The Coronavirus pandemic turned the world upside down last year for everyone, myself included. But it wasn’t all bad news and opened up a new world of possibilities including gingerbread house virtual team building workshops.
With everyone socially distanced or isolating it proved to be a wonderful way to get people back together (at least virtually) and let them have some fun.
Covid-19 may be beating a retreat thanks to the vaccine rollout but with the Delta variant knocking around and other ones likely to spring up doing things virtually is likely to be a feature of our lives for some time to come.
Advantages of a virtual team building workshop
They great thing about taking gingerbread workshops online for me was that I could reach people all over and last year sent kits to Ireland, Germany and Switzerland amongst other places.
And the great thing for businesses is they could still hold fun events for their staff despite not being able to meet in person for the annual Christmas bash.
It was also a chance for people to try something they perhaps wouldn’t normally do, but with a bit of guidance so they knew what they were doing as well as letting them get messy and creative in their own homes.
For me it no mess in my home either (winning!!) and all the participants could enjoy a glass of wine or two with some great banter with their colleagues.
In fact, the last class I ran overran by more than an hour because they were having such a great time. Or maybe it was the alcohol….!
Why you should team build
Team building does have an unfair reputation, it can seem a bit naff to be honest. I know any time someone used to mention it to me I would cringe inwardly and suffer playbacks of The Office in my head. But nurturing your team and doing activities with them that are very different from a day in the virtual office is one of the most important things you can do.
It builds trust, opens the channels of communication and gives people a chance to see each other in a more relaxed setting than the confines of an office, even if that office is a home one.
Your employees will be more engaged and collaborate more which in turn will boost your company culture. And if your company culture is good you’re far more likely to see greater productivity, better employee satisfaction and increased employee retention – all things that have a positive effect on the bottom line.
What a virtual gingerbread team building class involves
Gingerbread house workshops are fantastic option whether in person or virtually because they offer a genuine chance for people to work together as well as introducing a little healthy competition.
In a virtual workshop we send out the kits about a week to two weeks before the event date to make sure they get there in good time and everything arrives in perfect condition. One the day the class lasts about an hour to two hours. I will hold a live class where I take everyone through the step-by-step stages of constructing a gingerbread house and how to decorate it as well as ideas for modelling and getting creative. If people want me to show them different ideas and techniques, then I will do. Wine is optional!
At the end, if groups want to turn it into a competition, then I can judge the final houses and send a prize to the winning house. If not, then a more collaborative chat about what they enjoyed most about it is great too.
In person workshops can be arranged in a similar way where everyone receives a gingerbread house kit, puts it together and decorates it. Or…. I can arrange it so teams of colleagues have to work together to a brief to create a gingerbread house from scratch. These workshops are generally a bit longer because we need to bake the houses before they get let loose on the icing. But again, it’s a great way to work together and build something truly creative and fun.
At the end of the day, it’s all about collaboration and a bit of fun at the most festive time of the year.
Find out about our virtual gingerbread workshops and what we can create for your team here or email us for more details.
Virtual team building with gingerbread
The Coronavirus pandemic turned the world upside down last year for everyone, myself included. But it wasn’t all bad news and opened up a new world of possibilities including gingerbread house virtual team building workshops.
With everyone socially distanced or isolating it proved to be a wonderful way to get people back together (at least virtually) and let them have some fun.
Covid-19 may be beating a retreat thanks to the vaccine rollout but with the Delta variant knocking around and other ones likely to spring up doing things virtually is likely to be a feature of our lives for some time to come.
Advantages of a virtual team building workshop
They great thing about taking gingerbread workshops online for me was that I could reach people all over and last year sent kits to Ireland, Germany and Switzerland amongst other places.
And the great thing for businesses is they could still hold fun events for their staff despite not being able to meet in person for the annual Christmas bash.
It was also a chance for people to try something they perhaps wouldn’t normally do, but with a bit of guidance so they knew what they were doing as well as letting them get messy and creative in their own homes.
For me it no mess in my home either (winning!!) and all the participants could enjoy a glass of wine or two with some great banter with their colleagues.
In fact, the last class I ran overran by more than an hour because they were having such a great time. Or maybe it was the alcohol….!
Why you should team build
Team building does have an unfair reputation, it can seem a bit naff to be honest. I know any time someone used to mention it to me I would cringe inwardly and suffer playbacks of The Office in my head. But nurturing your team and doing activities with them that are very different from a day in the virtual office is one of the most important things you can do.
It builds trust, opens the channels of communication and gives people a chance to see each other in a more relaxed setting than the confines of an office, even if that office is a home one.
Your employees will be more engaged and collaborate more which in turn will boost your company culture. And if your company culture is good you’re far more likely to see greater productivity, better employee satisfaction and increased employee retention – all things that have a positive effect on the bottom line.
What a virtual gingerbread team building class involves
Gingerbread house workshops are fantastic option whether in person or virtually because they offer a genuine chance for people to work together as well as introducing a little healthy competition.
In a virtual workshop we send out the kits about a week to two weeks before the event date to make sure they get there in good time and everything arrives in perfect condition. One the day the class lasts about an hour to two hours. I will hold a live class where I take everyone through the step-by-step stages of constructing a gingerbread house and how to decorate it as well as ideas for modelling and getting creative. If people want me to show them different ideas and techniques, then I will do. Wine is optional!
At the end, if groups want to turn it into a competition, then I can judge the final houses and send a prize to the winning house. If not, then a more collaborative chat about what they enjoyed most about it is great too.
In person workshops can be arranged in a similar way where everyone receives a gingerbread house kit, puts it together and decorates it. Or…. I can arrange it so teams of colleagues have to work together to a brief to create a gingerbread house from scratch. These workshops are generally a bit longer because we need to bake the houses before they get let loose on the icing. But again, it’s a great way to work together and build something truly creative and fun.
At the end of the day, it’s all about collaboration and a bit of fun at the most festive time of the year.
Find out about our virtual gingerbread workshops and what we can create for your team here or email us for more details.