Make 2022 Your Year For Team-Building

Heading into this new year, it’s natural to make goals and plans to continue developing the people around us in our businesses. So as you’re looking to invest in your team this year, I thought I would share a few things that worked really well for us in 2021.

First, lay the groundwork with yourself.

I always start with me. I take inventory of how I’m doing in the areas in my priority areas:

• Spiritually and personally.

  • How is my relationship with God? Am I prioritizing time with Him?

  • Am I taking care of myself? When my body is healthy and functioning well, I’m better equipped to serve God’s purposes.

• Family and relationships.

  • Am I communicating value to the people around me?

  • Are my personal relationships healthy and growing?

• Have I been communicating our vision effectively? It’s my primary responsibility to hear how God is directing us and then communicate that well to our executive team, leaders, and employees.

Then get the team involved.

Once I have taken stock of where I am, what God’s showing me, and how to respond, I can focus on ensuring our team is set up for success this year. In addition to everyday workflows, goals, and meetings, we do a few things to invest in our employees.

1. Retreats

            We plan and participate in several types of retreats throughout the year. It’s essential to

get away from our office responsibilities and connect as people.

• Executive Retreat

                        We build relationships, talk through pressing issues, and strategize and vision

cast for the year during this time with our executive team. I am vulnerable and

transparent with this team, and they help keep me accountable. In turn, I expect

them to replicate this servant leadership model with their teams. I talked in more

detail about our Executive Retreats in this previous post.

• Leadership Retreat

                        This is a larger retreat with all our top-level leaders. Again, it’s critical to relax and

enjoy each other’s company. There is a loose schedule, but the main focus is

relationship building and clarifying our vision and execution for our top-level

leaders.

• Marriage Retreats (optional)

                        We offer two marriage retreats a year for couples to get away and invest in their

marriages with values and principles based on God’s Word.

• Mens/Womens Retreats (optional)

                        These retreats allow our team to rest, connect and receive

biblical teaching and principles.

1. Staff fun

            I’ve previously shared about how getting off-site and out of the offices is one of the keys

to building strong team relationships. We’ve found our work is most fruitful when our

relationships are strong. To encourage employees to get to know each other, we plan for

fun together.

• Staff picnic (families)

                        This is a family event with music, games, food, and more. We get to see and

interact with each other’s families, and it is always a great time.

• Fair Day (employees only)

                        We close the offices for one day every year and go to the Texas State Fair

together. The company supplies lunch, admission, and tickets. We eat together,

have fun and competitions, and then let everyone go out to enjoy the fair with

their coworkers.

• Staff Christmas Party (couples and spouses)

Our team looks forward to enjoying a meal together, games, and entertainment. We do a raffle and drawings for prizes. This last year’s theme was 80’s prom, and it was so fun to see how much our team joined in on the fun.

1. Time for what’s most important

            We communicate to our team that the way they prioritize their lives is so important. We

encourage them to prioritize God, family, and then work. We follow through on

this encouragement by giving them time to invest in these areas.

• Time for spiritual growth. All of these are voluntary.

  • We offer corporate prayer time.

  • We have a staff chaplain available to pray and offer support during times of need.

  • We offer groups focused on leadership, personal, and spiritual enrichment.

  • Each employee receives an additional two days off a year to participate in the optional retreats I mentioned above.

  • We offer mission trips and outreaches and supply three additional days off to participate.

• Time for family, rest, and personal growth.

            We divide our team into two groups during the summer and allow each group to

rotate, taking every other Friday off. This provides relief for those families with

school-age children home for summer and allows for more space for rest and

vacations.

I pray as you are heading into the year, you can clearly discern God’s plan for you and your team. How can you implement times of investment this year?