Throwback Thursday | Team Building Lessons from College

Remember the good old days of college? Bonding with friends over late nights filled with coffee, work and stressful deadlines?

Wait… these things probably sound familiar…

There are many parallels between experiences in college and your current job. This is especially true with team bonding in your company, and team bonding in fraternities and sororities. Here are three team building lessons learned from Greek life that you can apply to building stronger bonds today.

United as One

A sorority or fraternity has individual members, but is thought of as a whole. Each member contributes independently, but works together to function effectively.

A business is the same. Marketers need to develop a strategy to promote the product while others control the company’s financial situation. However, both groups need to work together to be successful. Otherwise, you may have overspending or not enough buzz to generate revenue.

Want your team to become closer? Check out over 95 of our fun team building programs and activities that can make sure that your company takes its first step in becoming united.

The Busy Syndrome

In college, everyone seems to have something to do: writing papers, meeting with professors, or midterms to study for. In a business, everyone has his or her own individual to-do list as well.

No one seems to have time for team bonding, and why should they? Well, in order to have a successful company, that success needs to originate from a productive environment.

One way fraternities and sororities accomplish a productive environment is to offer positive incentives for people who participate in team bonding activities. For example, a piece of jewelry is given to the sorority member who goes to the most team bonding events. Team bonding = more collaboration and creativity, which generates productivity.

Another strategy is to make bonding activities fun! An example for sororities is to have a Pinterest night, where the members come together and craft various projects.

team building lessons

This team building lesson could be applied to your business in a variety of ways.

Hold a potluck lunch once a month. Include recipe swaps, make an annual employee cookbook each year or turn the potluck into a taste testing challenge to add some zing to your culinary bonding.

Start a nutrition challenge to kick off Spring. This promotes employee health and team building through a little competition.

Have employees contribute photos for Wordless Wednesday posts on social media. This gets your team engaged and collaborating with each other, and helps promote your company! (Just make sure you provide helpful guidelines for submissions.)

Don’t Focus on Negativity

Some people are known for their negative attitude, and can bring down the spirits of a group. Whether this is on a service project for a fraternity, or negativity on an idea in the corporate world, it can severely affect team morale.

What sororities and fraternities have learned to do is to focus on the positive members. They do this by giving awards and honorary mentions to the people who are positive and strive to better the organization.

For example, a fraternity might have a “Brother of the Week” award, given to a member who went out of his way to benefit the fraternity. By highlighting positive members, negative members learn that positivity is an important part of becoming a recognized member of the team.

Struggling with a naysayer? Take a bite out of that team vampire and take advantage of the team building lessons you’ve learned today.

What team building lessons from high school or college do you apply to your professional life?

Rachael Elizabeth Diemert

Team Contributor

Subscribe

Sign up for tips on crafting the perfect team.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Categories

Podcast

around the world podcast logo

Get ideas, inspiration and best practices from across the globe.

apple podcast logo spotify podcast logo

Be a Guest Blogger

Do you have any useful tips, tricks, guides, or valuable insights about company culture?

Learn more  

Sign up for tips on crafting the perfect team.

Less drama? Greater productivity and job satisfaction? Yes, you really can make an impact, and TeamBonding is here to help. Subscribe to our blog for useful tips, tricks and insights.

More great content based on your likes.

Innovative Workplaces: Physical Workspace Design to Spark Engagement and Creativity

Whether we realize it or not, our workspaces play a very important role in engagement, creativity, and overall business success.. Workplace design—physical and virtual—can significantly influence behavior, promote collaboration, teamwork, creativity, and foster a culture of innovation. 

Read More  

8+ Of The Best Spring Team Building Activities For 2024

The first day of spring is March 19th, but depending on where you live it might be here sooner than you think. It’s never too early to get out of hibernation and start planning something for your team to look forward to, especially after a long winter. Whether your team is remote, in-person, or anything in between there is a plethora of spring team building activities and ideas to bring everyone together.

Read More  

St Patrick’s Day Team Building Activities & Ideas

St Patrick’s Day, celebrated annually on March 17th, is a great opportunity to improve engagement, have some fun with your colleagues, and boost morale. As it approaches, everyone is looking forward to holiday celebrations and enjoying the company of others. Whether your team is working remotely or in person, there are plenty of creative ideas to celebrate together.

Read More  

How to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day Virtually with Your Team

Holidays are always a great excuse to get the team together and lift everyone’s spirits, especially while working remotely. St Patrick’s Day is no exception. The famous holiday, celebrated annually on March 17th, is typically a day of merriment, dancing, feasting, and drinking. This St Patrick’s Day, TeamBonding has great ideas for your remote team’s enjoyment. One thing to note is virtual St Patrick’s Day team building activities are just as fun as getting together in person. Pull out your best green attire and get ready to party your shamrocks off.

Read More  

Questions? Need a quote?

Complete this form to get started or call 877-472-2725.

Loading Icon

Create Your Free Account

Get exclusive access to new programs from the TeamBonding Lab, save your favorite ideas, and track your upcoming events.
Already have an account? Login

Please wait...

Sign-in

Don't yet have an account?
Create a Free Account

Forgot Your Password? Password Reset