If you’re ready to level up your IT teams, you need to think about how to improve collaboration. Individually, you might have very skilled IT professionals capable of achieving incredible things. But when they have the support of their wider team, each individual is able to achieve so much more.
There are many reasons you would want to improve cooperation between IT teams, including:
- Better communication which can help to enhance problem solving
- Improved collaboration to streamline projects and speed up delivery
- Boost in employee morale which can help to increase staff retention
- Lower stress levels which leads to improved resilience during high pressure times
- Improved company reputation for employee support, which can help improve hiring
As you can see, more cohesive IT teams will have widespread benefits for both your workers and your bottom line. You can also reduce staff costs by increasing staff retention and improving your reputation for being a fair employer.
If you’re trying to design a team building programme that helps to address the issues with collaboration and problem solving, try the following team building exercises:
Team building for IT teams
Your IT teams spend all day in the office, staring at screens, so it can be a welcome break to be able to step away from their desks and try something new. Getting outdoors and enjoying a change of environment can be hugely beneficial for kick-starting the process of improving collaboration and teamwork.
It’s also fun for IT teams to be able to try something new. There is a temptation to lean into the skills they already have, but this won’t push anyone out of their comfort zone. Instead, think about how to introduce new skills and experiences so that everyone is trying something new for the first time. This is an excellent way to break down barriers and help to make your team building more effective.
Scavenger hunt
Let your IT teams loose into the city with a list of items or challenges they need to complete. A scavenger hunt is a fun and engaging way to spend an afternoon away from the office and getting to know their coworkers. It will encourage collaboration and teamwork to solve the riddles that will direct them to their next challenge.
Charity bike ride
Another fun way to stay active while enjoying a spot of team building is with a charity bike ride. A distance bike ride requires training in advance, which can encourage IT workers to stay active outside of work or even switch to cycling into work. On the day of the race, the purpose is not to finish the race in the fastest time, but to finish the race together and to have fun along the way. It’s also a great way to raise money for a good cause at the same time.
Escape room
IT workers solve problems every day, but how will they fare when asked to solve riddles and puzzles? An escape room is a real-life challenge that will test their ability to work together towards a common goal. They will have to think outside the box and combine their knowledge and expertise to solve the problems to be able to escape the room before the clock runs out.
Quiz night
A company-wide quiz night is a great way to bring together people from different departments to encourage better cross-departmental collaboration. Your team building doesn’t have to be confined to the IT department, and a company-wide quiz night is a great way for everyone to get to know each other in a more social setting. For those who might struggle to meet people from other departments, this can be a welcome source of social interaction.
Networking picnic
Take a break from the screens and create a regular networking picnic where individuals choose what they want to talk about based on the colour of their drinks cup. You can select a number of topics that are relevant to the sector at the moment, and then assign each topic a colour. As your workers mix and mingle, they’ll be able to identify people they want to speak to based on the colour of their cups. You could also pose a question and then colour-code the cups based on the answers. For example, yes could be red, blue could be no and yellow could be not sure. This can help to spark some lively debate.
Roundtable talks
Another effective way to encourage debate and conversation is with a roundtable talk. This is an ideal opportunity to discuss topics that are facing your industry, or to make decisions for how to operate your IT department based on friendly debate from your teams. This can help to spark innovative new ways of working while also ensuring that your IT teams have a voice within the company.
