Merchandising and Team Building

You know you’re in business nirvana when your workplace smells like team spirit! Staff members united for one common mission is recognized as a key factor in any organization’s success. Making sure everyone is ‘part of it’ and positively motivated (i.e.. not just doing their job but happy about it too, and happy to work cooperatively with others) means productivity is likely to increase. It’s a process generally known as ‘team building’, and we have some great tips for how you can go about it.

• Empowerment: Making sure each employee has a sense of ‘ownership’ of their role will help them be efficient and confident as they execute their duties. In other words, laying off the micro-management tactics (which tend to de-motivate) and encouraging a sense of responsibility. Also, showing the employee the value of their output in the grand scheme of things is a great way to reinforce pride and their sense of belonging.

• Communication: Making sure that communication works both ways is important to the success of a business. Management may not be aware of issues ‘on the shop floor’ which could impact the common goal, and lines need to be clear and generous for this information to be passed ‘upwards’. Similarly, it’s of great benefit when communication of instructions or the wider plan is clear and carefully delivered so that all employees know what is going on, and perhaps even why. They call it ‘everyone on the same page’.

Similarly, when ‘the boardroom’ is looking for solutions, new ideas and a fresh approach, it can be beneficial to allow opinions, knowledge, and perspective from the shop floor. Again, those workers may see or know something that those higher up the chain don’t – and their insight could prove essential.

• Conflict Resolution: Put any bunch of humans together in the same place or situation and inevitably there will be inter-personal difficulties from time to time. Often these are minor quibbles which can be easily sorted out, but occasionally things escalate and can seriously impact wider performance. Each business, indeed, each manager or supervisor, will have their own approach to resolution of minor issues which is appropriate for their particular business – and most often businesses or organizations will have formal set procedures for dealing with more important problems. However, when being corrective it’s important to approach things positively and steer healthy discussion and debate to positive outcomes, if possible. This will be more likely to lead to satisfaction for all.

• Camaraderie: The sense of community in an organization can happen naturally, perhaps sparked by a single person’s efforts to socialize out of the workplace or celebrate birthdays in it with the gesture of a card and cake, or even just a quick chat with the person sitting next to them. But, as a company there are tried-and-tested ways you can make things happen. Ensuring there is a social space (if your premises has the capability) is a good way to make sure people interact and begin to coalesce into a community. A bench outside so people can take their breaks together, or a canteen so they can lunch in a group are great ideas, but it’s possible to take things further - nights out, company picnics in the summer, trips etc.

• Praise: There’s no getting around the fact that people like to be praised for the effort they make, and for the results of those efforts. One of the reasons for unhappiness at work (and, in fact, a major contributing factor when people decide to seek a new job) is that they feel undervalued or even taken for granted by their employer due to lack of positive feedback on their performance. It’s important to build morale by showing appreciation – whether that is a quick word of praise for part of a task or a more substantial show for a larger and longer contribution. We mean rewards and gifts.

• Rewards and Gifts: Working hard is its own reward, of course. Everyone thrives on it and derives a sense of pride from it – and we all love that feeling when efforts pay off and are appreciated. But in the end appreciation shouldn’t end with salary. It should be remembered that paying a wage is no more than a baseline transaction. Put simply, it’s your cash in (hopefully fair) exchange for an employee’s capability, expertise, and effort. Extra bits and pieces of employee swag around this can make all of the difference to their happiness and productivity – and therefore to the success of your business or organization. Branded gift and reward items are often the way to go. Let’s run through a few of our favorites and explain why…

How to Motivate a Team with Branded Merchandise 

Team building swag can be anything at all that you feel is appropriate to your business, but when you create branded items for staff it becomes an even smarter move. Not only will the recipient appreciate the gesture, and the gift itself, they’re also likely to feel proud about using it out in their day-to-day lives. We’re talking about items such as hats or mugs printed with your logo (as well as many others which we’ll cover shortly). You’ll have gifted something useful to them which will translate into their non-work lives, but which also does some ‘soft marketing’ for you – raising brand awareness by getting your identity out there in front of other people in the real world.

It's a recognized fact that promo items for business are brilliant tools for expanding reach - and a great place to start using them is by offering promotional products for staff. Here are some of our favorites on offer at EverythingBranded…

Our Top 5 Favorite Custom Printed Items for Team Building

1. Gift sets are always welcomed as they’re usually a little more ‘involved’ and perceived as thoughtful. This Leeman New York Barclay Glass Gift Set can be branded up in your image and is perfect for employees to take away and use in their home office space if they happen to be working from home for a period of time. It includes an attractive business card holder and message pad holder duo. For a little more day-to-day practicality, this Beverage Lovers Gift Set contains an Alsace insulated steel 25oz wine bottle and pair of 10oz tumblers – great for picnics or for evenings out in the yard. Covering all bases is this Systems Technology Gift Set which contains a 20oz tumbler, mobile power bank, 3-in-1 charging cable set, and dual USB port car charger.
2. Presenting employees with a quality journal and pen combo is also a good way to go, and this Tuscany Gift Set offers quality as well as usefulness. It features soft faux Leather cover, 80 ruled pages, elastic loop closure and bookmark with document pocket on inside back cover, while the pen is a classic-feeling twist-action Stainless Steel ballpoint with faux Leather-wrapped body.
3. A prestige gift to offer employees is a customized printed travel wallet, emblazoned with your company logo and perhaps a message of thanks too. With pockets for a passport, tickets and travel documents, an ID window, card slots, pen loop, etc, this Custom Branded Zippered Travel Wallet is a brilliant show of appreciation, especially when imprinted with your company logo.
4. Some form of clothing is always good to offer employees as a gift – particularly when it’s as universally popular as a hoodie. This versatile clothing item is popular throughout the year, and when branded up with your logo it provides a smart casual item employees wouldn’t be ashamed to wear when out and about their normal lives.
5. Finally, if you’re looking for something a little more fun which also makes a statement, how about this Executive Gift Box containing M&M'S®? You even have the option to choose their color! You could really be smart on this and match up the candy to your company’s brand identity! Now that’s a great way to go!