You may have seen the hustle and bustle on LinkedIn lately. First, someone writes an honest message about how remote work has changed their life and garnered hundreds of likes. Then another person responds by posting a message about the absence of his colleagues.
With dozens of people wrestling in the comments section, one thing is clear: the remote work discussion is anything but black and white. But with many companies focusing on employee retention and employee turnover from the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a positive work culture and maintaining employee well-being is essential to avoid burnout.
At TravelPerk, we were curious to see how most companies are handling team building and personal events after the pandemic. We've reached out to administrators, office managers, and travel managers to bring you some important collaboration and team building statistics. The professionals we interviewed come from a global array of diverse organizations, ranging from 1-25 employees to over 1,000 employees. We asked them what kind of events they organized, how they organize these events, and how often they plan to get their groups together.
As it turns out, one is not mutually exclusive - most people like both! We've seen that most companies host more personal events than they have in the past 12 months. Even for remote and distributed teams, "IRL" contacts (in real life) are still important.
Here's what we learned from the latest Teams Together survey :
Key stats for team building for 2022
- 81% of participants hosted face-to-face events in the past 12 months
- The most common type of event is group lunches/dinners (70%).
- The most important factor in choosing a location is finding a seat close to the office (33%).
- When planning group events, respondents like to stick to a budget (62%) , plan fun activities (49%) and ensure as many participants as possible (37%).
- The hardest thing about event planning is making last minute changes (37%).
Most companies organize monthly team meetings
Our survey included remote, mixed and all-in-one teams. Our research shows that all of these types of groups come together at corporate events, and most do so regularly. More than a quarter of companies said they want to meet once a month and 22% prefer to meet once every three months .
Regular events help organizations stay in line with team schedules. To build a strong company and team culture, it is helpful for colleagues to know when they are expected to meet next.
While weekly meetings make sense for some types of teams ( 9% of respondents said they meet weekly), most teams believe that monthly, quarterly, or bi-annual meetings are the perfect balance between independent work and personal collaboration.
Groups love special meals and seasonal events
Who does not like a relationship with food? Nearly 70% of respondents said group lunches or dinners are popular events, and nearly 60% said they host seasonal parties (such as Christmas parties or summer parties).
But there are plenty of other event options that groups love. Half of the respondents said they plan group activities, 46 % organize social activities after work and 44% organize seminars.
When choosing the type of event you want to organize, consider the time, place, importance, and preferences of the group members. If you're not sure what people want to do, consider sending the company a survey to find out.
Need inspiration for your next team event?
Check out our list of 15 business retreat ideas.
Most companies direct business trips to entertainment sites
Did you know that there are special tools designed to make it easier to book business trips? If your answer is "no", there is no need to worry; Most companies still use consumer platforms to book business trips.
When it comes to travel planning, the data shows a similar trend: Most businesses don't use a specialized collaboration tool to organize their events, 79% use email and 58% use Outlook calendar .
If this sounds like your company, you may want to check out our business trip booking tools. These tools offer many unique benefits to organizations, such as group booking discounts. Most companies (55%) say they don't get special group discounts when traveling.
But business trip booking programs like TravelPerk Events can help your business save money on travel trips with corporate booking fees. It can also help you communicate effectively with event attendees without the hassle of long email chains. With TravelPerk Events, you can easily book travel and accommodations, share schedules and activities, and stay up to date with changes, all on one easy-to-use platform. To learn more, check out our stress-free guide to getting your team together.
Find out how TravelPerk makes business trips stress-free
Location can make or break your event
When choosing an event venue, most companies want it to be comfortable and close to the office. But choosing an interesting place is also a top priority. Nearly 13% of respondents indicated that this was their number one consideration, leaving out other factors such as price and accommodation options.
It can be hard to think of places that are fun, comfortable, and affordable for everyone. To get some ideas, check out our guides to the 20 best destinations for international business travel and the 15 best vacation destinations in Europe.
Staying within budget is a top priority
Travel managers and administrators know the importance of keeping a budget at a corporate event. The cost of booking seats, transportation and hotels can actually add up.
So it 's no surprise that nearly 62% of respondents said staying on budget is one of the top three considerations when planning a group event. Other key considerations include planning fun activities, managing attendance, choosing good dining options, and finding an exciting venue.
When trying to stick to your budget, it's important to make sure your group books travel in accordance with your company's policies. Corporate travel booking software can automate the approval process for you, ensuring that travelers' trips stay on track and your event doesn't cost more than expected.
Last minute changes can be difficult
Let's face it: it's not always easy to organize a group event. There are always hiccups that can appear along the way. We asked participants to rate nine potential challenges as “easy,” “good,” or “difficult.”
The most difficult factor was managing last minute changes , with 38% of respondents finding it "difficult". Other obstacles include finding dates that fit everyone (34%) , finding the right venue/location (22%) and having a budget (22%) .
Fortunately, these problems are by no means incurable, there are many solutions that can help. For example, with TravelPerk's FlexiPerk program, you can pay a small fee to make up for each trip and get at least 80% of your money back . FlexiPerk offers an average savings of 40% over regular flexible rates, making dealing with last minute changes much less stressful.
Highlights and next steps
In short, here's a quick summary of what we learned from the Teams Together survey:
- In a remote and mixed world, face-to-face group communication still matters. Companies are booking more in-person events than ever before as they look for new ways to learn, grow and connect while fostering teamwork.
- Today's teams love to travel to corporate events, especially social events such as lunches and parties. They travel a lot, many prefer to meet monthly .
- Companies are tasked with choosing the best venues, planning fun activities, and finding the right food options , but they also face challenges like staying on budget and dealing with last-minute changes.
- Most companies use low-cost travel websites to book business trips, although they may lose efficiency and cost savings .
Business Benefits of Building SP . Teams
You may be wondering if corporate events are really worth it from a business perspective. Answer: Definitely!
Team building opportunities help create a positive work environment in which collaborative work can be done. By breaking deadlocks and other team-building activities, large teams can get to know each other better and develop healthy communication patterns, improving team collaboration, employee morale, and job satisfaction.
By investing in collaborative work projects, such as group initiatives and events, you will create more engaged employees who use effective communication strategies in the workplace. Events provide an excellent opportunity to reward effective and efficient teams for good performance. According to McKinsey, up to 55% of employee engagement is driven by this type of non-financial recognition. Ultimately, employee engagement and satisfaction can affect the profitability and profitability of companies.
High-performing teams start with a shared culture and values, according to Harvard Business Review, and face-to-face communication can help build that culture more directly than virtual meetings or virtual team building activities. Additionally, according to Gallup, highly engaged business units achieve better team performance, including 81% lower absenteeism and 14% more productivity.
The following team building stats survey popped up: What Top 100 Administrators Should Say on TravelPerk.