Adopting environmentally friendly habits in the workplace can be tricky. Why? Well, office spaces tend to need (and use) a lot of supplies and energy. But you can still make little contributions throughout your day to help the environment in the long run.

This article explores some of our favorite ideas for how to build a greener workplace and emphasize sustainable business practices.

Want a Greener Workplace? Time to Improve Your Sustainability Strategy! 

Building an eco-friendly organization starts with a well-planned sustainability strategy. Here are some tips that’ll help you create a strategy for improved sustainability in the workplace: 

• Set Measurable Goals: Define clear goals that will help you build a greener workplace. For example, maybe you want to reduce energy use by 10% in 2025 or increase your recycling rate by 50% by 2030. 

• Educate Employees: Get your team members involved with sustainability training sessions and offer ways they can help build a greener workplace together. 

• Buy Green: Purchasing your office supplies and equipment from eco-conscious vendors supports other eco-friendly organizations, helping them continue helping the planet. 

• Track Progress: Keep track of your sustainability efforts so you can celebrate milestones towards your measurable goals and keep motivation high! 

Not sure how to introduce your new sustainability initiative? Consider kicking it off with a fun eco-friendly team building event. For example, Compost Heroes gets your teams involved with eco-friendly activities and challenges them to build compost tumblers while learning about composting and their own environmental impact.

Office Greening: 4 Simple Practices for a Greener Workplace

Making your office more environmentally friendly doesn’t have to be an overwhelming undertaking. There are plenty of simple practices that’ll create a greener workplace in a snap! Implementing even one of the options below will reduce your environmental impact and help the planet. 

1. Start Recycling

This one is super easy to do. Put a bin next to the trash can marked “recycling,” and you already have a more sustainable workplace!

Here are some tips to get the most from this simple change: 

• • Clear Instructions: It helps to put up a sign about what can and can’t be recycled—make it a short, easy-to-reference list for best results. 
  • Announce Your Goals: Make an office-wide announcement about the company’s recycling goals and ask that all employees participate. 

• Create Fun Initiatives: Hosting educational events, promoting plastic-free Fridays, and other fun initiatives can help inspire people to get involved. 

• Go the Extra Mile: Step up your efforts by organizing volunteering events to clean the office and outdoor areas.

• Make it a Game: Try creating friendly competitions if you have a couple of recycling bins around the office—who can fill theirs the fastest? Offer prizes like an ice cream party for the winners as an extra incentive!

2. Use Less Paper and Share Documents Online

Have you ever thought about how much paper you would save if you shared all of your documents online? 

Whenever possible, try to eliminate printing by sharing documents with your co-workers online. We recommend using Google Drive, Docs, and Sheets—they make it easy to create files and share them with the entire office. 

This practice also saves you from the dreaded clutter piling up on your desk. When you do have to print documents, opt to print double-sided to save paper.

3. Equip Office Kitchen With Plates, Cups, and Cutlery

Office kitchens can accumulate a ton of garbage. Combat this by buying some plates, cups, and cutlery for employees to use at lunchtime. It’ll cut back on the single-use trash that accumulates in the office kitchen. 

As a bonus, you won’t have to remember to pack your disposable dishware every day (that’s not just us, right?). Bonus points if you organize healthy lunches as a new weekly team building activity to help your employees bond while positively affecting workplace sustainability.

4. Turn Off Lights and Electronics

Create new routines to ensure the lights in the office are shut off when you leave work each day. Don’t forget to shut off your computer or any other electronics you won’t need, too. 

Don’t forget to unplug devices that aren’t being used—this saves a huge amount of electricity and improves the eco-friendliness of your workplace. Even when a device is just simply plugged in, it uses something called “phantom electricity,” which wastes valuable energy and racks up your electricity bill.

It helps to place a reminder by the office door, especially if this is an office-wide initiative. It’s all about helping everyone remember to do these little things that’ll help you achieve your green goals!

Easy Workplace Sustainability Tips 

The next step is to spread some seeds around your desk, use all-natural corn and gluten-free fertilizers, and watch your new garden grow. Just kidding!

