Beach and city are the favorite combination of the Spaniards in summer, nothing is further away than the office and the tasks spread over the year. However, the summer season is also becoming the time chosen by companies to bet on the development of new skills in work teams.
“More and more companies are taking measures to improve the climate and ensure that stress is no longer so present in the daily lives of teams,” says María Luaces, manager of the recruitment agency S&You. This type of initiative, commonly known as team building dynamics, “improves effectiveness, satisfaction and work environment” in work environments, this expert points out.
“July is one of the months with the most activity and the most orders from companies whose interest does not wane,” confirms Alberto Marcos, manager of Zero Latency, a company specializing in virtual reality experiences. Other companies specializing in corporate training programs also confirm that the demand for this type of activity in July and August has been steadily increasing since 2015, beyond the disruption caused by the health crisis.
“The time when someone would go on holiday for a month at a time is gone, so companies have the opportunity to use this time for activities and to benefit from the slowdown in everyday life,” adds Marcos, whose company in Madrid operates one of the largest centers of its kind in all of Europe.
Using digital technologies such as virtual reality headsets and high-resolution videos, teams of up to eight people can leave the office for a few hours and jointly develop solutions for dealing with a zombie attack or travel through time.
Zero Latency is committed to active learning in corporate environments thanks to virtual reality
This option, which does not require long journeys and does not assume disproportionate proportions, is attractive to companies of all sizes. It is no longer about paintball activities, balloon flights or outdoor excursions, some of the star alternatives at the beginning of the century, but about experiences full of creativity. “The largest companies in Europe have gone through our centers, but we can tailor the length of the experience to smaller companies. For example, a small law firm can easily participate,” says Marcos.
The integration of technology in this type of activity coincides with new trends in the world of corporate training. “The duration of the games has been greatly reduced in order to get maximum attention and to get the best out of the formations,” says Luaces. It’s no longer about marathon days full of talks and meetings, but about shorter meetings so that “people can more easily incorporate knowledge”.
In addition to virtual reality, professional training experts are consulted Five days They illustrate the emergence of new dynamics. These range from pottery and creative painting experiences to joint video game sessions.
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Advantages
According to a study carried out in 2022 by the National Institute for Safety and Health at Work (INSST), 45% of workers in Spain consider that they are exposed to a negative factor at work that affects their mental well-being. A third of those surveyed named time management or work overload as the most common problem.
Engaging in participatory and structured activities can reverse this data and not only increase worker motivation, but also improve work dynamics and group time management. This would also allow, according to companies in the sector, to reduce conflict, increase creativity and better manage group emotions. In any case, the key is to have clarity about the goals, not to think that “one day away from the office can solve everything”.
In the same way, Luaces points out, companies are generating “exponential growth” in the number of team building programs to better manage the transition to a hybrid work model with employees in the office and others remotely. In addition, employees want a more empathetic culture with the new work-life balance formats: 78% of those surveyed worldwide say that they need the support and trust of the company to be able to do their work better.
Personnel professionals also benefit from this type of conference. “Through this dynamic, the different professional profiles within their teams can be better identified. See who, for example, is more conservative or wants to protect their team,” says Marcos. At the same time, it is possible to offer new benefits to employees, especially the younger ones, who attach great importance to education and training programs.
According to experts, the companies that are involved in such initiatives want to avoid differences in hierarchy or length of service and improve the coexistence of the entire workforce, regardless of age or position. However, because of their impact on the work environment, the involvement of middle managers is crucial to achieve the expected results. “Managers are central to the success of team building because they have a responsibility to think not only of their own well-being, but of the rest of their employees as well. They need a lot more tools and more training to do that,” Luaces points out.
What the specialists certainly do not need, the INSST data assures, is more work overload and even longer working hours. In this sense, the challenge is that the team dynamics do not lead to a new stressful situation in the summer. Here, planning schedules and getting the team involved in setting the agenda can really help achieve goals. In addition, the experts recommend taking into account the different interests and personalities of the team members.
The keys of the season
The relaxation and mild tranquility of the summer season can also help develop internal talent within the four walls of the office. “The challenge of the summer months is not to lose focus. “The greater calm in everyday life cannot lead to a decrease in employee participation,” says Julieta Salce, a psychologist specializing in work environments.
Experts point out that these months can be an excellent opportunity to develop a “brainstorming” dynamic, allowing employees to think beyond their day-to-day commitments and find ways to improve the tasks they perform every day. “This is not only motivating, but also has direct benefits for the employee when he returns to the office,” emphasizes Salce.
Behind these ideas of “thinking outside the box”, bosses can also get to know their employees better. The dynamics, either developed within the office or with external experts, can help to discover people’s passions and turn them into growth opportunities.
Summer can even be an opportunity to ease tensions that have built up over the year. For example, sharing time and moments of relaxation can be a way to cool down problems and misunderstandings between groups.
However, wellness experts emphasize that one key is to “accept the peace of mind” and do fewer daily tasks. “It’s not about filling the agenda just because. “We have to accept that we can leave a little earlier and use the day for our professional life,” concludes Salce.
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