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Why Having Leisure Activities and Community Events is Good for Business

Why Having Leisure Activities and Community Events is Good for Business

 

Why Having Leisure Activities and Community Events is Good for Business

 

Productivity is one of the key ingredients of business success. Having high levels of productivity and efficiency is something all companies aim for regardless of industry, and you can’t achieve that without a degree of hard work.

That said, working hard shouldn’t be the only focus of a business and its employees. In fact, research has shown that too much work is not only bad for your health, it can also make leaders less effective, staff burnout increase  and, ultimately, be bad for business.

Here’s where having fun, leisure, and team- and community-based activities come in. Offering valuable respite from workplace monotony and, depending on the event, even valuable insights for future success to participants, these kinds of events have certain advantages businesses and employees will find beneficial, such as the ones below.

 

Building Better Workplace Relationships

 

Leisure sporting and community events, especially when jointly organised, help employees take a break and reconnect with each other. This allows them to develop synergy and harmony with each other which are useful elements for working together. Meanwhile, participating in team-building events helps promote empathy within a team, resulting in team members working better with each other and even discouraging ill feelings in the workplace. And we know what having better working relationships can lead to: better communication and increased productivity due to effective teamwork.

Here at CoTEN, for example, we have a basketball team called the CoTen Comets that regularly participates in games with teams from other companies. Our tenants are welcome to join the team and play in the games. While we don’t really have the skills to make it to the big leagues, we’re proud of the fact that our basketball team is able to foster camaraderie, let tenants know each other better and form strong relationships, and, not to mention, blow off steam and burn off a few calories the fun way!

 

Improved Workplace Wellness

 

The “all work and no play” thinking is not only detrimental to business, it can also be bad for your health. Being overworked can lead to a reduction in overall health and wellness and even affects creativity, employee mindset, and teamwork.

In a 12-year study of civil servants, researcher Marianna Virtaen found that working long hours each day more than doubled the risk of depression. These same individuals suffered a loss in cognitive function, had difficulty finding the right words, demonstrated significantly impaired thought processes and problem-solving abilities, and they were slower to react. Virtaen also found that executives who work three or more hours longer than a normal eight-hour day run a 60% higher risk of heart-related problems than those who did not.

Overworking is definitely a no-no, so why not spend some of those working hours on other, company-approved leisure activities instead? Taking advantage of leisure activities can actually lead to more success, especially for small businesses, and higher employee satisfaction. And, when employees are happy in the workplace, they also tend to avoid the effects of stress and anxiety better—two things that can increase the risk of having heart problems.

 

A Great Chance to Learn

 

Offering work community events can also mean having learning activities such as regular seminars and workshops. Aside from offering a break from the usual, everyday work agenda, these kinds of events also enable employees to mingle with each other and learn key insights or even great advice from industry experts they can follow to work better and smarter and be in-the-know when it comes to important and relevant trends.

Here at CoTen, we offer monthly Lunch and Learn events where we invite guest speakers to discuss and talk about a number of different interesting topics, from cyber-security to effective business strategies. This gives chance to our tenants to learn more things they can use to improve their work, be updated on important developments, and get to know other tenants as well.

By having these activities as part of the workplace culture, you’re sending the message that you value the professional development of employees which, in turn, makes them more satisfied in the workplace.

 

Building Trust and Productivity

 

Bringing together workers in one activity or event and letting them know each other better and work together builds trust. And, in business, trust is a key component for success. It improves communication and fosters collaboration, leading to a greater chance to achieving business goals. When you build trust, you enable people to work together better.

Leisure and recreational activities as well as learning and teamwork-based events at work also combat boredom and help keep people motivated. This allows them to focus more on their key tasks and even develop their problem-solving skills. Combine this with better communication and improved collaboration—two other advantages of having these kinds of events in the workplace—and you’ve got a great recipe for added productivity.

At CoTen, we not only offer great, quality workplaces you can be proud of, we also offer activities to keep your employees engaged and focused. From our monthly Lunch and Learn sessions to regular basketball games, we encourage and promote communication, collaboration, learning, and teamwork in our offices. All these lead to happier employees which, as we all know, is great for business. Liking what you just read? Contact us today to know what we can offer your business.