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The advent of COVID-19 has brought to the world an irreversible change, one where many people working in the digital space now have the freedom to work remotely and don’t have to go to an office everyday. Some companies and their managers were already accustomed to this, with hybrid setups from the get go, way before we even knew how to change a background on Zoom or Google Meet. For many though, shifting to a remote first setup has been a new, forced, sudden move. With all the benefits and flexibility it brings, building a remote company culture is not as easy as having access to a laptop and good broadband.
Having been through this and exchanging with many managers on the topic, one key area of agreement is that keeping a team together is hard, especially at a distance where physical interactions are missing. It has to be approached differently than building a team in person. This is where having some fun activities can make it easier to foster a feeling of belonging. After all, this is what all humans strive for, being part of a community or group working towards a common goal.
Blending a mix of experience from the upearly team and discussions with fellow managers across different companies, we’ve compiled a list of activities that can help keep a team together, no matter the time zone or location.
No, we’re not about an actual donut. We are talking about a great little app developed by Donut, which helps with matching random people in the company weekly to have a coffee. A lot of companies out there struggle with silos, finding employees from different departments not engaging enough which leads to confusion. In a remote setup, the risk of this problem being even more widespread is huge. With Donut, your employees will be matched randomly with one another for recurring coffee chats. A very simple yet effective way to help make everyone feel less alone and alienated.
Suggested frequency: bi-weekly
Lunch break, who doesn’t love that? Some of the most meaningful conversations and moments are shared amongst co-workers at the coffee machine, water cooler or while tasting a delicious meal. Why not block such moments and share a meal virtually? While there certainly is value in taking a break from your screen during a lunch break (constantly being in front of a screen is certainly one of the drawbacks of working remotely) every now and then sharing your lunch with a co-worker will help recreate those moments. And if your team is made of different nationalities, then why not do a monthly session when someone cooks and shares their local recipes? Might be a new source of inspiration for your lunch and dinners!
Suggested frequency: bi-weekly
You’ve probably done this in person, pretty easy to recreate this virtually. Quiz night can be a fun activity to get as many people together and get some healthy competition going. Up to you to decide if a Thursday night is better than a Friday, still you are guaranteed it will be a fun experience for everyone. Needless to say if there are some prizes involved, even better!
Suggested frequency: quarterly
Morning stand ups are a very common practice. Whether you are working in sales, engineering or product, many organisations have had this in place for many years because it helps to align on what has been achieved and what are the goals for the day. Replicating that in a remote environment is highly recommended because it gets everyone together, giving a kick start to the day. However, make sure to make these also informal. If they end up being moments where you are just work discussing the previous work day and the one ahead, people will feel pressed.
Suggested frequency: daily
This is a tricky point, yet a super important one. Ever since working remotely has become increasingly status quo, a new social convention has spurred debate. Should you keep your camera on during meetings? We take a very firm stance from our experience on the topic and the answer is yes. When you were attending meetings in the office, were you wearing a cloak that made you invisible? Probably not. And just imagine if everyone (not just one or two people) were having meetings all the time with their cameras off. You would work in an environment where no one would have a face.
Two additional tips with this:
1. Allow for exceptions, when someone really doesn’t feel their best, but if that would be very often you should check in, whether they are doing ok.
2. If you struggle with this issue a lot, it often points to completely different issue. A camera OFF might point at people not actually wanting to be there or them not feeling comfortable with their coworkers.
Suggested frequency: always
We hope you will enjoy trying out some of these activities. Keeping a remote team together across different time zones can be challenging. Frequent touch points, especially for informal interaction are necessary, while also leveraging the asynchronous work rhythm to reduce wasting time in useless video conferences.
