Remote Team Building and How to Do It
The invention of the internet brought together as a global village, and the recent Covid-19 pandemic brought it closer. The genuinely devastating pandemic of our generation which locked us into our homes in 2020 also created a new trend called, ‘Work-from-Home’. According to a recent study conducted by McKinsey on a group of 25,000 U.S citizens, 87% of employees will prefer working remotely if offered the chance.
About 60% of workers with remote-capable jobs are working from home all or most of the time, and almost 93% of organizations have a remote work policy in place. Since remote work will have a significant impact on the workforce in the foreseeable future, companies (especially project managers) are focusing on the concept of remote team building.
What Is the Importance of Remote Team Building?
With a lot of companies accepting the work-from-home culture in some capacity, it is essential to have a solid team-building strategy in place. Unlike the traditional office setup, remote workers do not meet in person. They can be located in different cities, different time zones, or even different countries.
Remote team building (a.k.a virtual team building) is the process to bring your remote workforce together and increase cohesiveness among them. This helps them to know each other better, creates a support system, and improves collaboration in the long run. Additionally, since many of them may be new to the remote work culture, this will help your workforce to adapt to this new lifestyle.
Some Cool Remote Team Building Ideas
Since meeting on-site regularly is impossible for your remote team, you have to come up with innovative and exciting ideas to give them a sense of togetherness. Here are a few bright ones:
- Engage in playing games and completing fun activities with rewards
- Host virtual company events, workshops, or classes
- Try live remote co-working
- Create fun chat groups on WhatsApp/Slack
- Organize yearly retreats to tourist destinations for meetups
How Can You Start with Remote Team Building?
Virtual team building is a step-by-step approach that takes time and some serious management skills. You can follow these steps to get started:
- Determine the structure of your team (departments, roles, etc.)
- Make sure you recruit the right people with a clear mindset and expectations
- Focus on reliable and prompt communication methods that work for everyone on the team
- Invest in the well-being of your team
- Schedule a plan and stick to it
Conclusion
Many studies have shown that remote work is more productive and beneficial for workers, and it is catching up fast. Proper remote team-building strategies are a must-have tool for the management of a company.
