The keys to a successful and productive team, is often reliant on the amount of trust, rapport, cohesion and motivation to work together, that the team members have. So, it is important that you not only have rapport/team building exercises at the start, but also throughout and at the end of a project, through debrief/feedback of the overall project. This increases the collaboration, communication and camaraderie of a team.
As a manager, you should be ensuring that you have regular team building events that help improve everyone’s sense of belonging, helps them be heard and helps team members learn how to support each other in complex situations. By doing this, you will improve the trust and cohesion amongst team members so that they know they can rely on one another.
By planning and scheduling regular team building events you will not only improve productivity in your team but also encourage them to be more motivated and creative.
When Can Events and Weddings Go Ahead?
On February 22nd, 2021 Boris Johnson addressed the nation and advised of a 4-stage roadmap for the UK’s “one-way road to freedom” but what exactly does this mean for events, parties and weddings? We have listed below the main key dates on which small events, parties, and weddings will be able to take place.
8th March – we will be allowed to meet with one other person outside only.
29th March – this stage allows up to 6 people or two separate households to meet either outside or in a private garden. Weddings are limited to 6 people.
12th April – Outdoor hospitality venues such as beer gardens can open. The requirement for a substantial meal will be scrapped providing that customers are seated. There will also not be a 10 pm curfew as we have seen before. The limit for weddings will increase from 6 to 15.
17th May – two households or a group of up to six people can mix indoors, including in the hospitality sector such as pubs or cinemas. Up to 30 people will be allowed to mix outdoors in public spaces and private gardens. Up to 30 people will be allowed to attend weddings.
21st June – This date is the key date for the events and weddings sector as it is the green light to open all of the hospitality sectors, all remaining social distancing restrictions will be lifted, and nightclubs and venues should be able to resume as normal. Larger events such as festivals should be allowed also. Weddings will have no limit on how many can attend.
Although we all remain hopeful and optimistic that within the coming months, we will start to see what resembles a normal event scene it is worth bearing in mind that, Boris emphasised that the 4-stage plan would be under constant review and would be led by data above dates
Hosting a Virtual Networking Event
As social restrictions have increased yet again, there is once again a great need to do many interactions virtually. Networking is a crucial part of business growth can also be an incredibly helpful tool for bringing team members together on a personal level to potentially increase cooperation and productivity. Here are a few tips to help these events go smoothly and be a successful experience.
Right People, Right Number
Prior to the event, ensure you are inviting the people that are most crucial for bringing about the desired outcome and also try not to have too many as this will lower productivity, eight is recommended, including yourself.
Easy Access
Before the event, once you know who has accepted the invitation, ensure that you sent out a calendar invite with the date and time that includes the link for whatever app you will be using for the event.
Introduce Guest Prior
By simply ensuring everyone is aware of who will be there by including their name and maybe a one-sentence description, those attending will know what to expect and be prepared for interacting with each other. You can also then share the guidelines or agenda for the meeting.
Make Attendees Feel Comfortable
You should be prepared and on the call, about two minutes early so you can let everyone into the session, greet them and provide the guidance on what to expect. Five minutes after the start time you can start with introductions and find out if anyone will need to exit early.
Keep the Conversation Structured
After initial introductions, you should ask each participant a specific question that is somewhat open-ended and offers the attendee the chance to share a bit about themselves. Keep the session on track and end by thanking all involved. The recommended meeting time is 90 minutes.
Five Halloween 2020 Ideas for Kids
With COVID restrictions tightening up again and considering the safety precautions we all need to be taking this year, it looks like Halloween will have to be celebrated a bit differently. Kids love getting dressed up to go around collecting sweets or going to Halloween parties with their friends but Halloween 2020 just won’t allow for this. A few ideas to help kids still get to have some fun and enjoy the holiday are:
1. Zoom Costume Contest- arrange for your children’s group of child’s friends to get together online and have a fancy-dress competition. You can even have different categories like most scary, funniest, most clever, most realistic and best make-up.
2. Have a socially-distanced ‘freeze dance’- if there is a large outdoor area near you, maybe have a ‘freeze dance’ where everyone can be spread out and have to freeze when the music stops, whoever moves is out. The last two standing can even have a free-style dance off.
3. Zoom Dance Party- your club or child’s classmates could do a zoom dance party so everyone can show off their costumes and have a great time.
4. Decorate your house- even though people may not go around collecting sweets in your area, some may still go for a stroll to enjoy the Halloween decorations.
5. Carve a pumpkin, or two- typically having a pumpkin combined with leaving an outdoor light on means you are handing out sweets, however this year people may just want to go for a ‘pumpkin walk’ to spot how many pumpkins they can find.
