Team building is an essential part of creating effective working conditions. It helps individuals to get to know one another outside of the typical working conditions and this can help them to relate on a more personal level.
For remote workers, it is particularly important to attempt to break down barriers as many of these people will never have been in the same room together. Hiring a distributed team might open up the recruitment pool and give you access to a wider range of candidates, but it can also present some unique challenges.
Planning remote team building activities can be a challenge, but it is certainly worthwhile. It will help to increase cohesion among your team members and will build trust and recognition of unique talents. If you’re struggling to remote team building activities, try the following ideas:
Company retreat
Perhaps the most popular team building activity for remote and distributed teams is a company retreat. This is a common choice for companies with workers in different time zones, as it is often the easiest way to get everyone on the same page.
The retreat can have a business focus, so you could use the time to plan and strategize for the year ahead. You can then plan some fun activities like competitions and outings to help break the ice and let everyone get to know one another.
Cycle challenge
Uniting everyone towards a similar goal for a one day challenge can help to unite teams, improve communication and encourage everyone to see the unique qualities of their colleagues.
With a cycle challenge, it’s not about one person from the company “winning” the event, but rather it’s about everyone crossing the finish line together. Remote workers will train individually for the event, and then come together for a fun challenge that will test their ability to stick together.
Zoom quiz
A lot of people have Zoom fatigue following the pandemic when socialising was pushed online, but there is still often some appetite for this – provided you can make it fun. Remote teams will be accustomed to communicating via Zoom, so this is just an extension of what they can expect during the work day. You could start a Zoom quiz series at the start of the year and keep track of performance to crown an overall winner at the end of the year.
Life presentations
An important part of office life is learning about your colleagues’ lives through your daily interactions. This is lost when you have a distributed team and you might miss out on the small talk that helps to break the ice and form a more complete picture of those you work with.
Break from the mould and encourage workers to prepare a presentation about something that is important to them. This informal type of presentation will help to spark conversations and encourage everyone to find common ground. It can also increase empathy and trust between employees.
Virtual art class
You don’t have to be in the same room to engage in the same activity. Hosting a virtual art class is a great way to wind down and take a break from the stress of the day. It will help employees to let down their guard and be more open with one another.
You’ll need to start by sending each employee the art supplies they will need to get involved. You’ll then need to arrange an instructor to lead the class. Remember that art is about expression, and everyone should be encouraged to let their creative side out, even if they don’t feel particularly talented.
Online book club
You can learn a lot about a person by the books that they read and how they interpret the same words that you read. When you read a book, you approach it through the lens of your own experience. So when you share this experience, it can be quite interesting and revealing.
This is the basic principle behind starting an online book club for your remote workers. Everyone will be united behind a common goal of finishing a particular book by a deadline. You can then get to know one another by discussing your interpretations of the book.
Virtual water cooler
Another simple yet effective way to encourage remote workers to get to know one another is through a virtual water cooler. You can implement this before or after meetings to help ease into work-related chat.
Rather than diving right into the meeting agenda, make some time to ask questions and demonstrate curiosity about your co-workers. You could try quick ice breaker exercises like “two truths and a lie” to help encourage everyone to relax and open up. This can help to replace some of the interactions that would typically take place in settings like the office kitchen or around the water cooler.
