Over the past year, businesses around the world have seen massive changes to the way that things are done as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the health risks involved, many businesses have switched to a model of remote working wherever this is possible, which has allowed employees to continue working from the comfort and safety of their own homes. There is no denying that remote working has been beneficial in many ways including allowing companies to keep expenses down and often resulting in more satisfied employees. But one of the drawbacks to this type of working is that when everybody is at home, teamwork can be affected. Here are some ideas to consider if you want to help your remote team work better together.
Encourage Communication
Good communication is essential to teamworking, so make sure that all your employees are able to easily get in touch with one another when needed. Using a professional chat app such as Slack that your employees can download to their phone or have open on their computer throughout the working day is an ideal choice, since this will make it easier for them to communicate with colleagues and encourage them to talk about projects rather than simply getting on with the work in silence at home.
Arrange Team-Building Activities
There is a range of virtual team building activities available from Team Tactics that you might find useful for your team. Games like virtual escape rooms that are available can be fun for everybody to enjoy and give your employees a chance to get to know one another and build friendships virtually. Team Tactics offers a huge range of choices to consider with something for everybody, including quizzes, games, competitions and masterclasses, giving you the option to offer something different on a weekly basis for your employees to look forward to. This is also a great idea if you are hiring new employees during the pandemic who are going to be working remotely right from the start and won’t have the same opportunities to get to know the team compared to if they were working in the office.
Out-of-Work Activities
While working from home, there’s no option to go for a few drinks on a Friday night or go to your local pub quiz to have some fun and finish off the week together. If your team is currently working remotely, there are several things that you can do to make sure that they are having a fun and social experience while being stuck at home the rest of the time. Zoom quizzes, for example, became really popular at the beginning of the pandemic, especially among remote-working teams that were missing out on their usual Friday night activities. With pubs back open now, however, small teams could always meet up for a socially distanced drink in a beer garden that they have undoubtedly been looking forward to.
Regular Check-Ins
When your team members are not there in the office, you might not talk to them as much as you normally would. This can have an impact on productivity and leave team members feeling a little neglected. Arranging regular check-ins with the entire team can help you keep that workplace spirit going even when people are working out of their kitchens. Regular video meetings where the team can just get together to see how everybody is doing and have a face-to-face conversation about where they’re all up to on a project will keep things running smoothly and help you avoid set-backs.
Over the past year, teams have had to come up with new ways to continue working together successfully. In a new age of remote working, what’s working best for you and your team?
