There are too many reasons to name them all, but here are some key factors and ideas as to why companies use team building activities with employees and business partners.  Just a handful, yet valuable, reasons include: Improving communication, boosting morale, motivation, ice breakers to help get to know each other better, learning effective strategies, improving productivity, learning about one’s strengths and weaknesses and many others.

Team building activities can be used by any corporate business, large or small, to promote better teamwork in the workplace and build stronger relationships with business partners/customers.  As most business owners to corporate CEO’s and even store managers will tell you, a highly cohesive group displaying strong teamwork qualities is one of the biggest factors that can determine a company’s success or failure.

There are four main types of team building activities, which includes: Communication activities, problem solving and/or decision making activities, adaptability and/or planning activities, and activities that focus on building trust. The idea is to perform various activities that are both fun and challenging, and that also have the “side effect” of building teamwork skills that can help improve employee performance and productivity at the office.

In this blog post, we’ll look at how a fun and social poker night among colleagues can help develop the skills needed and displayed by highly effective teams.  A simple game of poker, in the right environment, can improve communication, problem solving skills and relationships between business clients, employees and management.

Ways In Which Poker Is a Useful Team Building Activity

Improving Communication

There’s nothing like a fun, friendly and social night of poker over a couple of cold drinks to let one’s defences down and let the general grind of day-to-day work wash away. Poker is a great way for colleagues and business partners to get to know each other in a relaxing environment.

Boosting Moral

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve witnessed the ‘first-timer’ poker player walk away with the win and bragging rights around the office until the next poker event.  As silly as it might sound, the simple act of winning or even taking chips off colleagues that you might not expect to be able to outwit at the poker table, can give that little boost of confidence and morale to employees around the office.

Motivation

A night of poker can act as very effective tool for motivating your workforce.  By rewarding your staff with a fun night and the chance to get to know colleagues better, they’re more likely to be happy in their job and have the support of others when completing tasks.  This kind of work environment serves to motivate people to achieve better results

Build Trust

The simple act of helping a colleague out with rules of poker or perhaps with a decision in a big hand, can go a long way to helping build trust in their colleagues.

Ice Breakers
As we said before, this relaxed and fun setting lets colleagues and business partners get to know each other without office politics and in ways that everyday work wouldn’t provide. What better ice breaker than winning a big pot off your boss.

Learning Effective Strategies

Poker is a game of thinking and strategy.  Employees will be constantly creating new strategies to beat their opponents at the felt, all while doing so on the fly. A great quality in any team.

Improving Productivity

Increased happiness = increased productivity. It’s that simple!  By holding fun and exciting team building activities such as a poker night for your employees, then they’re more likely to be happy and actually be more productive in the long run.

Adaptability

As a game of poker progresses and chip stacks are lost or won, players are eliminated or moved to another table, a player’s game strategy must adapt and evolve to stay ahead of the pack.  It’s a subconscious decision making process that occurs, but a valuable trait for any company team.

As always – ‘May the flop be with you.’