Hybrid and remote working are here to stay. While having employees work from anywhere has its share of advantages, one challenge employers face is facilitating teamwork. A sense of community is essential for employee productivity and job satisfaction. Cultivating teamwork for remote working situations is a must to maximise employee output and retain talent.
Below are Five Ways to Empower Remote Teamworking & Support your Team:
1. RECREATE WATER COOLER CHATS
When employees are not together in the office, it is difficult to catch-up and engage in idle conversation. This is a more significant loss than some employers may realise. Informal communication is a foundational piece in building a team. It lifts employee morale and encourages a sense of belonging.
You can recreate water cooler moments with your company’s communications platform. Establish a channel for general office chit-chat where employees can socialise.
Chat channels with themes on fun subjects or challenges are also a great way to elevate team’s spirits and discover things team members share in common.
2. OFFER VIRTUAL CO-WORKING SPACES
Your team’s time may already be packed with meetings and projects. The idea of adding more meetings may seem counterproductive, but co-working spaces and knowledge-sharing sessions can be optional, and optimised for team building.
A co-working space allows remote team members to work together on a project or individually, whilst in the company of their colleagues online.
A knowledge-sharing space is when a team member presents their expertise on a subject. It doesn't have to be work-related either! Why not having a subject like baking sourdough bread?
These peer-to-peer learning spaces can improve employee competencies in areas related to
their position, but more importantly, they facilitate skills-sharing and collaboration among team members.
3. GET TOGETHER AS A TEAM
Escape rooms or obstacle courses are classic team-building outings. If you cannot arrange for everyone to be in-person, the good news are that you can now arrange exciting virtual get-together. Check out Confetti, who offer "unforgettable team building experiences".
Company lunches and happy hours, can also be enjoyed remotely. Simply give your team a budget to order their food and beverages, and set an online meeting for everyone to get together.
4. PRAISE THEM, VIRTUALLY & VERBALLY!
Showing appreciation to employees, and celebrating personal and organisational successes, is generally easier in-person. Informal conversations and gatherings are natural settings for honouring someone’s work and sharing good news. Hybrid and remote workers need to be acknowledged for their efforts, and feel connected to other workers’ achievements and organisational accomplishments, too.
To achieve this, create a specific communications channel dedicated to this task. Completed projects, closed sales, and positive customer feedback are just some of the successes to share with your team. When appropriate, include personal milestones, such as births, birthdays, and work anniversaries - all of this goes far in fostering teamwork for hybrid and remote working groups.
If you use Microsoft Teams, you can now give praise to colleagues virtually (click here to see how).
5. CHECK-IN ON THEIR WELLBEING
Wellbeing has become a top priority for businesses. Working remotely can blur the line between professional and personal life, causing stress. It is arguably more important now than ever to focus on nurturing employee wellbeing. This helps to develop resilience among your team members and their internal collaboration.
Arrange '1-1 check-in' sessions with your team to get a sense of how they are doing and if they need resources to manage their work-life balance. Focus on asking open-ended, specific questions:
● What are your energy levels like after a day of work?
● What moods do you mostly feel while working?
● Do you feel supported when you are dissatisfied with work?
● Do you feel valued as a team member?
These check-ins should be a part of a larger employee wellness program and be consistently
conducted by an appropriate supervisor or human resources personnel.
Creating and maintaining a culture of teamwork for hybrid and remote working environments means taking advantage of emerging communications technologies and blending them with tried and true team-building methods. By developing a plan that incorporates the above five tips, your organisation can reap the rewards of more engaged employees collaborating better with one another.
Priority Management is a worldwide training company with 55 offices in 15 countries. We have successfully trained more than two million graduates in Priority workshops. Our programs help companies and people be more effective and manage their workflow in and out of the office by providing tools, processes and discipline. Simply put - A Better Way To Work! Clients range from Fortune 500 companies, small-to-medium businesses and government/military employees.
Click Here to learn more about how Priority can help you and your team Work Smart, develop essential management skills and the competencies to....make life and work better and happier!
This blog has been sourced by Priority Management International and edited by Priority Management London.