Connect departments at the year-end celebration

At a company celebration, it's common to sit with the same colleagues. It's comfortable, but it leaves little room to meet people from other areas. A teambuilding activity between departments can help open these conversations with a shared purpose.

A concrete reason to interact

Forming mixed groups is a first step. The next is to propose a task that requires input from various people. This gives a natural reason to introduce yourself, ask questions, and listen to someone you may have only exchanged emails with.

For example, a dynamic activity can ask the group to build a joint response from different ideas. The value of the proposal lies in how it facilitates interaction. You need to avoid letting the same people always speak or having participation depend on a specific skill.

After the activity, leaving informal time allows conversations that have already started to continue. The meeting can serve as a starting point; ongoing collaboration will need these contacts to have continuity within the company.

Preparing groups that encourage conversation

The composition of groups can be thought through before the activity. If the goal is to connect departments, it's important to distribute people so there's contact between areas. You should also avoid leaving one person completely isolated in a group where everyone already knows each other. The organization should facilitate a comfortable entry into conversation, especially for recent hires.

Facilitation can help contributions circulate. Explaining clearly what the group needs to do and giving time for people to introduce themselves makes the first step easier. The specific proposal should be adapted to the size of the group and the type of participation you're looking for; mixing people without preparing the experience may fall short.

Giving continuity to contacts

After the celebration, managers can pick up a conversation that has emerged about shared work. Perhaps two teams discover a common need or better understand who's behind a process. The meeting has created the opportunity for contact; giving it continuity requires opening spaces where these people can talk again with a concrete professional purpose. It can be a first step to identifying who to talk to when a need related to that other area comes up again.

At elmeetingpoint we can help you choose an activity to connect areas during the celebration. Tell us how your team is structured and which people you'd like to bring together.

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