If you want your team to bond AND save the planet, here are some easy, impactful changes you can make for a greener workplace: 

• Eco-friendly furniture: Choose items made from recycled or recyclable materials. Look for retailers that have implemented the Cradle-to-Cradle protocol.
• Lighting: Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents and LEDs.
• Ventilation: Ensure good airflow and use low-VOC paints and materials.

It doesn’t have to stop there. You have so many options available to create a greener workplace. To prove it, here are more office sustainability ideas and tips:

• Carpool to reduce your carbon footprint
• Subscribe to online magazines/newspapers rather than print
• Maximize your office space’s natural lighting to reduce the use of electricity 
• Opt for bathroom hand dryers instead of paper towels
• Offer a water bottle filling station to reduce plastic water bottle usage
• Donate or recycle old company electronics

3 Green Team Building Activities to Get Everyone Involved

If you’re struggling to get the whole team involved in your sustainable business practices, try engaging them with green team building activities! Programs like these can make office sustainability initiatives much more fun for everyone involved. 

1. Go Green Racing

Check out Go Green Racing, our charity team building program. It offers a fun and educational way to promote eco-friendliness among your team members. They’ll play, compete, learn, and help out local schools in the process! 

2. Impact Online

If you and your team are interested in learning how to take steps towards a more sustainable future, you might like Impact Online. It’s an engaging charitable event that empowers your team members to make meaningful changes and work towards a more sustainable future.

3. Green-Off Competition 

This one’s great for in-person and remote employees alike. With a green-off competition, employees will split into smaller groups and compete to see which one can take the most steps toward a greener workplace. In addition to getting your employees involved, this one is a great way to improve workplace wellness for everyone who participates. 

Start by providing your team with a list of ways they can get involved. Here are some examples:

• Use mugs, glasses, bowls, utensils, and other relevant items that help reduce waste.
• Add an LED desk lamp to the workplace. 
• Decorate with plants, solar-powered gadgets, and eco-friendly office supplies.
• Find unique ways to upcycle waste.

Enlist an unbiased panel of judges to score each team’s workspace on a scale of 1-10 at the end of the week. Then celebrate with a fun eco-friendly prize for the winner, plus something fun to reward each team that participated. 

Make Your Office Greener Today! 

Are you ready to build a greener workplace? The sooner you start, the more of an impact you’ll have on the planet. 

The ideas we’ve shared above are just the beginning. There are tons of ways your company can work toward sustainability in the workplace. 

If you’d like help getting your team members involved, we’re here to help! Contact TeamBonding today—we’ll create the perfect eco-friendly event to kick off your new sustainable office initiative.

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Let’s take a little lesson from one of our favorite Disney classics, the Lion King. Hakuna Matata is a Swahili phrase meaning “no worries,” which Timon and Pumbaa sing so joyously in The Lion King (it’s very catchy).

According to a Work Stress Survey, 83% of Americans are stressed out by at least one part of their job. Stress is not only unhealthy for the body, but it can also cause you to be much less productive. That’s why we should all work to decrease any work-related stress and adopt more of a “Hakuna Matata” mindset. Check out our list of 3 ways to destress at work below!

1. Make a To-Do List

If you love post-it notes as I do, then this part will be fun for you! Making a to-do list is a great way to organize your day and prioritize. Put tasks that need to be done immediately at the top of your list and work downwards from there. It helps to put a little checkbox next to each item, that way once you complete something you can check it off- it’s a very satisfying feeling!

2. Have Some Down Time

We’re not suggesting that you nap on the job, but we do recommend that you take breaks throughout the workday to clear your mind. Perhaps taking a walk would help? After you have some downtime, you’ll come back to work with a fresh mind and you’ll be more productive.

3. Stay Healthy

Diet and exercise can help reduce your stress and make you more productive at work. Eating a healthy and balanced diet along with the daily recommended exercise can help you feel energized and ready to tackle whatever tasks come your way.  Maybe even consider adding some superfoods into your diet for an extra energy boost. This energy will help you get through your work and increase your productivity. No need to spend hours staring at your work wondering what to do, hop-to-it!

Stress can really take its a toll on the body and when it gets out of control, it can have some seriously harmful effects. We don’t want this to happen to you. Get your post-it notes out, take 5 minutes to meditate, keep active,  and maybe sing some Hakuna Matata.

We hope that these tips help you de-stress a little bit at work!

