Team Building Through Corporate Cooking

Corporate team building is one of the most – if not THE most – important investments you can make for your employees. It builds trust, improves communication, increases collaboration, minimizes conflict, and so much more.

But let’s face it — the traditional team building activities, like company picnics and days filled with board games, are becoming old, boring, and ineffective.

So now what? If those methods don’t work, then what does?

What makes team building effective?

The most successful type of team building is that which encourages spending time together, sharing new experiences, and stepping out of comfort zones to reach a common goal, all while generating good vibes and happiness. This is the kind of corporate team building that is the most powerful and makes a lasting impression on employees.

Article: Why Team Building Is The Most Important Investment You’ll Make

So instead of relying on those traditional activities, many businesses are embracing new strategies that are better tailored to various corporate cultures, in order to make their team building efforts more engaging and impactful.

One increasingly popular team building activity that has shown great success in serving its purpose is corporate cooking classes.

According to Lisa Lyons, a human resources director at Mercer, corporate cooking classes “have the potential to accelerate the overall performance of the team.”

Let’s take a look at how some businesses are taking advantage of this…

Corporate cooking classes as a team building activity

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., a company in Waltham, MA, offered a corporate cooking event to its employees. About 25 managers from all around the world attended the week-long event, and attendees were divided into five different teams, each assigned to make a dinner course within a set amount of time. The teams were told what to make (and what type of dish it was – appetiser, entree, or dessert), all of the ingredients were laid out for them, but no recipes were provided.

With this method, participants were able to assimilate and understand one another’s personalities very quickly. One member explained, “We were all leaders, and the process highlighted the differences in the way we all approach a situation, which person would be in charge and how work would be delegated.”

It’s easy to see how the lessons learned from this type of group cooking class can be incorporated into the workplace.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Get cooking with HSG!

Our corporate cooking classes are powerful and flexible. They can be meant to simply get everyone together for a good time, or they can be aimed at achieving specific corporate objectives, like team building, to inspire and motivate employees, as a reward, and even as an evaluation tool.

Let’s take a closer look at each one of these purposes our classes serve:

• Corporate team building: Our group cooking classes are facilitated in a relaxed, informal environment that fosters collaboration and the natural development of positive connections between staff members.

• Inspiration and motivation: With our classes, your team is able to prove to themselves that with the right tools – cooperation, communication, planning, and time management – they are able to overcome a challenging exercise. Employees then return to the workplace feeling inspired and motivated to use this success and these qualities in the workplace.

• Reward: A corporate cooking event not only rewards your staff, but also benefits the organisation as a whole. Your team will learn new communication and cooperation skills, and the company will, in turn, see increased productivity and higher staff retention.

• Evaluation: By observing employees throughout the event process, valuable information can be gained – future leaders in the group, which team members need help in developing their performance under pressure, personality conflicts, and more.

We offer group cooking classes in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Hobart, Newcastle and Wollongong — and of course, we can provide a wide range of healthy menu options to suit your budget and dietary needs! Contact us today for more information, menu requests, and suggestions!