3 Ways Out of Office Events Can Increase in Office Productivity

Holding events where everyone goes out of the office together for a day or an afternoon or meets up outside of working time to have a meal or party can be a lot of fun. Of course, the intention of these types of events is not just for people to enjoy themselves, although the boost in morale that comes with everybody having something to look forward to is always a good thing. Office parties and team building events that get everyone out of the context where they usually spend time together can provide lots of other advantages that carry over into the workplace, and that is why they are something that almost all successful businesses do on some scale.

Here are three of the ways in which out of office events can benefit your in-office work:

Stronger Relationships Between People

When we are at work, we tend to be busy, and while most people do have some people at work who they think of as friends and talk to a lot, in our normal duties there are some people we just never get a chance to work with or get to know. Taking people out of the office and mixing up who they get to spend time with so that people from different departments can get to know each other can lead to very valuable relationships between people that can help get things done. This can also lead to your workforce feeling like a more coherent unit despite having people in disparate teams doing very different tasks.

When people know each other as a result of spending time together at out of office events, they also tend to know each other more as people than job titles. This can be important to your office culture, too, because people tend to be more willing to help others out at work when they feel like they know them.

Training on Skills That Are Useful to Everybody

In many businesses, people can feel like their own skill sets are completely removed from those of people in other departments, or of senior managers. However, there are some skills that are useful for everybody, and which people at all levels can get something out of working on. These can include things like team work and communication, which can be good things to focus on with corporate learning and development activities.

Management Can Appear More Approachable

Another good side effect of out of office events that leads to a better environment at work is that people get a chance to see senior people in a setting where they are not the big boss, but another person doing the same things as them. Having management seem relatable and approachable can be very important for your office culture, and so it is always a good idea for all senior people to attend work parties or team building events and to participate and spend time with people at all levels. This can lead to greater loyalty from staff, and a culture where people feel that they can actually go to a senior person if they have a good idea or have spotted a problem with something. Many managers say that they have an open-door policy, but nobody comes through the door. When people know their bosses on a more personal level and have had a chance to interact with them outside of the office, they are far more likely to have the trust and confidence to talk to them more in work too.

These are just three of the things companies can get from having events outside of work that involve all staff.