What’s the difference between team building and team bonding? It’s common to get the two mixed up or think that they are interchangeable, which causes a lot of confusion when trying to book events for your team. In short, both serve to enhance your team, just in different ways. Those differences exist in the desired outcome of what you would like to accomplish.
Team Bonding
I think it’s easier to talk about team bonding first. Team bonding is an ongoing process through which teams become closer, build trust, learn how to communicate with one another, and increase loyalty to each other and to the team. One way to build this bond is through shared positive experiences and sometimes that means finding a fun activity for you all to participate in together. Friendships deepen through these experiences and it’s the same when talking about teams. These experiences serve to build culture, social cohesion, and a shared team identity. Team bonding indirectly increases productivity and retention.
Team Building
Team building is the combination of team bonding with a primary focus on the development of individual skills facilitated through a team activity geared towards reaching a common goal. The activities you choose in your team-building event depend on the desired outcome. Maybe your team needs to improve its communication skills to work better together. Using team-based activities focused on building these skills would be beneficial for your team. Team building is all about learning how to nurture existing skill sets and better understand how each team member’s role fits into the bigger picture. When someone better understands how their job contributes to the common goal, they are much more likely to be better engaged with their role. In turn, increasing efficiency and quality of work.
Team building and bonding are great for reducing stress by giving your team lighthearted activities that allow everyone to blow off some steam and improve their relationships in a team environment. When people have a positive association with their team, they will look forward to working together and feel happier as a result. Investing in your team’s happiness will have lasting impacts on everyone individually, and your team or business as a whole.
When to Use Team Building or Team Bonding
Understanding the difference between team building and team bonding is step number one. Step number two would be to establish the desired outcome you would like your team to accomplish. If you have a newly formed team, investing in a team bonding experience can help to improve the social connections and cohesiveness within. On the other hand, if you have a well-established team with specific areas that need improvement, team-building activities based around those specific areas can help enhance productivity, communication, efficiency, and happiness. Once those two steps are accomplished, you can begin the fun part of finding an experience you will all enjoy but will also benefit your team.
Contact Empower Adventures!
We believe that investing in your team through team building and bonding, can yield big results for your team, business, and organization. If you are looking for a fun and positive experience for your team to share together, or are looking for facilitated team-building exercises, contact Empower Adventures Middleburg for your next team outing!
