If there is one universal truth that is as true as any, it is that food unites everyone. Cooking as a family or with friends and loved ones brings us together because the whole experience enables us to share our culture and heritage through food while providing nourishment to one another. This very act of coming together and sharing a meal is the most communal act that occurs in almost every part of the world and dates back to our prehistoric days.
Is it any surprise then that the corporate world would adopt this traditional act of getting together to build camaraderie in a team-building activity among co-workers in the office? When one thinks of team building activities to go for in Malaysia, the usual thoughts that come to mind are activities such as rock climbing, hiking, games, trust falls (ugh) or even Laser Tag.
However, if you keep an open mind, you’ll find that the kitchen and baking is an activity where you can learn some life-changing lessons, build trust among your teammates, and gain some impressive culinary skills. Here are 7 benefits that will convince you to adopt baking for your next team building session.
1. Team Cohesion, Coordination and Work Ethic
Human beings are social creatures that are meant to live among others. In fact, even the most indigenous communities in the world seek refuge in a group. As we go down the evolution line, even other mammals prefer to remain in groups to ensure survival. When you are working with a team, it is indeed important to be working in unity because it determines how well you perform as well, to a great extent. At some point in your career, you needed the help and input from other people to succeed.
Corporate team building baking classes addresses this directly. You may not like who you are baking together with. You know that you can bake and get the job done faster. However, you still need to work with your team to get the final item baked and done. Transfer this principle to your workplace and you’ll learn to accept different personalities and to work cohesively.
2. Creativity and Innovation
A cooking challenge is one of the best instances to put your team’s creativity and innovativeness to the test. Not only is your team compelled to create delicious masterpieces through combinations of spices and ingredients, but you also have to think out of the box to solve challenges, pre-emptively and on-the-go. Besides that, you have to factor in the limitations that you will be facing and innovatively work them out as well. How do you bake a dish that takes 4 hours in just under 1?
This is the main factor that a team-building baking class addresses. The key is not only to think logically as a team and agree to a solution to solve the problem, but to do so creatively and innovatively to achieve extraordinary results. These principles are then applied to the workplace and to your work.
3. Cultivating Inner Talent and Skills
People discover skills they never knew they had until they try something new out. This happens during a team-building baking class or cooking class as well. For instance, you might discover that you have a knack for organising tasks and delegating duties or you can teach or guide someone to do something they have never done before. Besides that, you’ll also get to learn new baking and cooking skills such as frosting, food presentation, mixing, etc. How does this apply to the corporate world? Well, the same way you learn skills in the team building baking class is the same way you’ll learn new skills in the corporate world and your job. If you can open yourself up to learning new baking skills in the kitchen at the team building class, you’ll be open to learning new skills and improving existing ones at work.
4. Patience
Patience is a virtue and a trait that gets one far in life. No place is better to test your patience in a team-building baking class. When you have 2 groups competing with each other in the team building baking class, it is indeed desirable for the entire team to be highly skilled and be in sync throughout the entire time you’re baking and cooking. But, not everyone is a seasoned chef, and so, they might require more coaching and guidance from the rest. Hence, a baking class team building activity will train your team members’ patience with each other and cultivate a habit of encouraging others to the best of their ability.
5. Having the End in Mind, and the Flexibility to Adapt
Screw-ups are common, and they are all the more common when a team of newbies is attempting to use their limited culinary skills to create a dish under pressure in the cooking class. However, it is important to stay positive when this happens. No amount of blaming or high drama will improve things. This is the time to think of possible solutions to salvage the situation. The cooking class cook-off challenge aims to create the required dish and it is important to keep that end in mind. In work as well, sudden changes happen, and this is when your team has to think on their feet to adapt and improvise, in order to reach the goal and improve work performance.
6. Embracing the Outcome, No Matter the Result
When a group of office workers comes to a cooking class as a team-building activity, chances are the dish that is cooked will not turn out to be as perfect or delicious as envisioned. Not everyone has the cooking skills of a pro-chef in the kitchen. However, you should still be proud of the outcome because it was created with the effort and teamwork of your team. Similarly, when your team is facing a negative situation at work, everyone should embrace the outcome instead of finding someone to blame. This will be the time to reflect and learn to achieve greater heights in the future.
7. Connecting Teammates, Departments and In-House and External Personnel
A company is made up of several departments, on-site employees and external workers who are not present in the company. Workers can go years without ever meeting their colleagues while working in the same company. While you probably only know the other persons’ names, voice and appearance from interacting online, you’ve probably not met them at all and know very little about them at all.
A team-building baking class is a good opportunity to meet and interact with these individuals. Interacting with each other builds trust and relationships. Although you might all be strangers to each other, coming together in a team-building baking class to accomplish something will start conversations. The next time, you interact with them, there will be increased teamwork, collaboration and productivity.
The team that bakes together, performs together! When employees bake together, the team gains all the benefits that are mentioned above and more. All the lessons learned during a baking class of a corporate team building activity are transferable to the workplace. For fun baking team building activities that you can do with your team, check out MyWeekendPlan. MyWeekendPlan offers a variety of culinary team building activities that are customisable to your company’s needs. Your colleagues will come in as individuals but leave as a TEAM at MyWeekendPlan. Contact us or check out our culinary team building catalog that would help you achieve all of these great benefits together!
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