The solution to improving productivity and retaining employees? Team-building exercises with a charitable twist and board management software helps make mission-driven work a reality.

Team-building makes for satisfied, engaged employees and drives the positive culture of any company. For example, team-building exercises focused on charitable causes spread awareness for the charity’s mission and cultivate work environments rooted in teamwork and positivity.

Organizations taking advantage of these team-building exercises contribute to the greater good, build culture and boost employee satisfaction.

Employees miss out on key work experiences without team-building exercises

Team-building is more important than boards think. Charitable team-building activities include any activity that improves one or more: communication, relationships, loyalty and core skills.

These exercises offer great versatility in format and function while encouraging collaboration and competition. By making a positive impact, employees have more opportunities to enjoy new experiences and social interactions. Whether charitable initiatives take place in-house or externally — or during or after work — they have but one unifying rule: they must be enjoyable. Otherwise, they devolve into just another work task.

Team-building exercises should improve the following:

• Employee morale - When employees feel valued and respected, they work harder for their teams. They’ll also take great strides to maintain the respect they’ve earned.

• Communication - Team-building activities are crucial in developing better communication between co-workers. As many as 86% of workers believe work-related problems stem from a poor communication culture.

• Relationships - Poor work culture creates toxic environments and negatively impacts relationships within the company. But the right team-building activities can help mend damaged relationships since teammates bond over completing tasks. When relationships grow and are authentic, co-workers are more willing to help each other.

• Loyalty - Team-building activities inspire loyalty. The more organizations invest in high-quality team activities, the more invested their team will become —especially with work-related tasks. It’ll result in a cohesive unit working towards common goals instead of just a paycheck.

• Skill-building - Working with charities offers employees another practical way to develop crucial critical thinking skills. Team members collaborating to help an organization create a plan or meet a goal reinforce skills transferrable for the workplace.

Get involved

Every city has charitable causes and organizations that would benefit from extra help. Here are a few ideas:

• Build something for the community - Overcoming adversity is a crucial component of team building. From constructing gardens to homes for the community, building something from the ground up is never easy but rewarding.

• Start recycling - Recycling is an enjoyable charitable activity and allows employees to bask in the great outdoors. There are plenty of opportunities to join a recycling program or initiative. Recycling makes a difference, too. Research shows just 32% of waste in the United States is recycled. Getting teams involved can improve that number, and their charitable initiatives could inspire family and friends to recycle.

• Join or host a running event - Hosting a running event allows companies to raise money or contribute to charitable causes while exercising and leaving the confines of the office. Co-workers also can encourage and cheer for each other, developing support systems within the company. Running events — such as marathons — remain vital in driving donations. For example, last year’s Boston Marathon raised $26.6 million for nonprofits. While most running events are much smaller, the numbers prove people are willing to partake in them.

Building a team that encourages each other to achieve a common goal is often overlooked. Many boards believe too much planning is involved. But the notion that “too much planning is involved” is just an excuse.

Businesses have the highest global trust at 61% compared to other entities. People rely on business leaders to make a positive change. Employee volunteer programs are growing to meet that demand. And by making a positive difference in their community, companies spark positivity within their organization.

Krista Martin, VP of product and growth, has been with Boardable since 2017, starting as a product and marketing manager. During her time with the company as VP of growth, Martin's proven track record includes scaling product usage from 100 users to over 90,000 users and assisting Boardable's growth from 18 customers to 2,000. Leveraging over a decade of experience in product management, Martin leads Boardable's product and growth teams to focus on driving customer and revenue growth.