Remote teams are thriving in COVID-19 era with innovative ideas and tools being used to improve productivity or virtual teams. Team leaders use Zoom or Teams to bring people together for work related discussions. The general view is that it is working well.
I worked remotely for over three months, and agree that productivity of remote workers can be as high as office goers…However, the question is how long we can maintain the remote team’s spirit, if it exists in the first place, without the human touch.
Unlike robots, humans need social contact, mundane chit-chat and a desire to get to know the people we work with. I think that productivity of remote teams can only be maintained over the longer term (6+ months) if we bring social dimension into the virtual work playbook.
I also feel that teams which have spent time working together in person, find it easier to work remotely than newly formed teams which have never operated in a real office environment.
One of the commonly used methods used to build a team spirit is to organise “team building”.
How about setting up a virtual meeting for an hour or so every Friday (or Thursday if you are in ME), just for fun. This simple move can bring that X-factor to your teams.
Here are five great ways to do team building for remote teams.
- Quizzes
People love trivia quiz competitions. General knowledge questions and answers can be found on internet freely. Team or individual games can be organized. A small prize, like online vouchers, will keep the competitive spirit alive.
- Introductions and Stories
This is particularly helpful for newly formed teams. Let people introduce themselves, but in the form of a story. Encourage them to share some interesting parts of their or their family’s lives. Allocate, say five minutes per person, and let them display pictures or videos, sing songs or play music. Apart from introductions, invite people to share something with the rest of the team, which has nothing to do with work. I am amazed at the rich lives people have outside the work bubble, and they love to relate stories about that.
- Games
There is a plethora of online games available, often at no cost. One of the more interesting ones is a virtual escape room. For a small fee, a group of people can work together to solve a mystery or a puzzle. It takes about half an hour or so to complete these. A few of these are shared here https://www.countryliving.com/entertaining/a32389258/virtual-escape-room/
- Toastmasters
Public speaking overawes a lot of us, but what about making extempore speeches in front of your computer screen. https://www.toastmasters.org/start-a-club provides opportunities to form online clubs, which can help your teams develop great communication skills while having a bit of laugh. Keep it informal and let people volunteer to speak.
- Food
Everyone loves free food delivered to their home. Order food for everyone to be delivered to them at the same time. You can do different themed lunches every week for variety. People can stay online and eat while chatting with each other. Food can be combined with the other team building options.
Try these ideas, and if you have other thoughts or feedback then please share on this post or inbox me.
Let us make remote working fun…because it is here to stay.
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