A motivated team is vital to a great patient experience. While elements such as pay, benefits, and autonomy all help boost employee engagement, team-building exercises are another opportunity to foster a positive practice culture. Here’s how to get your team feeling connected and inspired to do their best.
Meet and Greets
Whether your team has been working together for a while or you have some new hires, getting everyone together to chat, mingle, and share their stories is a great way to break the ice – and help everyone feel included. Make these a regular thing and have an MC or host around to help ensure that everyone is involved.
Staff Jeopardy!
Who doesn’t love a game of Jeopardy!? Gather some fun facts about your team, divide them into categories, then pose the answers in a Jeopardy!-style format. Your team will have a blast learning about each other – especially if you add some prizes and incentives.
Board Games
From Scrabble to Jenga to Clue, tabletop games are a great way to get your team working together. Your team might be a little shy initially, but soon enough, they’ll have a great time collaborating, strategizing, and cheering each other on.
Charades
An oldie but a goodie. One person is given a word or a phrase and acts it out – as their team members guess what word they’re trying to express. This is a great one for getting people to loosen up and work together, and can be a fun opportunity to think laterally about medical terms, procedures, or processes!
Escape Rooms
Sometimes it’s fun to head off-site and make a day of it. Escape rooms encourage team members to work together to solve puzzles and strive toward a common goal. They’re best for smaller groups, so either rotate groups or pick a few people whose relationships you want to deepen.
Lunch and Learn
Your team is made up of fascinating, well-rounded people. Host regular “lunch and learn” events where they can share their skills, hobbies, or knowledge with the rest of your team. You’ll get to build camaraderie, improve those presenting and listening skills, and even learn something new!
Communal Jigsaw Puzzle
Simple but effective: set up a jigsaw puzzle in a common area, and encourage your team to work together, bit by bit. Make it extra fun by theming the puzzle to your workplace environment or the specific interests or hobbies of your team.
Spirit Week
Themed days or weeks are a great way to bring people together. Whether you choose a holiday week or set aside a particular day per month, have your team vote on a “theme,” and then encourage people to dress up, bake or decorate their workspaces in that theme.
Is Your Workplace Designed for Team Building?
Team building can help foster collaboration and engagement – creating a positive work environment where people are inspired to give their all. However, your physical workplace also matters. If you’re looking to elevate your workplace environment by moving to a new space, talk to the team at Gittleson Zuppas Medical Realty. As specialists in medical real estate, we can help connect you with a space that will give your team the boost it needs!