Bond over brekky with your team

Socialisation certainly isn’t the purpose of work – we know that – but it is an integral aspect of building a positive work environment. It’s easy to find yourself caught up in a busy work routine with few opportunities to catch-up and socialise with other staff. If you do find yourself in a position where you can plan a social work catch-up for your colleagues or your team, these handy tips will help you make it worthwhile.

Give it a purpose

Although we all love a chance to socialise, there should be a clear purpose for your catch-up. For one there will be busy staff who resent being pulled away from work for a meeting with no clear outcome, so some meaning gives staff a reason to bond or interact. 

But what makes a meaningful social meeting? It could be anything, from a simple Monday morning catch-up to go over the weekend’s events, to a staff farewell, celebration of a major project, or a fundraising/charity day. It might even be purely to catch up in person for organisations with staff working from home or across multiple sites. There’s certainly no need to complicate a social event.

Schedule sparingly (and effectively)

Providing your staff with an opportunity to socialise and catch up on work time is a great initiative, but it does have one downside: it takes up valuable time. Now, that’s no reason to skip the catch-up, but it’s important to remember the impact when scheduling something. 

Quick coffee runs for small teams are great because they can usually be done during a lunch break or within a 10-15 minute timeframe. But larger team events often soak up at least 30 minutes, if not an hour, while some clear out whole afternoons. So what’s the best approach?

• Quick weekly catch-ups are great for small teams (single digits) who can duck out to grab a coffee or lunch.
• When you have ten or more people involved, consider catering or on-site food options if time’s limited, e.g. a catered morning or afternoon tea at the end of a week.
• Department-wide or office-wide events are best held monthly or bi-monthly so calendars aren’t clogged up too much.
• Provide plenty of notice if you’re going off-site for lunch or an event so staff can also prepare themselves. Although one department might have the flexibility for a free afternoon, others might have set deadlines or tasks that need to be finished ahead of time.

Shake up the catering

We have all been in a situation where management wants to boost morale by hosting a pizza party. Yes, pizza is great, but after eating stone-cold fast food for the fifth time in a row, morale is going to be low. Shake things up!

In this day and age, there are plenty of ways to access and serve quality food that’s actually going to excite your staff. Organisations like The Fruit Box Group can deliver fresh fruit perfect for some grazing platters, while there are other nationwide options like hampr or eatfirst for pastries, lunch and more.  You can also look for local cafes or restaurants that offer catering options.

Just remember to consider all possible dietary requirements when catering for your staff. Nothing’s worse than watching everyone else enjoy catering while you can’t due to food allergies.

Encourage interaction

So you’ve gone to the effort of organising a fun work catch-up, but how are you going to encourage interaction? Ice breakers and activities. Sure, they can be cheesy, but it hopefully gives your staff an opportunity to step out of their comfort zone.

• If it’s a small team catch-up, kick off interactions yourself by asking questions to get the conversation flowing. Try to lead staff away from work topics. 
• Set up some fun games alongside any work event, including quick little games like Uno or Connect Four, or larger games like Cornhole and Table Tennis.
• Encourage a social scavenger hunt where staff have to ask questions and learn facts about each other to win a prize.
• Host a team-building event outside of work where everyone can interact, such as bowling or an escape room.

Above all else, try to encourage organic interaction. There’s nothing worse than forced socialisation, so if you do try something and it doesn’t work, try something new next time. You could even ask staff for their suggestions – they could have some great activity suggestions!