Accountants can be fiercely independent and confident. They need to have these qualities in order to be good at their roles. No one wants an accountant who doubts everything they do and looks for reassurance from those they are trying to reassure.
This presents an interesting challenge when trying to build a team of accountants. With so many individualistic personalities on the team, it can be challenging to foster a sense of unity. Challenging, but certainly not impossible.
If you are determined to improve the team spirit in your accountancy firm or within the accounting department of a larger company, then you need to think about team building activities.
Why do accountants need team building activities?
Accountants can benefit from corporate team building activities like any other team. Getting to know the people you work with outside of the usual work activities will help you to see strengths that might otherwise go unnoticed. It’s also much easier to relate to people when you can see them as whole people and not just people you work with.
Benefits of team building
Teams will find it easier to resolve conflicts because there will be an increased sense of trust. This can even help to limit the chances of conflicts occuring, as everyone will have an easier time relating to one another.
Team building can also help to increase staff retention by helping individuals to feel more at ease in their workplace. If everyone gets along with their colleagues, they are more likely to want to stay put in their role. And getting along with your colleagues all starts with getting to know your colleagues.
Team building activities for accountants
If you’re looking for team building activities that will be popular with accountants, read on. Not every team will respond to every team building activity, so it’s important to try different things. It’s also worth noting that not everyone will be incredible at every activity. But sometimes it’s when individuals are challenged that they do their best bonding.
Plan a scavenger hunt
Team-based scavenger hunts are a great way to build incredible bonds between colleagues. Split your accountants into teams and give them a list of items they need to find. The scope of the area could be limited to your office, the whole building or even a whole city. It could be items they need to find or it could be things they need to photograph. It could also be challenges that have to be completed in specific locations.
Organise a pub quiz
Accountants are usually proud of their general knowledge. They are well-educated and like to be able to show off a little. This is why a pub quiz can be so successful for team building. It could be an annual company event that everyone looks forward to, or you could arrange to go to a standard pub quiz once a month and work together as a team.
Budgeting challenge
When you want to blend senior and junior accountants and get them working well together, it’s a great idea to set them a challenge related to the work that they do. A budgeting challenge will enable them to work together to solve a fictional problem.
Perhaps they have to determine a budget for the Cinderella ball, or help the seven dwarves to find the money in their budget for a larger property. Then, split the accountants into mixed ability teams and have them work together to solve the issue. These challenges work best when there is a very quick time limit such as 20 minutes.
Cycling challenge
If you want to get out and get active, a charity cycling challenge could be just the thing you need to bring your team of accountants together. This works well as it combines multiple goals and objectives: first, the team is united in their fitness goals, and second, they are united in their goals to raise as much money as possible for charity.
Fitness goals are a great way to bring teams together and encourage them to bond over something that is completely not related to their line of work. This can be highly effective, and it will also encourage everyone to get more active.
