Whether you're part of an important corporate organization, a small business, charitable group or sports club, you’ll need to get the best out of your team members.

The profits of any business or company, and the success of any organisation or group, rely on their members being committed, pulling together, and working hard as a team, identifying collective goals and responsibilities, and being motivated to achieve those goals.

Team members that understand how they can contribute effectively as part of a group, and know the keys to effective teamwork, will enjoy the satisfaction of collectively working towards and achieving set goals.

One well-known way of improving team work of any kind is by practising team building activities.

Hundreds of team building activities exist to suit all types of groups – ranging from costly and complex to surprisingly cheap and simple.

When choosing team building activities, you’ll want to take into account such matters as the age and size of the group, the goals of the organization, the needs of the team, and whether activities will take place outside or indoors.

Business-related companies, and other organizations with sufficient funds, may well decide to employ the services of one of the many team-building consultants available – either locally or on the Internet.

These are professional and experienced people, who will assess you and your team, and then make recommendations as to the most appropriate activities for your circumstances.

They may suggest simple exercises to improve bonding, trust, communication and collaboration. Perhaps they’ll recommend activities which will help your team members learn self-regulation, explore their various strengths and weaknesses, solve problems, and make decisions. They may even suggest multi-day team retreats requiring varying degrees of physical effort, and which are specially designed to develop and improve your team.

But, what if your group doesn’t possess the big bucks necessary to spend on employing the services of a team building consultant?

Never fear!... You’ll find plenty of advice and ideas on the Internet! For example, here is one relatively simple and affordable activity, suitable for teams of nearly every type …

If the team is fairly large, divide it into smaller groups, then ask them to invent and create their own team-building activity. What could be simpler! And, it will help your members in a variety of ways, improving their communication, goal-setting, planning, co-operation and task orientation.

Have you got a new team, whose members don’t – as yet – know each other? Then, why not try out an Ice-Breaking activity to get members acquainted, followed by some simple shared experiences such as a team lunch or other social activity. A discussion of team goals can also be a good starting point to build relationships and shared sense of purpose.

One thing’s for sure … Whatever your pocket, and whatever your team, you’ll find plenty of activities around which will lead to a happier, better-developed, and more productive group.