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Check back to our blog on Friday and we’ll fill you in on the rest of this program! You already know it involves teamwork!

Find Lauren Baker on Google+.

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School for Spies

However, there is only room at the top for the most outstanding spies in the program.

Your group will be divided into teams representing high level intelligence organizations from around the world. Each team will be provided with an intelligence package which will include:

• coded messages
• top secret passwords
• highly classified documents

You and your team will be put to the test as you will be challenged to break codes, follow clues and retrieve sensitive information.

Not only will you and your team have a great time trying to break the codes and secret passwords, but you will also learn valuable skills in prioritization, time management and working together. Take part in the School for Spies program to start building the strong team you need.

Find Lauren Baker on Google+.

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The Day at the Museum program offers a challenging team scavenger hunt that can be created by our event planners for nearly any museum, aquarium, gallery or zoo of your choice. You will also have the option of choosing a low-tech or high-tech scavenger hunt that will include fun characters, photos and trivia challenges.

Your group will be divided into teams and will be provided with maps leading to clues throughout the venue. Team members must work together to solve a number of brain teasers to earn points. Your team will be sure to hit some twists and turns along the way as you work your way through the hunt.

Our GoTek Scaventures are high tech scavenger hunts using the newest smartphone and tablet technology. The GoTek technology features include:

• GPS challenges
• image recognition
• augmented reality
• video
• audio
• images
• live scoring

Day at the Museum group shot.

You may inquire about a GoTek Scaventure for the museum you are interested in!

This program incorporates fun, education and team building all into one highly interactive program. We offer A Day at the Museum in a number of cities as it is the perfect indoor activity for any day.

Your team will leave feeling energized and educated long after the scavenger hunt is complete!

Find Lauren Baker on Google+.

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Improv is proven to bring teams closer together because it requires them to experience something new, participate fully, learn new things and share a tremendous amount of laughter.

Stephen Colbert even told the graduates of Knox College in his commencement address that he started out in Chicago doing improvisational theatre. The one rule he was taught was to use “yes, and…” and he has stuck by this.

Both TEAMProv and ComedySportz are designed for participants to learn transferable skills that can be used in the workplace after your improv experience with us.

TEAMProv aims to teach participants how to improvise including the soft business skills that are essential for successful communication in the workplace. We concentrate on focus, trust, proactive listening, making each other look good, being present, and living in the moment.

Our TEAMProv workshops can focus on one or many of these:

• Teamwork
• Communication
• Presentation skills
• Risk taking change
• Stress Management
• Customer service

ComedySportz is an improv comedy show that incorporates your audience’s suggestions and creates hilarious scenes and games. The best part, ComedySportz shows are customized to your event, so it works every single time.

We offer ComedySportz Match, ComedySportz Half-Court and ComedySports Exhibition format. Our shows are very customizable because we want to ensure that our material clicks with your group. Every show is guaranteed to be positive, hilarious and clean!

This unique approach to team building will have your team leaving feeling rejuvenated and laughing harder than ever.

As Colbert says, it’s more of a “mutual discovery than a solo adventure.”

Have you ever tried improv? What was your favorite part about it?

Find Lauren Baker on Google+.

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We’re here to help you crack the code and solve the mystery of effective team building so that you get it just right for your team.

Clue #1 – Make sure your team is AWARE

Prepare your team in advance. Make sure that everybody is on the same page and is on board with the idea of a team building program. Last minute notice of a team building activity may increase some resistance among employees. Instead, plan your team building activity in advance with the help of the entire office. Get everyone involved in the planning process to ensure your team has an effective team building experience.

Clue #2 – Set Expectations

Strongly encourage your whole team to participate in the team building event. After all, “None of us is as smart as all of us” (Dr. Ken Blanchard). It’s true! Having the entire group involved in your team building activity is very important. It’s hard to build upon these crucial skills when you’re missing members of the team. Let your team know this. Maybe even have some incentive for attendance? The more the merrier!

Clue #3 – Find Your Niche 

Going in to a team building activity, participants must understand that not everyone can be a leader within the group. While having a leadership role within a group is important, it’s also important that other members fill out other roles. There is a spot for everyone, you just need to find your niche. You’d be surprised what impact a team bonding activity can have on the group dynamic in the office. Many of the lessons you learn from your team building experience are transferable to the office.

