Team cohesion is especially important in the event planning industry where communication is vital. A single miscommunication can result in a serious blowback, such as not securing a venue reservation or a speaker cancellation without a backup in place.
Build a strong team unit with these best practices.
1. New Employee Induction 💁
Disillusionment can quickly arise among new employees if they feel like they’re not integrating with the current workforce. To accelerate the learning process, use some sort of app consisting of lessons broken down in an easy-to-follow tutorial format. Among successful completion of each, reward the employee with a digital trophy or other award. The number of awards give the newbies a sense of their progression. It motivates them to engage with the lessons rather than just going through the motions. Lessons can also include educational games, similar to the math or spelling games grade school children play.
2. Gamification and Fitness 🏋️
What does fitness have to do with event planning? More companies are actually incorporating physical exercise into the workplace. After all, healthy employees translate to less sick days and decreased use of work health insurance.
Allocate 30 minutes to an hour during work hours for a team physical fitness activity. This can be a team relay race, obstacle course, or anything that requires participants to work in a group. Each employee can also use a company app to track their total fitness activity. Employees can be rewarded digital awards for specific milestone achievements, such as burning a certain number of calories a day, or losing X number of pounds in a month. Those digital awards can be redeemed for a prize, such as a free product from the company’s product line.
3. Gamification Outside Work Hours 🎮
Continue to encourage interaction outside work hours. This is normal anyways in the event planning niche. Employees won’t mind doing this at home as long as the process is fun. Team building can include a number of games. Just be sure that participants are all online at a particular time. This has everyone interacting via live comments.
This works because the concept is similar to online gaming with players connecting from across the globe. The game can be anything as long as it incorporates learning and fun. Consider a game that involves customizable avatars. The game should also involve plenty of exploration where treasure can be uncovered that unleashes digital awards as well as unlocks new lesson plans.
This helps the employee become more invested. Participants can resume their avatar every time there is a new lesson plan for an upcoming team project. Participants can build on their previous stats and level ups.
4. Gamification for Compliance 📑
Reading a dry booklet on company compliance guidelines can be a real snoozer. The event planning industry has its own set of guidelines for conducting business. There are rules for every part of the job, from securing a venue to handling food.
To ensure everyone is up to date on the latest compliance regulations, incorporate a game. Have everyone review the guidelines within designated groups. This can be a digital endeavor using the previously mentioned elements of avatars and exploration.
A lapse in communication can occur even among the most seasoned event planning teams. There needs to be a refresher on the tenants of teamwork. Engagement increases when you gamify the process. This leads to more natural cohesion and understanding among members.
Dan McCarthy is an Event Manager at Venueseeker and Mask, an event management companies of the Concerto Group, based in the UK. Dan has 6 years of event project management under his belt. He has worked on many successful events, and currently, he shares his knowledge by writing on the company blog. Follow him on Twitter @DanCarthy2.
