Working from home can be lonely and isolating, so you need to look for ways to create a sense of togetherness and boost your remote team’s morale. Remote team-building activities are an important way to bring remote employees together and create strong bonds among them through different communication technologies. Although keeping the employees together may be challenging at times, the team-building activities below can help you keep your remote workers engaged and connected.
1. Holding Virtual Company Events
Company-wide meetings and events make people feel like one team when everybody comes together. The best thing about virtual events is that you can run them the same way as physical events. The only difference is the attendees join in over video. Have a plan, different speakers, a host, and an opportunity for the attendees to interact by asking questions. However, you need to ensure everyone enjoys the session by keeping it fun and professional.
You can consider hiring a corporate entertainment service that specializes in virtual entertainment for virtual meetings. The service can help you get the best virtual entertainers to lighten the mood and keep your remote employees entertained during transitions. Virtual company events help bring the entire team together and make them feel excited and proud about the organization they work for.
2. Scheduling Happy Hours and Coffee Breaks
One of the best things about working in an office setting is the social aspect. You can go for after-work drinks or walk to your nearby coffee with your colleagues. Luckily, you can also plan virtual happy hours or coffee breaks with your remote team. You can use some of the available online video applications like Google Hangout, Skype, or Zoom to create a remote version of your preferred social activities.
For instance, you can plan15 to 30-minute meet-ups for coffee maybe twice or once a week and schedule one hour after work for your virtual happy hour at least once a month. Avoid talking about your work during these social activities to help your employees feel engaged and connected.
3. Playing Online Games Together
The other way to keep your remote workers together is by playing online games as a team. You can play during your working hours, but you can add small ice breaker games in your conference calls. Otherwise, you can try setting up some team-building online games that your team can play over a long time and keep your scoreboard updated.
The best thing about online games is the more possibilities you enjoy than in-person games. If you have Xbox or PlayStation fanatics on your remote team, you can connect them to play during their free time. Your team can also play other online games, such as the virtual version of board games.
4. Organizing Virtual Workout Sessions
Moving enough and staying fit is important for remote team members individually. When working from home, most people get fewer workouts or steps in than working from an office setting. But when doing it together, virtual workouts can be a good team-building activity.
Encourage your team members to pick their preferred gym instructor on YouTube and set aside an hour’s break to exercise together. This way of exercising also helps them keep each other accountable, especially for individuals who require an extra push. Virtual workout sessions can also encourage healthy relationships and increase work productivity.
5. Holding Joint Mediation Sessions
Mental health is significantly important when individuals are in charge of their schedule while working remotely. Some people are workaholics and have problems taking a break from work. The consequences of working for a long period with no breaks can be huge. Additionally, stressed people are not easy to work with, so it may affect other team members in the long run.
The main objective of team-building activities is to alleviate stress and bring fun to your employees’ working day. Encourage your remote workers to take breaks from their working schedule by hosting some meditation sessions. To make this activity effective, you can ensure everyone checks in at the same time and provides feedback.
Wrapping up
Team building activities for remote workers leverage team employee engagement and empowerment. They strengthen team connections, reinforce employee morale, enhance collaboration, improve communication, and maximize productivity. This list can help you build an exciting team-building strategy to keep your remote workers engaged, connected, and productive.
