As long as the concerned work can be successfully completed by remote employees, remote teams are fast becoming the norm across multiple sectors. The strategy is helping companies of all sizes cut down massively on their expenses. For larger corporations, remote teams serve another, even more vital function. They keep the main company tethered to locations where the MNC does not have a physical presence.
However, working in a remote work environment can be challenging for employees at times. While individual employees find the remote work environment much less bothersome, the same cannot always be said about remote teams. Problems with teamwork are often observed when multiple remote employees start to work on the same project from different locations, without any prior history of communication between those members. Let’s look through some steps that the management can take to improve bonding between remote team members.
Keep a Friendly Line of Communication Open on All Ends
The very first step to solving any problem is a clarification of the issue and acknowledgment. That, of course, can only happen when the lines of communication are kept actively open and transparent at all ends. Two-way communication is a standard practice in a modern business, but that practice should be considered a necessity while trying to create bonds within remote teams.
Your remote employees should be able to contact the main office for any relevant reason, whenever they need to. It should not be a lengthy, bureaucratic process because that only hampers productivity. Also, the reception should always be friendly and welcoming. If your remote employees feel hesitant to contact the main office or each other, no bonds will be created there.
Engage in Fun Activities Together
A remote employee may start to feel isolated and demotivated at some point because they are never a part of office activities outside of work. Unfortunately, the physical distance can make actual meetings difficult, if not impossible. However, that does not mean engaging in teambuilding and bonding activities with remote teams and employees is impossible. Use the internet once again to plan and engage in fun activities with your team.
For example, simply start a game of crossword puzzles or scrabble on the platform. The games are easy enough to integrate and if you are having trouble finding the jumbled word in time, you can find it quickly using an online tool. Combine a session of word games with a coffee break and chitchat on a conference call and that’s 60 minutes of remote team bonding right there.
The next day, play a game like Among Us to bond, laugh, and chat together with everyone on the team. Play titles like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout or Rocket League to encourage healthy bonding and build teamwork amongst each other. Be sure to mix the teams around enough to keep things from getting too serious.
Invest in Workflow Visualization Software
So, what does visualization software has to do with teamwork? A lot, especially since we are discussing remote employees and teams. When everyone in the team can see who is doing what and how much progress is being made where and when, the chances of miscommunication and misrepresentation are minimized.
Visual clarity and representation of progress in a remote work environment also act as an incentive for everyone to try and work together. Given that communication is transparent on these platforms, management can promote better bonding by encouraging improved communication between the team members. When building teamwork is the goal, try to make each member feel like a part of not just the team, but also the company. Focus more on rewarding positive teamwork, rather than punishing negative individual performance.