Having a team get together can be effective to an extent, but without regular team building activities for remote teams implemented into your strategy, your employees’ productivity might decrease significantly. Hence, finding the best team building activities for remote employees that work best for your case is crucial for the success of your company. Here are some team building activities you can do to improve your remote team productivity.
Why Is Team Building Important?
Communication is one of the most important factors of a company’s success because communication is what makes your team work together coordinating their efforts. And, in turn, proper communication can build your team and improve your employees’ productivity. By having your employees work better together, you can expect more creativity, increased sales and conversions, better organization and planning and so on.
#1 Virtual Team Meetings
First of all, there are the obvious virtual team meetings. These are a must for any kind of remote team because they help you discuss everything with your teammates almost as if the meeting was being held face-to-face. To make your virtual team meetings more productive, make sure to:
- Plan everything beforehand. Write down all the points you want to discuss to make sure no topic gets forgotten or overlooked.
- Communicate the time to everyone. You don’t want half of the team to be late to the discussion.
- Check all the tech for possible issues. Moreover, ask everyone else to check their own tech to prevent possible interruptions.
#2 Video Chat Office
One peculiar approach you can try is having a virtual or video chat office. When people find themselves in a work environment, they are more likely to stay focused and invested in their jobs. Consequently, making them feel like they are at the office can help them get more organized and start working together as a team.
To create a virtual office, simply set up a video conference at the beginning of the day and let your colleagues join as they “come to work”. Keep the video conference going until the end of the day when everyone can say goodbye and “leave the office”.
#3 Texting in Messengers
As mentioned earlier, communication is key for better teamwork and more cooperation between your team members. Perhaps one of the most efficient and fast means of communication is via messenger apps or messaging platforms. These come in all shapes and sizes, so there are many options to choose from. Obviously, professional programs like Slack are recommended.
Messengers are perfect for communication between remote team workers. The texts are delivered instantly while alerts can be set up to notify you when you have a new message. This lets you have such smooth communication that it feels like you are actually working in the office.
#4 FaceTime Breaks
For teams that choose messaging and emailing as two primary means of communication, it may be hard sometimes to get enough face-to-face conversations. Though you may be at home with your family, you will still probably want to see your colleagues and talk to them at least for some time to feel like you are actually working with real people.
This is when the FaceTime breaks can be particularly helpful. When the lunch break arrives, explain to your employees why setting up FaceTime calls and chatting for a while can be a great alternative for the usual coffee breaks they would normally get at the office.
#5 Third-Party Services
Even if you have done everything you could to improve your remote team’s performance, you might find that the productivity of your employees is still relatively low. If you find this to be the case, you can always seek the help of third-party services that specifically deal with organizations looking to improve and become more successful.
For example, Radical Candor works with companies of all sizes to help them build their work culture. By positively shaping your company’s work culture, you can significantly increase productivity, indirectly influence customer support quality, encourage creativity and innovation, etc.
#6 Celebrating Events
Though focusing on work might seem to be the best way to promote teamwork and build your remote team, getting distracted a bit can help too. For instance, celebrating events that are important for your company will help you bring people together in a more emotional and spiritual way.
Your company’s birthday, your employees’ birthdays, various holidays, achieved milestones and other prominent days in the life of your organization are the perfect time for this. First, your team will be occupied by organizing the events. Then, it will be happy to get a break and celebrate together. It can even be as simple as a virtual movie night!
#7 Sending Gifts
Another way to bring more happiness into your team is by having everyone send gifts to each other. A lot of the time, people are willing to do it themselves just because it’s so enjoyable. But other times, you might want to make the process more organized (e.g. have everyone participate in Secret Santa for Christmas or New Year’s).
Everyone loves getting gifts, even if they are small. A simple box of chocolate can make someone’s day. That’s why encouraging gifting in the workplace can help you bring your employees together. If it is a remote team, virtual gifts can replace regular ones.
#8 Team Workouts
Exercise is one of the most overlooked aspects of a healthy work environment. When your employees are sitting on one spot for hours, it is essential to have at least a few breaks specifically dedicated to working out.
Moreover, consider organizing virtual team workout sessions to encourage everyone to exercise together. It can even be just a simple dance session or some stretching. Discuss it with your colleagues and decide which type of physical activity is the best for your remote team.
#9 Day Roundup
Last but not least, remote teams need to have an end-of-the-day roundup just like any other regular in-office team. Like the virtual group meeting at the beginning of the day, this end-of-the-day video conference can help you confirm all the goals achieved during the day and set objectives for tomorrow.
Keep in mind that if it’s the end of the working week, you might want to discuss how productive the whole week was. In addition to that, talk about the next week or the next month depending on your plans.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, encouraging teamwork and creativity, using innovation, and building your team gradually are all important for the success of your organization. Start using the tips and techniques from this article to maximize the effectiveness of your efforts and improve the productivity of your remote team.
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