How to build a team culture in a remote work world

Many of today’s hiring managers and team leaders are adapting to the latest trend in today’s modern workforce: remote work. And working from home is here to stay, as hiring remote employees expands hiring opportunities, improves employee retention, and increases cost savings.

But with remote work still the norm, managers must reposition themselves and be intentional about building team culture.

Compared to leading an in-person team, leading a remote team requires different and unique priorities and areas of focus. Even many experienced managers need help ensuring employees have a positive and productive work environment. Here are some examples of events and exercises to ensure a strong and vibrant team culture in today’s remote work world.

Related: 7 Essential Elements for a Thriving Remote Company Culture

The importance of team culture

Even before offices largely transitioned to remote work, many managers struggled with how to foster a positive team culture in an in-person office environment. These struggles became even more apparent when learning how to build team ethics in a remote workplace.

A positive team culture leads to happier employees. This can increase productivity in the long run. Focusing on team culture is likely to lead to lower turnover and higher employee retention rates, as a positive work environment leads to things like camaraderie and higher levels of support among co-workers.

A positive team culture also reduces employee stress and anxiety levels. A low-stress environment makes skilled employees more likely to stay with your company for the long term. Additionally, share your positive experiences as an employee. As word of mouth spreads, your positive team culture may eventually make your business a popular place to work.

In addition to these employment and HR benefits, a positive team culture is directly correlated with profitability. You might engage in a serendipitous discussion with co-workers over the water cooler or in the break room. It may lead to opportunities, collaborations, and innovations that might not have happened otherwise.

Working in a remote environment doesn’t mean these benefits go away. It simply gives you the opportunity to create a unique virtual space for these encounters and opportunities.

Are you excited about building a great team culture, but you’re leading a remote team and don’t know where to start? Here are some of the easiest and most successful team building activities.

host a virtual happy hour

Happy hour is an easy opportunity for employees to relax together. For one hour, your team can meet and chat outside of their normal virtual meeting environment.

please do not worry. Remote work happy hour doesn’t require alcohol. Or, you can recreate the same atmosphere as an in-person happy hour by sending your employees gift cards to order dinner or snacks. During happy hour, you’re free to plan all sorts of fun activities, including collaborating on online games. Also, if the team members are motivated, one of them could lead an activity that she is passionate about, such as baking or crafts. .

Plus, happy hours and other activities don’t have to be limited to just your team. Feel free to reach out to other managers to set up happy hours between teams. The more the better!

Related: 5 ways to strengthen your remote company culture and build a team that thrives both together and apart

Plan and host team building events

If you’re looking for a change from a relaxed happy hour, we can organize a more structured event.

Events you can host include:

• trivia

• murder mystery game

• potted flower

• virtual escape room

Additionally, structured events have their own benefits. Consider all the coordination and teamwork required to successfully solve a murder mystery or escape from a virtual room. Virtual team-building events give employees an opportunity to develop relationships with co-workers while exercising their problem-solving and creative skills outside of work.

Encourage managers to adhere to working hours

Whether your employees are new to your company or have been with your company for years, they’re likely to jump at the chance to weigh in on you, ask questions, and pitch ideas.

Create a space for employees to do so by offering “office hours” where they can ask questions. This is a more casual appointment than an in-person meeting, so more employees will feel comfortable taking advantage of this opportunity, but it’s also more structured than an ad hoc phone call.

Related: 5 ways to build a remote team culture

Plan regular team meetings

For some managers and businesses, there is no substitute for face-to-face communication and interaction. For teams spread across the country, that can only mean one thing. That means coordinating the team’s social gathering.

You can approach team meetups in a variety of ways. Do you want to do it once a year, once a quarter, on your own schedule? And do you want to hold the meetup in a central location, like your company’s headquarters, or rent a larger space elsewhere? ?

And once the meetup has already started, you have a few more options. From museum trips to hikes, there are a variety of events to choose from to help your team bond when they’re together.

Overall, putting more effort into team building will increase productivity, improve the workplace experience, and result in a better return on investment for your company. Just because your team is working from home doesn’t change that.

If you take the time to develop your team through remote team building, the results will be astronomical.