For all Sports Complex and Summer Camp Info

Indoor Soccer Leagues, Rentals, Golf, School Visits, and Corporate Inquiries

visit us at

www.wwksportscomplex.com

(new window will open)

Company Event Planning Help: Steps For A Successful Corporate Picnic

            When beginning to plan a corporate picnic the task may seem overwhelming as there are multiple aspects to consider. Company event planning encompasses a broad range of elements that need to be taken care of to ensure that everything is smoothly facilitated and the outcome meets or exceeds your group’s expectations. Be certain to choose your date and book months in advance to allow yourself enough time to accomplish all necessary tasks for the picnic and give room for any changes you wish to make. To follow are the steps you must proceed through to be certain that you will organize the best corporate picnic your company and employees have ever experienced! First, here are a few major items to consider in the early planning stages:

1)      Pick a Venue

When deciding what type of venue would be most suitable there are a few key elements to keep in mind. Think of your staff and the type of company you try to portray yourself to be. Choose a venue that is in accordance with your staff’s personalities and one that reflects your company as best as possible. Also, keep in mind your vision for the picnic to ensure that the venue you choose will accommodate your group size and can provide all of the items and service you wish to incorporate.

2)      Selecting the Menu

Food is a large portion of any company picnic and should include a variety of delicious assortments. It is best to have your food catered instead of making your employees do the cooking either on site at the venue or in a potluck style meal. The purpose of the corporate picnic is to give your staff a break and reward them which you will achieve neither by asking them to cook or each bring a food item. Also, you want to be certain that you offer vegetarian meal options so that all employees can enjoy the food at the picnic.

3)      Extras

What other elements do you want to incorporate into your company picnic? Consider the activities that will take place. Do you need to rent items such as a clown, tents, a dj, or carnival games? In addition to this will you need prizes to go with the activities to reward the winner? Be certain that you plan out the picnic and have enough entertainment and activities to keep the staff busy as you want to avoid stagnant periods in the picnic. The employees should not be paying for anything so ensure that all extra fees that may arise such as parking, coat checks etc. are previously taken care of by the company.

Steps to Have A Successful Picnic

3 Months Prior to Your Picnic

Advertise within your company to spread awareness and intrigue staff. You can send emails, insert details about the picnic in your company newsletter or give information with each employees’ pay to generate interest in this special event!

1 Month Prior to Your Picnic

Ensure that all of your promotional items such as posters and brochures are in high traffic areas and are visible. Also, begin a list of names of employees to get an accurate amount of attendees.

2 Weeks Prior to Your Picnic

Get in touch with the organizer of the venue you are holding your picnic at. Make any final requests at this time as well as giving them a more accurate count of attendees.

1 Week Prior to Your Picnic

Finalize all of your details. This includes taking care of outstanding balances, submitting your total guest list and picking up any decorations or extra items you need for the picnic.

Day of Your Event

Arrive early to drop off decorations and set up for your picnic. Meet with your representative at the venue to go over the day to ensure that everything will run smoothly. Once that is completed all that is left is to sit back, relax and enjoy the picnic!

Although company event planning may seem like an overwhelming task at first, using these steps will help you to break it down in manageable portions. Wild Water Kingdom is a great venue to hold your company picnic, as our seasoned staff will ensure that the entire picnic exceeds your expectations with minimal work for you!

How To Give Back To Your Employees Without Costing Your Company Any Money: Utilizing Company Discounts

Some companies want to give their employees incentives and show that they are appreciated but lack the funds to do so. Other companies have rewards to acknowledge their staff’s hard work but have maxed out their budgets and want to give more. Does this sound familiar? Does your company fall into one of these categories? I have good news for you! There is a way to give benefits to your employees without costing your company a penny! Sign up for company discounts, as they are a great way to motivate your employees without taxing your company’s resources.

They Are Free

Many businesses will offer company discount programs you can participate in. These programs typically consist of offering your employees discounts on their goods or services. These are usually called consignment programs and they offer discounts to your employees at no additional cost. The only cost associated with the program is the discounted amount being paid by your employee to obtain the good or service they are purchasing.

No Hassles

The only work involved is designating one of your employees as a liaison to coordinate with the other company to get the program started. Since companies run these programs regularly they usually already have a system set up with steps for your employee to follow when distributing the discount to the rest of your staff. Most companies have an events coordinator or committee who will take care of these types of employee bonuses. If you are worried about lost productivity due to time being spent on this it is unnecessary because it usually does not exceed more than a few minutes to sign up.

How To Get Started

To begin the process, look at company websites that offer goods and services you think your employees would benefit from and enjoy. They may have a form you can fill out and send in right on their website but if not then contact the company and determine how to go about signing up. Each company is unique and has a different process so the person in charge of the program will be working closely with someone from the corresponding company.

Participating in these programs is a free and easy way to give rewards and incentives to your employees. Regardless of your company’s situation, these programs are designed so that all can partake in them. Wild Water Kingdom offers a great consignment program on water park admission passes with different options in terms of how to receive our discount to make it even easier! This is a great place to start or add to your list of company discounts!

There Is No Quick Fix To Team Cohesion

Team building events always spark a bit of curiosity because many wonder if they really work. Companies these days believe that they can participate in a single team building event and leave with a brand new, fully cohesive team. However, team building is just the first step to developing team cohesion and working to enhance your team’s abilities. Team building activities are specifically designed and put together to target several skills that teams need to function effectively. Strengthening your team is a process that needs continuous practice where team building events are only the beginning.

Assessing Your Team’s Skills

Team building events typically consist of a few different exercises to ensure that all of the most vital abilities within a team are challenged and strengthened. Some of the skills that will be utilized in team building exercises are communication, problem solving, trust, reliance and time management. This gives you the opportunity to observe the performance of each individual, as well as your team as a unit.

Analyzing Your Team’s Performance

Since there are several exercises your team will participate in when engaging in a team building event, the same skills will be used multiple times to give you a complete picture of your team’s abilities. Taking all of your observations of the day into account you will be able to analyze the overall quality of your team’s performance. You will then be equipped to pinpoint the strongest and weakest areas of your team and each individual within it.

Looking For Ways To Improve

After analyzing your team’s performance, I recommend that you meet with them to discuss how they feel they performed. Ask them what they think they excelled in and the areas they believe they need to improve on. Once you’ve heard their ideas, give them some feedback from your observations. You can then come up with a plan detailing the ways to capitalize on their strengths and develop skills they are lacking. Having them brainstorm these ideas together furthers their team cohesion because they are taking the blame and looking for solutions together as a team.

Continual Practice

Team performance is ameliorated with practice. You should encourage your team to think of ways they can practice their skills in the office. These can include little exercises that can be incorporated into a meeting or different challenges they can create for other members of the team. Allowing them to find solutions together strengthens their team cohesion and will boost their confidence as a functioning unit.

Team building exercises are the first step to developing team cohesion. It paves the way for further improvement. It is definitely a great idea to participate in team building events once a year to be able to reassess your team’s performance and propel continuous advancement of their skills. If you’re looking for a way to improve your team, Wild Water Kingdom’s fun and effective team building events are guaranteed to get you started!