A lot of people are still working remotely these days. While office workers might look at remote workers with envy, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for them. One of the biggest challenges for remote employees is missing out on the relationships and camaraderie that develop in an office environment. To help your remote team feel connected, here are four ways you can build camaraderie through remote team bonding.
The key to remote team bonding is to recreate the small interactions that happen during a typical workday. These don’t have to be anything complicated. In fact, something as simple as the cliche “chat around the watercooler” or “swing by the office on break” can make all the difference in making employees feel like they are welcome and belong in your workplace.
Make Small Talk Before Meetings
Rather than getting straight to business, take a little bit of time at the beginning of the meeting to catch up with everyone, especially the remote workers. This is great for employees who are not able to physically be there, but it also helps employees who are in the office get more acquainted with the folks who are not around on a regular basis.
Have a Group Chat
Most organizations that have remote employees utilize an instant messaging system of some sort, so make sure that you encourage your users to make group chats. This helps them stay in-the-know regarding important work-related elements, but it also helps them feel like they are involved in discussions. Just make sure you set some boundaries. There is a fine line between sharing memes and using the solution in a productive manner.
Hold Virtual Events
Who’s to say that you can only use your remote technology for meetings and official business communications? You can hold virtual events using your meeting software to get your remote employees engaged with their coworkers. Set up a camera and have a gathering for birthdays and other special occasions, or you can throw “virtual” employee appreciation parties.
Keep an Open Office Policy
Nothing beats dropping by someone’s office for a face-to-face chat. Remote employees miss out on that. Make sure they know they can reach out to you any time to talk about issues or concerns they are facing.
At the end of the day, remote team bonding is about making sure remote workers know their included. Not sure how to make this happen for your business? Maybe we have some technology that can help you out. To learn more, reach out to us at (616) 394-4940.
