6 Steps for Planning Team Building with ActivityTimeline

What is more important than efficient work? A quality rest! It helps you to relax, overcome burnout, and improve work. Team building is a great idea in such a situation.

Sometimes it seems that setting up the team building is a minor thing, but after you start an organizational routine, this opinion absolutely changes. We want to share some ideas and 5 easy steps about planning and organizing the team building activities with ActivityTimeline.

How to plan team-building without effort? 

As we cannot plan such an event in Jira (ok, undoubtedly we can, but it would be kind of strange and uncomfortable) so we have good news – there’s no need to set reminders in external calendars or to write reminders on sticks, as for now all in one place – ActivityTimeline dashboard.

Since ActivityTimeline provides Custom events, we can offer such an opportunity. Moreover, it has a Milestone panel and you can pin an upcoming event in order not to forget about it and to show everyone.

And the next way is just to set up your own custom event – Team Building and book people for future activities. We have also a feature that allows assigning the same event to the whole team, so it will completely free you from routine scheduling.

Important tips for successful team building

Plan ahead –  this point we’ve already touched a little bit. Planning is key for every undertaking. Custom events are not enough, as, first of all, you need to pick up a person responsible for this task, not to forget to choose a date and time and plan the very activities.

Other reasons why you need ActivityTimeline:

• it’s hard to understand people’s schedules, whether they’re free or on vacation. The application shows a coherent picture, workload indicator shows how loaded your colleagues are.  Also, you can see all of the team’s ongoing activities and make plans based on this strong evidence. 
• we are used to different online calendars, but what’s the purpose if we already have a calendar built in our working environment which allows taking the same actions and even more? Everything in one place, no need to spent time on dozens of apps.
• it’s a single source of truth that provides the same info and shareable plans for everyone.

Set goals and plan a program –  you will definitely need to create a topic, choose whether it will be games, educational or sport activities, out/indoors, etc.

•  you may leave descriptions in the event title field or create Notes with the additional description of the upcoming event and pin them on the Timeline, so they will be visible for the whole team.  
• very often additional equipment is needed, so you may use notes to remember that, or to use your personal notes, available at the bottom of the Dashboard which are visible only to you.

1. First of all, finish with the budget planning
2. Set up logistics, so everyone could get there in time.
3. Prepare folding chairs, tables, and picnic umbrellas
4. Take audio system and prepare music list
5. Balls, net, rackets
6. Find active games for the whole team

By the way, if you need some help with team games, we prepared a small list at the end of the article and want to share it with you!

Gather feedback – in order to plan new great events, it’s necessary to consider the previous experience.

• gathering some info in the application isn’t possible but you can easily create a custom event – Feedback and pin a link to the questionnaire where the team will leave their comments and wishes.

Start planning the next team building – we’re working better when we have the motivation and wait for desirable upcoming events, and what can be better than a great time spent with teammates and exciting activity?

• put the future event on the Dashboard and this may increase the team spirit and spark an interest, which will lead to greater work results.

Games for Big Companies

As we promised – a list of games for team building :

• Alias – a great board game that makes your brain work very fast 😏 Click for the guide!
• Jenga – do not rush while playing it 😅 Click for the guide!
• Twister – for good laugh and flexibility 😂 Click for the guide!
• Improv game – such activity is great for teams as it shows people from the other side, opens their secret talents and sense of humor. You may create a scenario on your own or hire a skilled person. This game will leave you laughing very loudly, believe us! Click for an Example 😉
• Theme Quest – who doesn’t like a good quest? Especially when the competition is very high! In this case, you’ll probably need the help of a professional, but the result is worth it!

How to motivate remote teams?  

The new reality requires fresh ideas. During quarantine, the importance of connection has increasingly grown as humans are social beings and need a feel that they are not completely isolated from each other.

It is becoming popular to organize 5-minute team building games and tasks every day or once a week. Others gather for an hour or even more, choose some topic, and just chat. ActivityTimeline is quite facilitative here too, as you can reflect these team buildings on the timeline and everyone will be aware of that. You may choose any option and remember that staying far from each other doesn’t mean that you cannot support your teams and work effectively.

With ActivityTimeline you can not only work but also have fun and rest, just play around and discover its configurable features.

Build your team spirit and support, it’s very important.

In case you want to discover more about remote teams management – Remote Teams Management with Jira and ActivityTimeline