Effective team building in the workplace helps create a positive environment, boosts employee morale and retention, and is integral to maintaining a successful business. It’s especially important to DRMP’s work culture as we continue to grow our firm and expand our services in the Southeastern United States.

With 21 offices and over 600 employees spread throughout the Southeast, building relationships within our firm and getting employees engaged in meaningful activities contributes to greater connection among staff.

At DRMP, companywide team building comes in many forms, from annual cornhole tournaments, ping-pong competitions, food truck extravaganzas to Enneagram personality inventory activities and a charity bike build event to benefit local children and families in need.  

The firm’s departments and regional offices also hold their own departmental team building activities, such as dining out at local restaurants, chili cook-offs, movie days, and attending local sporting events together.

Team building is one of the most important investments a company, department, or leader can make, DRMP’s Learning and Development Manager Martha Ayers said.

“It can be used to build trust, mitigate conflict, encourage communication, and increase collaboration among teams,” Ayers said. “All of these benefits yield more engaged employees, which is great for company culture and the bottom line.”

DRMP’s Learning and Development Department has been facilitating an increasing number of events over the last several months. The firm’s General Civil/Municipal Services division and Transportation Market Sector groups recently used team building to foster collaboration and strengthen relationships among team members across departmental and geographic lines. 

“We have literally hundreds of team-building activities,” Ayers said. “DRMP’s Talent Acquisition and Marketing groups have used team building as a tool to get to know one another better and explore communication styles to improve the team's overall efficiency and impact.”

An Ice Breaker

As a new leader working in DRMP’s St. Augustine office, Pablo Ferrari, PSM, Vice President of Surveying and Mapping/Geospatial, participated in an annual team building activity for the firm’s Jacksonville office. Each year, the firm’s Jacksonville employees and their families attend a Jacksonville Icemen hockey game. Having just joined the firm, this was an opportunity for Ferrari to introduce himself and meet other regional employees.

“The hockey game and other events like that are great,” Ferrari said. “Coming from a small company we didn’t always have (or make) the time or the resources for company outings like that. In an atmosphere like the hockey game, you get to meet others that you probably would not have a whole lot of contact with during your day-to-day work. In addition, you get to meet their family and gain more of a personal connection with them.”

Ferrari said team building activities give employees an opportunity to interact in an informal setting and have more personalized conversations unrelated to work.

“I do feel that events like that help build a feeling of community amongst the employees,” he said. “It allows bosses, managers, techs, and field personnel to get together as a ‘group of equals’ as opposed to the hierarchy we have in our day-to-day interactions.”

A Civil Engagement

Fort Myers Office Leader Paul Benvie, PE, was one of 45 participants in the firm’s General Civil/Municipal Services Division’s team building summit held at DRMP’s Orlando, Fla., headquarters. The group of employees from the firm’s Florida offices in Boca Raton, Fort Myers, Tampa, Merritt Island, Gainesville, Tallahassee, and Panama City, as well as the Cary, N.C., office, engaged in a variety of team building activities, including Tall Tall Towers, Speed Friending, and Blind Draw.

“I think team building is one of the most important ways a company can promote synergy between its employees,” Benvie said. “Some folks work together on a daily basis and never get to really know each other. Team building is a great opportunity for us to open up and share a side of ourselves we otherwise wouldn't. We get a deeper, personal experience with our teammates, which helps us forge relationships and find trust in one another.” 

The Reigning Cornhole Champion

Roadway Engineer Reece Ruel, EI, said team-building activities greatly decrease tension in an office environment.

“It allows you to build a relationship with your co-workers, which builds trust,” he said. “These activities help us to stay positive and give us an opportunity to get away from our desks.”  

Ruel has participated in numerous team-building activities in DRMP’s Tampa office, such as hot wing contests, chili cook-offs, bowling, movie nights, and cornhole tournaments.

In fact, Ruel is the reigning cornhole champion in DRMP’s Tampa office.

“The annual cornhole tournament is always a fun and exciting time,” he said. “It’s a nice way to break away and decompress after working for hours at your desk. When looking back at your job in the future, instead of thinking how we sat at a desk all day, we’ll be able to say, 'We got the job done, and we had some good times doing it.'”