Don’t let remote work stop you from building a strong team. Check out these remote team building activities and tips for facilitating a team mentality when everyone is working from home.
A lot of trust is required when it comes to working from home. Managers need to be able to trust that their team members are doing the work they need to. Team members have to trust that they’ll get the support they need from each other and their managers to have what they need to do their jobs.
Building a strong team mentality is hard work even when everyone is in the same office. It’s an even bigger task when the entire team is working from home and potentially spread across timezones. But it’s arguably even more essential in a remote work environment as the natural barriers of remote work make it difficult for strong team relationships to develop naturally.
Here are a few tried and true methods I recommend for facilitating a team mentality when everyone is working from home:
1. ORGANIZE TEAM BONDING MEETINGS + ACTIVITIES
Hosting online Work Related Meets or Even Happy Hours kind of meets is a classic team bonding technique. Come prepared, though. A little push may be required to get the conversation flowing so plan some activities and games ahead of time.
Regular ‘get to know you’ activities and questions on personal ideas are also a great passive way to encourage engagement within a remote team. Ask questions that are quick to answer, people will find value in, and that will tell you something about the person. For example, “I need a new Netflix recommendation, what should I watch next?”. It’s a simple question, but it can easily spark conversation and connect colleagues who share common interests.
2. ENCOURAGE INDIVIDUAL RELATIONSHIPS
Not every team-building exercise needs to involve the entire team. There will always be the ones who want to hide in the corner of the screen and those who overpower the group, so make sure you give everyone the opportunity to shine. One way to manage this is to split up into smaller groups for competition style games at larger team events. This will give your team members the opportunity to interact directly with people they might not work with on a day-to-day basis.
Also, encourage team members to have one-on-one virtual coffee hours and lunch dates with each other. This may be as simple as letting them take a certain amount of time on the clock for this or actively making it happen. With a virtual team, pick a day and send everyone calendar invites for these meetings. It’s as simple as that.
3. SEND PHYSICAL TOKENS OF APPRECIATION
Even though your business is operating in a virtual world now, bringing it into the physical space in a small way can have a big impact. Mailing someone a physical note thanking them for their contribution, for example, adds a human touch that no amount of Slack messages or Zoom calls can ever reach.
Sending your team members some thank you notes or just an appreciation message is enuf to create a positive thought..
4. SHARE EACH OTHER’S SUCCESS
If someone does an awesome job helping you with a project, shout them out! Everyone loves hearing that their work is appreciated and doing so publicly shows that you’re sincere enough to tell other people how great they are. Recognize their work by sending them thank you notes and even showing off them on the groups or social media links..
Team-nominated awards are another fun way to encourage teams to celebrate each other. People will have to actively pay attention to what their teammates are doing in order to nominate someone. This will encourage more general awareness within the team and build morale through boosting each other up.
5. MAKE IT PART OF THE WORK CULTURE
Fostering a team mentality doesn’t have to be all about cheesy remote team building activities and events, though. Making simple changes to daily operations can work toward this goal as well. For example, take the first five minutes out of each meeting to genuinely ask how everyone is doing. Working from home can be lonely so showing your coworkers that you care how their day is going will go a long way.
Asking everyone to turn their cameras on when video chatting is another easy way to help your team connect. While it may seem annoying because it means you have to put on clothes and brush your hair, it lets your members put a face to your name and voice. You’ll also be able to pick up nonverbal cues more easily when you can see facial reactions to whatever it is you’re discussing.
Also, have everyone switch to ‘grid view’ if you’re using Zoom. This makes it easier to see everyone and creates a feeling of equality as everyone is placed in the same size box. People will be more likely to contribute if they feel that they’re on the same level as everyone else.
6. OPERATE AS IF YOU WERE IN AN OFFICE
Working from home is the only way in this pause phase but if we do it in a correct way we can definitely make the most use of it. Try to develop a positive and productive mindset towards the concept of Working from home.. when ever you are having a zoom meeting or any kind of video meet make sure you are doing it, as if you were in your office space. Create an organised atmosphere and even dress well, dressing well and having a little bit of makeup changes the feel trust me ( Try it and tell me the difference you feel)
Nothing should stop us from feeling gud about ourselves, Its A Hard Time But it’s not the end, rather look for the positive signs too..
If you have any more ideas, pls DM me : Anikamadan@gmail.com or on my pages @Instagram and FB @Anika khara .
Love Anika Khara 💖💖💖
Anika Khara 