5 Unconventional Ways to Improve Team Synergy

After the chaos that was the 2020 soccer season, your team is probably more anxious than ever to lace up their cleats. However, months of quarantine might mean that you need to re-establish your team dynamic before you start running drills.

Team-building activities sometimes get a bad rap, but participants look forward to these events instead of considering them fluff when they’re done well. With that in mind, here are five unconventional ways to improve team synergy that you might not have considered.

1. The Great Escape

An ideal way to build team synergy is to have your group members put their problem-solving heads together. Why not do so in a fun way by booking an excursion to an escape room and see if they can find their way out before getting eaten by zombies?

Every puzzle your team solves together is like a little triumph for their collective consciousness. They’ll also get into a coordinated effort mindset and start thinking about how they can work together to accomplish goals.

2. Engage in Retail Therapy

2020 was a year of cutting back for many, and lingering uncertainties can affect your players’ mindsets. For example, while poor people often make more economically sound decisions given the resources at their disposal, ongoing scarcity also fatigues them mentally. You want your team taking the field refreshed and ready for anything, and some smart shopping could hit their cognitive and emotional reset buttons.

You don’t have to hit the shopping mall, but if it’s time for new uniforms, why not make the selection process a collective effort? Picking team colors is not a task to undertake solo. In general, hues that fall along the middle of the color spectrum work best as they flatter all players’ skin tones best.

If it isn’t time to pick new team shirts, there’s still nothing wrong with a little celebratory spending if you have it in your budget. Many teams have matching accessories, like woven leather bracelets, that they can wear to remind them of their allegiance when they aren’t suited up for the game. Even a return pizza party is heaven to a team member who survived the past few months living on food bank donations.

3. Overcome Obstacles

You want your team to adopt the mindset that they will let nothing stand in their way. What better way to do so than by having them complete an obstacle course? You might not even have to wait to participate in this activity, as you can find outdoor adventure challenges that allow for social distancing.

This activity is ideal if you are on a tight budget. You can DIY your course with free materials from local auto shops and hardware stores — think of all the old tires and pallets you’ll save from the landfill. Often, all you have to do is call them up and ask them to put their discards aside. There’s nothing wrong with throwing a few perks for planet earth into the mix.

Don’t overlook Mother Nature as a resource. You don’t need ropes or carabiners to go bouldering, but your team members will enjoy a full-body workout while supporting each other as they scale challenging rocks.

4. Put on a Show

Does your crew love nothing more than to ham it up? If you have a cadre of comedians and actors, why not put on a show as a team-building activity?  This exercise can double as a powerful, guided visualization exercise twist.

Have players act out your victory celebration after winning the championship. Many top athletes create a mental image or intention of what they want to happen in reality — like scoring the game-winning point. Doing so lets them experience the emotions and generate the energy they need to propel them to victory.

5. Perform Acts of Kindness

Finally, volunteering increases the levels of all sorts of feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and oxycontin. The last one is dubbed “the cuddle chemical,” and while it won’t make your team members canoodle on the couch, it will bring them closer together.

You have no shortage of options given the hardships many Americans recently faced. Food banks are in dire need of help — why not host a donation party or roll up your sleeves and volunteer? You could also offer to deliver meals to shut-ins who can’t make the pantry trip, which boosts your visibility in the community and gains fan support.

Try These 5 Unconventional Ways to Improve Team Synergy

When it comes to making your diverse members feel like one unit again, you can’t go wrong with the ideas above. Try these five unconventional ways to improve your team’s synergy.

Author Bio:

Oscar Collins is the managing editor at Modded. He writes about cars, fitness, the outdoors and more. Follow @TModded on Twitter for more articles from the Modded team.