When managing employees remotely for long time managers constantly face many problems
- Team meetings become increasingly quiet
- Employees don’t turn on their cameras
- Conversations are almost entirely focused on work
- Employees start feeling isolated
- Employee motivation slowly decreases
We believe that all managers are facing these problems, which is why team building activities for remote employees are necessary.
What You Will Learn Here
Remote teams need more than just work; they need connection because they work from different locations they lack face-to-face interaction. This is why team building activities are more important for remote teams. You will learn
- Why remote teams become silent
- The role of remote employees in team building activities
- Which activities actually work
- How HR and managers can improve bonding with remote employees
What are Remote Team Building Activities
Impossible to involve remote employees in physical activities as they may be working from different cities or even different countries managers and HR can conduct short online activities
- Employees interacting with each other during meetings
- Getting to know each other better through video calls
- Building trust
- Strengthening the team when meetings go beyond work-related topics
You might be wondering what these activities entail and they include coffee chats, group discussions, learning sessions and fun breaks. Which can be conducted via Google Meet or Zoom. The goal of all these activities is to convert a remote team into a real team.
Why Remote Employees Struggle Without Team Building
When your employees work in the office, they take tea and lunch breaks together which helps build team bonding. But this does not happen with remote employees because they are all sitting alone in their homes and during meetings, they only discuss work related topics.
This is where the problem begins and it can become a major issue for managers. These problems include:
- Communication breaks down
- Trust does not develop among employees
- Employee turnover rate increases
That’s why it is very important for managers and HR to organise team-building activities for remote employees. This is also important for the company because if the team does not work well together the company suffers.
Benefits of Team Building Activities for Remote Employees
When you conduct team-building activities for remote teams over an extended period, both managers and remote employees benefit. We would like to highlight some of the key advantages.
- Remote employees develop excellent communication with each other
- Employee engagement increases
- The relationship between employees and managers strengthens
- The productivity of remote employees improves
- Employee retention rates increase
Managers’ Role in Team Building for Remote Employees
The manager’s role is very important in team building activities because they are the ones who conduct these activities
- Keep the activities short, between 30 minutes and 1 hour
- Conduct fun activities that employees will enjoy not just those you personally like
- Include everyone in team-building activities even those who are usually silent
- Take feedback from remote employees as it’s important to know what they think about the team-building activities and their work in general
In any company a good manager will never let their team fall apart because if their team performs well the manager’s reputation will also be good and the manager gets promotions or appraisals based on team performances.
Team Building Activities by Team Size
A manager knows how many remote employees they have and the size of their team. Managers become truly effective when they tailor team-building activities to the size of their team.
- For a small team, two activities are usually sufficient, such as a short daily coffee chat or a conversation during lunch
- For a medium-sized team, the number of activities increases because there are more employees, and their needs for team-building activities differ. Examples include playing games over video calls, having conversations during lunch, and organising quiz activities.
- For a large team, you can organise virtual events, breakout room activities, and competitions.
Common Mistakes in Remote Team Building
When conducting team building activities some mistakes are made by managers.
- The activities should include games but also ensure that these games increase bonding with team members. If bonding does not build the games and activities are not useful.
- Manager should avoid conducting too many activities that could negatively impact on work
- Make sure that all employees participate in the activities specially those who silent during meetings
- Always take feedback from employees about the activities so you can plan future activities that remote employees will enjoy
If you solve all these mistakes beforehand your team building activities will be successful for your remote employees.
How HR Can Plan Team Building for Remote Employees
When it comes to planning team building activities for remote employees you can easily plan them by following a few simple steps
- You need to create a monthly calendar and decide when you want to hold the activities
- You also need to decide who will be responsible for leading these activities
- While the activities are underway, you should observe which employees are participating and which are not.
- By gathering feedback from remote employees, you can ensure that the activities planned for the following month will be engaging and enjoyable for everyone.
How Team Building Improves Employee Retention
The biggest reason remote employees leave a company is that they feel lonely. When employees feel connected to everyone, they are less likely to leave. Team building fosters a sense of belonging, respect and security, which increases employee retention rates. You can learn more about retention in our blog post, “How Good Leaders Can Lead to High Retention Rates.”
Real Life Examples of Remote Team Building
This is a real-life example shared with us by a manager who was facing the same problems with his remote team. His team was very silent then starts these team building activities for three months
- Weekly coffee breaks with remote teams
- Monthly games
- Listening to all employees in meetings and addressing their concerns
After 3 months he saw positive results like increased participation in meetings, stronger team bonding and decrease in employee turnover. Simple actions like these can make a big difference and save your company a lot of trouble.
How Remote Team Building Boosts Productivity
When team building activities create a strong team and help in good communication among everyone, productivity can improve.
- Employees help each other and treat each other like friends
- Fewer mistakes are made at work
- Projects are completed faster
- No one person is overloaded with work; everyone has an equal workload
If you are still unsure about how to track productivity try our productivity tracking software. You will receive a productivity report for each remote employee.
Final Thoughts on Team Building Activities
Every employee love working from home but maintaining connections is also very important, something that remote employees cannot do. I hope you now understand how you can conduct team building activities for remote employees to build trust and increase morale or increase productivity. These activities do not require a large budget; they just require a little time. Start with your employees today and see the positive results.