Ah, the modern workplace. For remote and hybrid teams, that means the reduction or absence of stressful commutes, uncomfortable business attire, and food stolen from the communal fridge. Adios to smells of microwaved fish or burnt popcorn, too… score!
Now, we juggle the still-somewhat-new aspects of leading teams that are spread out across different time zones and work settings. In a recent survey as part of their 2024 Workplace Flexibility Trends Report, TechSmith found that 58% of workers are “Hybrid” if not fully remote. So, instead of swinging by someone’s desk to ask a question, you’re pulling up a Slack chat or making a call over Zoom. Maybe you haven’t even met some of your most valued team members IRL (that’s “in real life” for the Boomers out there).
Working remotely no doubt has its perks, but it can also present a unique challenge:
How do you build and maintain strong team bonds when you’re all scattered across different locations?
Fun fact: Convince and Convert is fully remote. We consider this a big value-add since we’ve got plenty of nationwide coverage for our clients and are primed to attract tippy-top talent that way. In fact, C&C has always been fully remote (i.e. long before the pandemic), so our team has plenty of expert tips, tricks, and hard-earned experience on how to do this right.
If it sounds difficult, fear not, remote leaders! Not only can team bonding happen over a strong WIFI connection, your organization can thrive even if you never set foot in a shared physical office space together this year.
10 Leadership Tips for Building Remote Team Relationships
Here are some tips to help you connect with your team and foster a vibrant, positive virtual work culture. Not only is this important for morale and retention, it’s also critical for proving that remote work can lead to unprecedented levels of both team productivity output and in individual employee satisfaction! (So there, to naysayers who think remote work = pajamas and laundry time.)
1) Set Aside Time for Setting Up Virtual Coffee Breaks
As much as I enjoy the flexibility and productivity of working remotely, there was a bit of magic to the good old coffee break “in office.” Even if the coffee was terrible (it was), grabbing a cup of java was an especially great leadership tactic if a conversation was potentially going to be tricky or tense. Coffee can be a great buffer and bonding tool!
Those benefits don’t have to go away with virtual team organizations. Simply schedule a time once a week where team members can grab their favorite beverage, log on, and chat about work and life updates over Zoom (or Teams, Google Meet or Slack.) These can be 1:1 coffee chats or group invites. Either way, it’s a great and simple way to kick back and get to know each other better.
Starbucks has an easy peasy “Gift” option in their Mobile App, where you can send an eGift Card either via Message or Email. There are even several Workplace-themed options for artwork to choose from.
Pro tip: Mix it up. Allow team members to suggest the beverage of the day. Think coffee, tea, matcha, or even a Team Happy Hour at the end of work hours where everyone BYOB’s their favorite beer, wine, or spirit and “cheers” the screen. (Just use your best judgment or check with HR to make sure this is appropriate and within your office policies, of course.)
2) Host Online Team Building Activities
Yes, team building activities can be enjoyable. Consider organizing virtual escape rooms, online trivia contests or games, or even digital scavenger hunts. These activities can help break the ice and build camaraderie, just like in-person team outings and bonding sessions do.
Avoid the dreaded feeling of “forced fun” by sharing the hosting of these. When I was a full-time Senior Creative Director during the time period directly following COVID, I had virtual team bonding sessions assigned on a rotation. Not only did this get everyone involved, we got an INCREDIBLE variety and diversity of activities instead of having just one person come up with what they subjectively thought would be fun.
My favorite? A Virtual “Spirit Week” with different themes for each day’s team Scrum meeting. It was so fun seeing what people came up with each day on Zoom, especially with the budget-friendly rule of only using what they already had in their homes!
Pro tip: Platforms like Kahoot!, Houseparty, and Jackbox Games offer great options for interactive fun if you’re short on time or creative game-hosting skills.
3) Encourage Collaborative Shared Music Playlists
Did your office floor used to play music during the workday? I know I had plenty of workplaces where there was a resident DJ if you will. Why? Music is a powerful tool for connection.
So, create a collaborative playlist on Pandora or Spotify where everyone can collaborate and add their favorite tunes. Mix it up with different genres or decades. Add in an element of challenge and have the team “guess” who the day’s mystery playlist DJ was.
This not only helps you discover new music but also gives insight into your colleagues’ personalities and tastes.
Pro tip: Theme the playlist around different moods or activities, like “Monday Motivation” , “80’s Throwback Thursday”, “Favorite Movie Scores”, or “Chill Friday.” If you feel it needs to be said, remind team members to keep the songs appropriate and non-explicit.
4) Purposefully Celebrate Milestones and Achievements
Just because you’re remote doesn’t mean you should miss out on celebrating successes and special days. Whether it’s a work anniversary, a project completion, or a personal milestone, make sure to acknowledge these events (preferably as a group).
I know the idea of yet another meeting can cause rolled eyes or even dread. But, it takes mere minutes to get everyone to hop on a video chat for a quick virtual party.
At minimum, hop on and do a round of applause. At best, coordinate some matching digital backgrounds and perhaps a surprise delivery of treats. It all can go a long way in making team members feel valued without a whole lot of effort.
True story: Immediately after COVID, my department logged on for 5 minutes each time it was someone’s birthday or anniversary. We sang a group “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary” and every time, it was HORRIFIC. Like, really, really bad.
And it became such a “thing” that everyone looked forward to trying to improve. Should we speed it up? Slow it down? Have someone lead? We never got acoustically better, but we did share a lot of laughs.
Celebrating one of my team members’ company anniversaries with a Surprise Zoom Party, complete with a silly custom graphic, a themed Zoom background, and even a coordinating shirt. (Can you tell this was during the Tiger King craze of 2020?)
Pro tip: Use tools like Kudoboard for a collaborative celebration card or send a small, thoughtful gift via services like SnackNation or even just Instacart or Amazon.
