Communication is one of the foremost pillars of a successful business. Yet poor communication still persists in organizations and is at the root of many problems. They can lead to mistakes, quality problems, conflict, missed deadlines, and lost opportunities. This is especially true of those organizations with remote staff. To top it all, poor communication can also be costly for businesses. It’s estimated that small and mid-sized companies lose an average of $5,246 per year, per employee, to ineffective communications, according to David Grossman. Poor communication can have a direct bearing on employee turnover, employee engagement and morale. Effective communication withers away if it’s not consistently emphasized, taught and engaged in with an eye towards improving it. Team-building exercises are often used to help employees improve their interpersonal skills. The team exercises will help develop the following five traits in employees:

Listening: Good communication requires good listening as well as talking skills. Employees become more productive when they have good listening skills as the ability to listen allows them to better understand their assignments and also what is expected of them by their management. Making a movie, for example, requires good listening skills from everyone involved. Each person be it an actor, singer, script writer, or a stunt specialist need to know what is expected of them and follow the director’s vision; the director too should be able to listen to their problems to figure out workable solutions.

Empathy: Empathy is one of the foundational building blocks of social interaction. It helps us to communicate ideas in a way that makes sense to others and understand them when they communicate with us. It is the art of seeing the world as someone else does. Team building activities such as storytelling workshops can be used for various interventions like making values stick, understanding employee engagement, knowledge management and insight generation.

Verbalization: Team-building activities are the perfect ground for employees to verbalize their issues as it provides an informal atmosphere where they are not judged. Such activities will need all employees to work together to solve a particular game/issue and that requires active communication. There are multiple ways to show verbally that one is paying attention such as an open invitation to talk; using one or two words to encourage talking to continue; asking open-ended questions and knowing when to be silent. For example, in a Live IPL auction, it is necessary to air one’s thoughts as the strategy develops. One could also point out lapses, question other participants’ ideas or go along with the team’s strategy.

Non-verbal cues: Ask participants to be part of activities that require them need to be silent. Yes, you heard me right! When working partners are in perfect sync, sometimes no more than a glance is needed to convey a message. Understanding body language and facial expressions can be greatly improved through team exercises. Such activities can engage individuals prone to dramatic movements, as well develop interpersonal skills between individuals who do not verbally interact. This will help in increasing the bond among employees with a penchant for collaboration and interdependency.

Confidence booster: Team-building activities can help develop confidence among your employees. Confidence is a critical component for individuals, especially when the employee is part of a high-performance team. Back-to-back exercises lead to improvement in communication, helping to build unity and confidence in team members. When you work as part of a team, it builds the self-confidence of the employee because it teaches him/her that she is valuable and can contribute their skills in a group setting. In an activity called Drum Circle Beats, everyone drums their own instruments. The success of the music lies in everyone collaboratively creating music.