With so many people continuing to work remotely, in-office connections are being replaced by the virtual coffee date. While this new way of connecting virtually may have worked in the short term, being innovative is important to help teams connect remotely in new, refreshing ways.
What are some innovative ways that employers can help teams connect remotely? What about ways to recreate office culture from behind a screen in a way that actually enables strong working relationships to develop?
For answers, FlexJobs tapped digital workplace expert Sean Duffy, director at Igloo Software. “After more than a year of working remotely, it’s natural to feel tired of virtual meetings,” Duffy explained. “It’s often difficult to have impactful conversations virtually and, while they can help, these types of interactions often do not entirely fulfill employees’ emotional need to connect with their colleagues.”
Fortunately, there are several practices that managers can implement to better support the emotional needs of their employees in this remote world. Duffy shared the following six communication strategies and practices that his team has enacted over the past year. By taking Duffy’s lead, employers can allow their teams to better engage with one another in a virtual workplace, thus improving the employee experience and producing better business outcomes.
Innovative Ways to Help Teams Connect Remotely
Commit to a Daily Greeting
Every morning, Duffy’s team participates in a 15-minute video call—not to discuss what they’re working on, but to say hello and socialize for a few minutes. “The goal of this daily touch base is to replicate the time each morning when we arrive at our desks and kick the day off with a bit of social time before everyone becomes too busy with work,” Duffy said, adding that these meetings can be rearranged if somebody has a particularly busy morning and is unable to attend. He emphasized that this daily greeting time serves a strong purpose, allowing colleagues to connect on a personal level remotely since they cannot chat socially in an in-person office environment for the time being.
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If video doesn’t work for everyone on your team, a daily pulse check through Slack or other chat applications can also be beneficial!
Hold Virtual Office Hours
As a manager in a remote environment, Duffy believes that accessibility is everything. Yet since his team is not in a physical working environment, his colleagues are not able to swing by his office to connect on work. To remedy this, he schedules at least one hour every week with his team but makes the meeting optional for everyone. Throughout this time, he keeps an open Zoom conference going in the background of his computer. “Anyone is welcome to drop in to say hi or get feedback on something they are working on,” Duffy explained. “I have found that this is just like being in my office and having someone knock on the door—and if no one drops in, I just got an hour of uninterrupted working time back in my day!”
Cancel Unnecessary Meetings
On occasions when his teams find that they don’t need to connect for a recurring meeting, Duffy said they simply cancel it. “When we spend so much time in front of our computers each day, it is important to remember not to do meetings just for the sake of it,” he said. “Video calls are hard, especially if you have a lot of them back-to-back.” With that in mind, he suggests that if there is an instance in which it is not absolutely necessary to meet, you should cancel the meeting and gift some time back to everyone’s day.
Host a Weekly Show and Tell
Duffy’s team recently started doing weekly show-and-tell sessions to discuss accomplishments and recognize colleagues. “We all miss the experience of sitting around a whiteboard to discuss a challenge we are facing in our work,” he said. “These sessions are informal and can involve sharing an idea, asking for feedback on projects, showing off a new design, or talking about improving our processes.” While the show-and-tell meetings lack a firm structure, they allow the team to support each other and celebrate accomplishments even though they are not in a physical office.
Facilitate Team Lunches
“Never underestimate the value of finding ways to tell your employees that you appreciate them,” Duffy said. One way he accomplishes this at Igloo is by approving a small budget for each team member to purchase lunch via a delivery service, like Uber Eats or DoorDash, and hosting a virtual lunch. “This allows team members to take a brief break and connect with each other while encouraging interactions that are not related to work,” he said. “This is not necessarily a daily or weekly perk due to the budget of buying lunch for the full team, but every once in a while it is a good way to show your employees that you appreciate their hard work.”
Offer a Weekly Executive Video Message
As a bonus, Duffy suggests that senior leaders provide their teams with a video message each week. “Keeping the organization aligned remotely is a difficult task,” he said. “A weekly update from the CEO or other members of your executive team can help employees continue to align their work with corporate objectives and provide an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of employees throughout the organization.” Duffy concluded that these messages can be shared in your digital workplace, helping to drive engagement and keep employees feeling connected.
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