Clue #4 – Pick the Right Activity

Consider your team’s dynamic when choosing your team building activity. You can do a number of team building activities, but the trick is picking the best one that will be the most effective team building experience for your team in particular. Does your team like to be actively searching for clues? Or would your team rather enjoy a show over dinner?

You will want to choose a team building activity that will keep your employees engaged and having a good time. What better way to get to know your coworkers than solving mysteries together? You’ll increase communication, problem solving and decision making skills among your team and have a blast while doing it.

How would you ensure an effective team building experience? How do you approach finding the right team building activity for your team?

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Here’s your own “How to be James Bond” guide, full of trilling team building ideas for the whole office to get involved in. Uncover these cases and you may soon find that your co-workers start referring to you as “007.” How’s that for a cool nickname around the office?

Case #1 The Case of the Missing Spy Skills

So you want to be like James Bond, but you’re lacking in the spy skills department. We can help. Our School for Spies program will put you through the nation’s most prestigious spy training program. At the espionage training academy, School for Spies, you will be put to the test as your team works together to break codes, follow clues and retrieve sensitive information.

It’s almost graduation time at School for Spies, and your classmates have been working hard at this for years. The top of the class will be chosen as elite members who will be assigned to the most glamorous international assignments, something we ALL know James Bond does very well.

Schools for Spies will help you excel your spy skills and take your team to another level of teamwork. This program truly puts the “bond”  in TeamBonding!

Case #2 The Case of the Missing Go Team

With our Go Team program you’ll be on the fast track to becoming  James Bond 2.0. Go Team’s technology and personalization will even have James Bond himself impressed. This top-secret, high-tech scavenger hunt will have your team working together to complete highly classified missions and even catch a rival spy. Your only weapons: Smartphones, iPads, or Tablets.

Perhaps you’ll embark on your own Amazing Race and attempt photo challenges and three location-specific challenges; or maybe you’ll take part in the Mad Dash, where you’ll tackle intriguing photo and trivia challenges! Best yet, our fully immersive City Explorer challenge will leave your team with exciting video, photo and trivia challenges, all while using cutting edge technology built on Image Recognition and GPS.

This is a true James Bond experience. Use Go Team’s technology to your advantage and you may even find yourself out-doing James Bond!

Case #3 The Case of the Missing Cocktail

“Shaken not stirred” is how Mr. James Bond likes his martinis. How do you like yours? At our Cocktail Team Building, the program you’ll have many options. This program is informative, fun and relaxing – the perfect way to wind down after a long day of meetings, or use it as an excuse for your team to get together in a relaxed
environment. You’ll be challenged to design and present a cocktail from a mystery box of ingredients.

You can make whatever you’d like at your Cocktail Team Building program, but remember, James Bond, preferred a martini…(shaken, not stirred). Maybe that’s what made him such a good spy? Consider that while you’re picking your beverage of choice!

Case Closed! Now you have some team building ideas in mind that’ll bring you closer to becoming James Bond. So, do a little investigating and see which program suits your team best.

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Make sure to check back on Friday to find out what comes next in the domino effect of this team building experience!

Find Lauren Baker on Google+.

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Today, it is crucial that employees become educated on how to break barriers that they may face in the workplace in order to avoid disaster. This is why Marc Wayshak, author of Game Plan Selling and Breaking all Barriers delivers his empowering keynote speech in this program.

In Breaking All Barriers, Marc shares techniques to overcome professional barriers while instilling inspiration and motivation among listeners. During his presentation, Mark walks participants through the Broken Barrier Triad^TM  which involves the following:

1. Finding your insFEARation (aiming for something outside of your comfort zone that scares you)

2. Matering your mindset (developing a positive mindset in an empowering environment)

3. Getting into S.T.A.T.E (Systematic Tactics to Activate Targeted Energy)

4. Start, Stick out and Succeed (Strategies that get it all done)

The Breaking All Barriers program is a very effective training session for increasing your teams motivation and boosting morale. Participants will learn how to overcome professional barriers, use the Broken Barrier Triad^TM,and empower your other team members.

You and your team will be sure to leave with a “we can do anything” attitude.

Find Lauren Baker on Google+.

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