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Harness the power of your employees’ competitive natures

There are many benefits to challenging your employees, but the point is to make it fun. If we’re just assigning work and adding new processes, it just seems like new work with more work added on top of it that employees can’t see the point of.

We love having fun in the workplace because it makes work seem a little less like work, and it fosters camaraderie among employees that may not have gotten to know one another otherwise. It also shows employees their strengths, and how vital they are to the company. Competitive natures already exist in your workplace, are you taking advantage of it to complete tasks?

The benefits are clear

We’re not talking about challenging one person against another, though that can work as well. We’re talking about getting groups together and putting them head to head in a workplace battle royale. We’re adding new dimensions and new ways of thinking into the mix. You’re still focused on the end goal, the work being completed, but group competitions add so much more to the table.

• It’s a bigger incentive than money. Money is always welcome, but it doesn’t show much thought on the part of the manager. Competition, however, sparks a different part of our brain and gets us engaged in the work we’re doing. It gives the work depth and adds another element. Now we’re not doing the work just for the customer, but we’re doing the work to reach a specific goal. Of course, the goal should come with a reward for the best group. Will they be treated to a pizza party? Will they receive a plaque with their names on it? Think about each group that’s competing and consider what they would like. You could even let them decide among themselves what a good reward would be.
• Competition challenges us. It’s easy to get stuck in a work routine, and the monotony fosters boredom and disinterest. When employees work in groups to compete against one another, it brings change to the workplace, breaks them out of their stale routines, and drives them past what’s comfortable for them.
• It naturally makes us more productive. Employees are pitted against another team, and each wants to rise victorious. There’s no time for putting things off, and there’s no time to dally. They want to be the first, and that means working quickly to reach the top. The normal routine of the day is gone, and they’re energized by this new experience. Of course they’re going to get things done faster!
• It teaches new ways of doing things. Employees already know how to do the work ahead of them. If they’ve been doing it for any amount of time, they have their own tried and true ways of performing a task. Now that they’re in a group, that’s up in the air. It’s no longer a single person working, but a group of people striving for the same goal. Different methods of work and different processes will be tossed around, and it will likely teach your employees new ways of handling their workload.
• Quality work rises to the top with the best team. Along with learning new ways we also strive for quality. You have groups of creative individuals, and more than processes are going to be tossed around and brainstormed. The creative process of an individual will feed off another and better, higher concept ideas will arise, creating an end result that’s better than it could have been if assigned to your best employee.

Create groups to challenge each other

Great groups work when you have different personalities and different work habits thrown into the mix. It’s a learning experience as well as a work task. You’re fostering friendly competition, and you’re getting the benefit of employees learning more and exceeding your work goals.

At CrewHu, we’re pushing the work envelop and creating new products that allow managers to watch the progress of their teams, as well as showing teams how they’re doing and how close they are to reaching their goals. It adds a measurable and visual element to group challenges that drive employees closer to the finish line and shows them where they’re falling behind the competition. Check out our features today and start implementing them at your office!