Sports teams and workforces have a lot in common. They both should be working together to achieve a common goal and focusing on optimising their own role in that big picture. So why shouldn’t sporting principles be applied in every workplace? Below we discuss why it may be a good tactic for your business and how you can implement it.
Benefits of sports in the workplace
Sports of all kinds help to build and maintain strong relationships, foster better communication between team members and introduce a sense of friendly competition that tends to bring the best out of individuals.
All these benefits are extremely useful to unlock and implement in any workplace, which is why sports can be a great tool for enhancing company performance. By bringing sport and its principles into a work environment, your team can draw parallels between their professional and sporting endeavours and benefit from better relationships with their colleagues.
What’s more, physical activity is great to help manage symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. Combined with the social element, sports may just be a significant factor in helping your employees to be the best version of themselves.
Best ways to integrate sports into a workplace
Team bonding activities – Forget the typical team bonding activities and away days. Why not organise a sports day instead? Divide your staff into teams and watch them work with each other in ways you didn’t even know were possible. Ask people to dress in sports gear, whether that be a Liverpool shirt or a tennis outfit, depending on the activity. Team bonds formed outside of the workplace are often stronger than those formed in it, so see who’s up for getting involved.
Events outside of work – Social events are a cherished fixture in the work calendar for many organisations. But you can organise other things such as weekly football matches or bowling nights if you want to take it one step further. Or how about going to watch some professional sports in your local city? You may not get everyone along, but there’s no harm in trying.
Goal setting and competition – In the work environment, sporting principles can be implemented by enhancing your goal setting and sense of competition. Individual goal setting is probably already a feature of day-to-day life, but goal setting for teams can help to galvanize your workforce and deliver better results.
Break activities – If you have room in your workplace, why not invest in some sporting equipment so people can get involved on their breaks? A darts set up, ping pong table or cornhole board can introduce an element of fun and excitement to lunch and get people to take their minds off work for a little while.