Keeping Together
Henry Ford said it perfectly: “Coming together is a beginning, keeping it together is a work in progress, and working together is a success.” This speaks to me so much in our world of management and team togetherness. Let’s find a way to make it happen through TEAM BUILDING!
The first step of coming together can be accomplished by blocking out time in the schedule so that we CAN all come together. There are so many avenues for this opportunity; the possibilities are endless between morning meetings, monthly team lunch meetings, and ½-day quarterly team building events!
One of my favorite things is to contact a local food truck and offer them a space in our parking lot to serve our team lunch. We’ve had some of the most amazing food from these establishments! It’s fun because we also leave it open to the public, so it gets us connected with the community. It’s a win-win with a marketing opportunity for both businesses!
To get team input for activities, I placed a signup sheet in the breakroom for activity ideas, and boy, did we get some good ones! Keeping it together means this team-building time will include group activities, and they will be consistent. It’s just like any other relationship that is important to you. Commitment, communication, understanding, and compromise are a work in progress. The team gets paid their normal wage as we want them to participate, be positive, and look forward to these events!
Gosh, we’ve had some amazing team bonding times. We rented a private karaoke room and made it a safe place with no phones or videoing, and those who swore they wouldn’t sing could let their guard down, and fun times were had by all! We’ve done escape rooms, ziplining, smash rooms, glass blowing, splatter rooms, and the most recent was a trip to the arcade. We all had cards pre-loaded with $25, and the team member who ended with the most points received all the cards and got to pick their prize! It was so much fun to be a kid again.
For some fun team bonding “safety meeting” activities, we had our local fire extinguisher inspector come out and allowed us to all use fire extinguishers; most of the team had never used one before, so it was a fun learning experience.
Always find activities for your monthly team meetings, such as trivia, board games, or other activities. Once we broke up into teams, one person from each department used marshmallows and spaghetti noodles to see which team could build the highest tower. It was very interactive and made for some great social media content.
KEEPING TOGETHER is always a progressing effort; it’s the most valuable thing you can give your team. It instills trust, understanding, and personal connections. It’s beautiful when you see the results! Nothing’s more rewarding in our positions than to sit back after team building events or meetings and hear all our team members’ laughter and positive attitudes. The work becomes fun, our patients feel the positivity, and everyone has such mutual respect for one another, ending with SUCCESS!
About the Author
Erin Andersen is currently an office manager in Longview, WA. She started 24 years ago as an ambitious dental assistant and was quick to learn the ins and outs of dentistry, where she found a passion for the business aspect and leadership in the profession. Erin believes that if she takes care of her team, they will care for their patients, which drives her passion to succeed. Erin currently holds an AADOM Fellowship distinction and was inducted into the 2023 class of AADOM Masters, (MAADOMs), in September.