How to advertise your event on Facebook
Using social media to advertise your event is one of the best ways you can advertise your event, there are many benefits of using social media to advertise your event and you are likely to get a much bigger reach than traditional advertising and it can be a fairly inexpensive way to advertise.
The first thing you should do is start posting about your event to get the momentum going. Offer snippets of information on your business page or any groups that allow you too.
Once you have established all of your event details you should now set up your event on Facebook, you should do this by using the events feature on Facebook. Once you have created your event you should share with your current following on your business page, personal and groups that allow it.
Next, you will need to share your event wherever you can. Ask local advertising pages or local media pages such as newspapers or radio pages if you are allowed to share your event on their Facebook page. You should allow yourself enough time to share very frequently to allow more people to see your event.
New rules for weddings from 4th July
The strict lockdown restrictions are starting to ease from the 4th July, following months of cancelled weddings and parties we have been given the green light from our government that weddings can resume safely from the 4th of next month but there are still rules in place.
In a statement from gov UK the following has been stated;
“From 4 July, weddings and civil partnerships will be allowed to take place. You should only invite close friends and family, up to a maximum of 30 people. The wedding exception is for wedding ceremonies only. Large wedding receptions or parties should of course not be taking place. Wedding celebrations can only happen when people follow the guidance of six people outdoors, support bubbles, or two households indoors or outdoors. It is critical for these guidelines to be observed to keep you and your family and friends as safe as possible.”
So, although weddings will be able to go ahead very soon these must be kept to minimum people and friends and family only from your support bubble. We are hopeful that by August/September the restrictions may ease even more.
Top 3 lockdown party ideas
Due to the current covid-19 global pandemic there will millions of us who will be celebrating birthdays, wedding anniversaries and hitting life milestones whilst in lockdown. It seems that these special days are just another day but there are other ways to celebrate at home.
With the power of technology and a bit of creativity you are still able to throw a party whilst self-isolating. We’ve listed our top 3 favourite lockdown party ideas.
1. Cocktail masterclass – with all the bars closed you may be missing your favourite cocktail. Well what better time to give yourself a cocktail fix whilst learning a new skill. Professional mixologists have been sharing their techniques online, so choose a video and watch along together as you learn how to make your favourite cocktails.
2. Zoom dinner party – we have all been quick in finding online replacements for our usual social fix and zoom dinner parties are now ridiculously popular. Cook the same meal as your ‘guests’, get dolled up and arrange a time to eat it together.
3. Virtual day trip – hundreds of the world’s best zoos, museums and famous landmarks are offering free virtual tours while in lockdown. Is there a place you have always wanted to visit or a trip you’ve always wanted to take? Well now you can in the comfort of your own home.
Bring staff together with summer barbecues
A summer barbecue is a fantastic way to help you bring your employees closer together.
With spring coming soon and then the even hotter months to follow, now is the perfect time to look ahead and start planning a summer barbecue early. Is there an area at your workplace where you can hold a barbecue for all staff members or will you need to hire a venue for the event? Either way, getting the location arranged first is the best place to start. You should then consider contacting local butchers who may be able to supply real quality meat that your employees and their families will love. The warmer months often feel happier here in the UK and that’s why it presents the perfect opportunity to reward your employees, whilst giving them some down time to get to know each other on a more personal level, which is great for team bonding.
Dress Fitting: Make it a day out
A dress fitting is not just an event which ‘has to be done’ for brides and bridesmaids, it can also be looked at as a fun day out.
If you have a wedding coming up and you haven’t thought much about the dress fitting, why not make a plan of action for the day? You can start off with the fitting, and then perhaps head for some lunch or even to a spa. You can even hire a photographer for your fitting as this too is part of the overall wedding story, and there are memories that could be beautifully captured. It’s about time more women started thinking of the dress fitting as much more than a task on the ever-growing planning list. It’s a time with your friends and family, and it certainly presents the perfect opportunity to make a day of it, so be sure to start thinking outside the box when it comes to your dress fitting.
Planning a corporate team building event
Teamwork is extremely important in the workplace as it helps improve workers’ confidence, helps them enjoy working with their co-workers and boosts the overall morale of the group.
There are ways that you can bring your team together outside of the office environment. A corporate fun day is an area pack full of fun activity stations for workers to go around and have a bit of fun, these event can include:
- Giant Slides
- Velcro penalty shootout
- Climbing wall
- Archery
- Bungee runs
- Lawn croquet
- Giant outdoor games & puzzles
Other ways to bring a team closer together is with an activity day, creating a task or puzzle that requires teamwork to solve. This type of team building helps encourage workers to use their skills and support each other through their problem solving. Skills that can be developed through a problem solving activity day is time management, planning, motivation, organisation, decision making, communication, teamwork, leadership, relationship building and so much more.