5) Schedule Virtual Lunches
Similar but different to virtual coffee breaks, virtual lunches can be another great opportunity for bonding. Everyone’s gotta eat and everyone knows food brings people together.
Organize virtual lunches where team members can join a video call and eat together. You can make it more interesting by choosing a cuisine of the week, sharing recipes, or having a “cook-off” where everyone shares a dish they made themselves “to camera.”
Once, my team even asked if we could watch 10-15 minute installments of a Hallmark holiday movie while we ate each day during Christmastime. We looked forward to how horribly predictable and silly they were each time we streamed together.
Pro tip: Use apps like UberEats, Instacart, GrubHub, or DoorDash to send a surprise lunch to a team member occasionally. Just keep it fair by keeping track and making sure everyone gets an equal turn.
6) Make Consistent Personal Check-ins a Priority
Work-related status meetings are important, but so are personal touch bases. This is especially true when you’re remote and not picking up on some of the body language or physical cues you’d observe in-office. You don’t want to be surprised by someone’s (apathy) (stress) (dissatisfaction) (quiet quitting) (insubordination) simply because you failed to make time to meaningfully connect on a consistent basis.
Make it a habit to check in with your team members individually to see how they’re doing on a personal level. For direct reports, this should be once a week. For indirect reports, consider scheduling on a monthly or quarterly basis depending on how big your department is. This builds trust and shows that you care about them beyond their work contributions.
Pro tip: Keep these check-ins informal and friendly. Sometimes a simple “How are you really doing?” can make a big difference. Have a few questions prepared but let the conversation organically flow once you get things going.
7) Setup Shared Learning and Development
Create opportunities for team members to learn and grow together. This could be through virtual workshops, book clubs, or online courses. Not only does this foster a sense of team spirit, but it also helps everyone improve their skills and feel fulfilled.
You could even combine these with the Virtual Lunches idea by hosting “Lunch and Learn” sessions for training, enrichment, or guest speakers.
I once set up a monthly series of these “Learn and Learn” sessions for my team and exclusively invited leaders from other departments to come in and speak. When you’re remote, it’s even more critical to build strong cross-departmental and cross-functional bonds. Pinpoint which departments your team interacts with the most and host getting-to-know-you sessions or deep dive presentations into their work to build a better understanding and respect for partnering with them.
Pro tip: Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning offer a plethora of courses that can be taken together as a team.
8) Encourage Video On Interactions and Meetings
It might seem simple, but encouraging team members to keep their video on during meetings can significantly enhance connection. Seeing each other’s faces helps build rapport and reduces feelings of isolation. As a leader, it can also cue you into if someone seems sad, down, stressed, or if there are potentially points of friction between team members.
Make sure your HR team doesn’t have a problem with this, of course, but otherwise: Be overt and clear about your “video on” expectations.
Pro tip: Include a note on meeting invites that this is your expectation, so no one feels put on the spot or embarrassed. Encourage anyone with privacy concerns to use a background. Make it a bit more fun by having your graphic design team create a few official company backgrounds that team members can choose from to show off their brand pride.
9) Cultivate a Culture of Gratitude
Appreciation is key whether virtual, hybrid, or in-office. It’s easy to get used to or overlook how much effort your team puts into “just doing their jobs” amidst the daily status quo. Or sometimes, your plate gets so heavy and your to-do list is so long, that you mean to send a quick “Thank you” and then never get around to it…
Simply put: Making time to show purposeful gratitude is one of the single most important things you can do as a leader.
Even better? Encouraging your team members to express gratitude amongst themselves can boost morale and foster a positive work environment. Create a “gratitude channel” in your communication tool where team members can shout out to their colleagues and peers for a job well done or a kind gesture.
Pro tip: Lead by example. Whether it takes a calendar reminder or notes in your day planner or an alert you’ve requested from your administrative executive, regularly acknowledge and thank your team members to set the tone. There are even tools available like Kudos, Bonusly, Kudoboard, and a partially-AI-powered platform, Assembly, to make Employee Appreciate “even easier” with peer-to-peer recognition platforms and even gamified options.
10) Bring in Fresh Outside Help to Have Fun!
Do you struggle with injecting some fun into your virtual interactions? While silly Slack emojis, funny memes, and virtual games can all contribute to creating a happy and cohesive team, you might feel a bit lost on the execution of these ideas.
Maybe you feel uncomfortable or out of your element. Maybe you think your team members will think you’re trying too hard or “forcing it.”
If you have a challenging team dynamic or just a case of Zoom stage fright, consider bringing in an outside party to help facilitate some team bonding sessions. Look at your budget and invest in having someone lead an activity so you can sit back, relax, and take part in the bonding without the added responsibility of playing host.
The Convince and Convert team participating (and LOL’ing) during a series of four virtual team bonding sessions, guided by QuestWorks – Learning and Development for Agencies.
The Convince & Convert crew just did a 4-week team building program with QuestWorks. Now, I have never played D&D before…but I’m told what we did was somewhat similar to Dungeons and Dragons.
In a nutshell, it was a guided role-playing exercise in which we had characters, some host prompts from our “Quest Guide” and quite a bit of opportunity for creativity and improv through a medieval-type story. You organically learn a lot about your team’s unique abilities, workplace strengths, how they approach overcoming obstacles and yes – even their senses of humor!
Working remotely doesn’t have to mean working alone. With a little creativity, a light amount of effort, and a low investment of time, you can build strong, meaningful connections with your team members, no matter where they are.
So, grab that coffee, fire up Zoom, schedule an online game session, and start bonding!
Want to hear more great insights from Jennifer? Follow along with her and our other Convince & Convert strategists on the Social Pros Podcast.
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