Springtime is about renewal, refreshing, rejuvenation, re-energizing, and new beginnings. Spring reminds us of what Psychologist Bruce Tuckman calls the Forming stage of group dynamics, which is directly applicable to company cultures.

In the forming stage, team members meet, leaders facilitate introductions, and trust and respect start to be built. Anytime the group is altered – maybe with the addition of a new person or when someone leaves – it’s important to come back to this stage.

Remote and hybrid workforces have created a more challenging environment to facilitate this forming stage, but that shouldn’t deter you from being intentional about planning events that help bring your team together for these important Forming stage functions.

Making Friends

Our favorite part of the Forming stage is forging friendships. According to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Minnesota, close friendships at work “increase productivity, friends are more committed, communicate better, and encourage each other.” (Source: Harvard Business Review)

Additionally, Gallup’s data shows having a best friend at work is strongly linked to business outcomes, including improvements in profitability, safety, inventory control, and employee retention.

While you can’t force any of your employees to become friends, you can create environments where they are more likely to get to know each other’s personalities and have fun together – the basis of any friendship. Games are the perfect platform to do this.

Helping Veterans, Starting With Their Own Staff

Our client, Veterans Alliance, has a remote team of people – many of them veterans themselves – dedicated to finding career opportunities for ex service members from every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. Their team works remotely from all across the United States, but their leadership understands how critical it is to bring them together to simply have fun and get to know each other.

They planned a week in America’s Finest City and brought together their national team to help members get to know each other and build trust.

Veterans Alliance hired Grin Events to host three events in a single day. We think this is a little wild, but we went with it!

Here are the events we served up:

In It To Win It

Our in-person In It To Win It features participants compete against each other in silly challenges using everyday objects. These games are harder than they look and hilarious to watch.

Game Night

In Game Night, we lead the attendees through multiple rounds of party-style games to maximize interactions between teammates and opponents. These games are easy to learn, fun to play, and inclusive for all abilities.

Game Show

Our Game Show is based on popular TV game shows where team members compete for “cash” prizes just like the real thing. Contestants buzz in from the stage, collaborate with teammates, and work together to earn cash.

The Results of Fun

Not only was this group ready to party, they brought their A game when it came to having a good time. Veterans Alliance already has a great company culture built on mutual respect. With a growing team, the games we played allowed everyone to embrace that culture through fun.

We're Here To Help

Figuring out fresh ways of facilitating social interactions can feel intimidating, so we’ve created a menu of events to help with just that. We want you – the event planner – to be able to show up and also participate in the fun without having to worry about the details.

Here’s how it works:

1) Contact us in whatever way is easiest for you:

2) Tell us what your event goal is and we can suggest an event type.

3) Let us know how many participants to expect and pick a date and time.

We take care of the rest!