The worldwide impact of the pandemic has very quickly reinvented and altered the idea of the modern workplace. With stay-at-home orders and social isolation in place during the pandemic, loneliness and disconnection have become very real side effects for many workers, both on a personal and professional level.
People who are used to interacting with close co-workers or participating in group team building activities are required to work alone. And there’s no telling when, if ever, the offices will return to a normal structure. According to Forbes, socializing, communication, visibility and trust are essential qualities to maintain while your team is working remotely.
Teleconferencing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and Google Meet quickly became the norm for maintaining face-to-face communication. These services not only take advantage of readily available technology, but also help make interactions more personal, allowing for the possibility of visual interaction and active listening, which are significant aspects of successful interpersonal communication. And they’re a perfect free (or low-cost, company-supported) replacement for bridge lines when setting up groups for teleconferences and online team building activities.
The benefits of maintaining remote socialization among your team are numerous. This keeps teammates communicating openly and frequently, which means their work is more likely to be smooth, produce successful results, and with high productivity. It allows team leaders and supervisors to stay on top of what’s going on when physical, one-on-one meetings aren’t possible. This helps workers feel like they are a necessary part of the organization as a whole, which can be difficult to achieve without direct contact from co-workers and supervisors. And it allows the team to loosen work restrictions and interact with each other in a more casual way than they would otherwise.
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Create a casual atmosphere
After all, it’s hard to maintain the office suit-and-tie rigidity when your work-from-home dress code now allows for t-shirts, sweatpants, and pajamas all day! Create a casual environment where team members can relax and break away from the formality of work.
Create team building activities
In that spirit, online team building games and activities for remote workers become a fun and easy way to mix the professional with the personal and keep spirits high, even at a distance. Many traditional games lend themselves to fun remote team building activities, especially with the use of video chat and conferencing sites. Movie nights, trivia games, recipe sharing and karaoke can all be easily adapted for remote and online team building to deliver a good time while bringing your employees together in a meaningful way. And of course, there are a wide variety of online team building games to explore, which can make organizing your event a lot easier.
Create a fun environment
Creating a fun and relaxed atmosphere from time to time helps break the professional formality. Thematic and fun virtual backgrounds can serve to create an atmosphere of integration and relaxation, some examples can be found in this collection of Funny Virtual Backgrounds. Fun activities and casual conversation moments can help co-workers build a relationship of camaraderie even behind a screen.
Enhance the transfer of knowledge
Knowledge transfer activities are important for team members to feel integrated and part of a larger project. Constant learning makes employees feel useful to the organization and that their potential is not stagnant or even outdated. It also allows the team to become more cohesive and multifaceted over time.
In conclusion,
It is important for the health of employees and team members to interact in a way that creates a productive social environment and avoids isolation. Inclusion, interaction, and activities that promote open communication provide the best approaches to ensuring your virtual team stays connected and becomes more cohesive, even in a remote work situation. A virtual game or any other weekly group relaxation activity can be a great way to keep the team excited and engaged.
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