.

Be sure to incorporate team building into your workplace. For example, get to know your people better, work toward common goals, develop their skills, and make the extra effort to connect with your virtual team. In this way, you'll build a firm foundation of purpose and trust that you can add challenging events appropriately.

You have a budget in mind for your next team building? Keep reading as we have great advice for you and your business.

Keep calm and plan the perfect hens party with our simple step by step hen party here. 

Here we have a few tips and tricks for your hen party planning

#1 Speak To The Bride 

It is important to communicate with her because she knows her friends and It’s likely you want to keep the celebrations a surprise but it’s important to at least have a rough idea of what the bride is expecting. Take a look at the questions below that will help you plan the perfect do for your best friend.

#2 Home Town Or Travel

Your bride might like the idea of a hen party somewhere hot and sunny. Others would much rather something more local. See what the bride would like to do – it doesn’t have to mean spoiling the surprise! Either way, you want to check the following

• What type of budget per head and minimum number?
• Do you have the minimum and the maximum number of guests?
• What activities do you want to plan? 
• Are there any places you would particularly like to go?
• See if the bride has any favourite cities that she would really like to visit.
• Do you want to go away for one night or two?
• What is important to you?
• See what is the most important thing to the bride – is it that she goes to an amazing location or hotel? Or would she prefer something more low key and budget-friendly so everyone can come?

# 3 Invitation 

This is important to put down the key person names and their availability so you can plan the date. You can set up a Group Chat or Facebook Group. Let the hens know the preferred date and consider giving them an indication of the budget you are working towards so they have time to decide whether they can come.

# 3 Location and Accommodation

You will need to decide on a Location and find accommodation including an estimated cost per person. Once you have a rough idea of how many people can make your chosen date, it’s time to start researching locations and accommodation.

# 3 Select Activities

Once you have a set location in mind you can start to plan your activities. It may be worth considering the guest list and check out if anyone with any special requirement such as allergy or health issue or anyone within the group who is pregnant? It may have an effect on the type of activities you choose.

#4 Make Plan With Details

Once you have a set plan and costs in place, you can put all these details to the group. In our experience, it’s much easier to go to a large group with a decided plan so everyone knows what today. So long as you, the bride and the other bridesmaids are happy then it’s likely you have a great plan!

#5 Confirm Your Booking

You might get a few dropouts once you have a set date and price for the hen party. So once you have confirmed numbers make it very clear that you are booking on the basis that everyone who has said they will come is actually going to be there. Let them know the cancellation fee or charge if you know.

#6 Collect Money

Let the hens know how to pay their share and a deadline you are always likely to have a few late payments so we recommend booking using your credit card and then giving the hens a deadline that is earlier than you actually have to pay, this way you will have all the funds to pay on time. Alternatively, you can ask a supplier like Otaokitchen can give you a private link so people can pay for their service.

#7 On the day issues

Now you may want to think about transport if your hen party is far away then consider whether everyone will travel together. If you have hens coming from all over the country it may also be easier for everyone to be responsible for getting themselves to the location and time.

#8 Delegating

Now all the big things are booked, it’s time to get onto the fun stuff! If you have some hens who are eager to help with planning then there are a few tasks you can delegate to them. Planning hen party games or finding hen party accessories for the bride. Decorating the hen party house or hotel room? Ordering hen party t-shirts? Choosing hen party sashes? Creating hen party bags?

#9 Send them a reminder 

You might want to send the hens schedule, plan and location again a week before the event date so they can come handy for contacting an emergency if required.

#10 Happy Hens Day

Planning a party can be a lot of pressure so make sure now you have done all the hard work, relax, have fun and enjoy the party!

Planning team activities for large groups is always challenging. Because you want everyone plays their part in the activities you select. Because of the size of the group, not all activities will be able to deliver the feeling of connectedness that is required to get team members to bond and form great relationships that bring productivity in a positive manner. We have been working with large teams before and here is our experiences to share.