A collaborative and engaging workplace culture is essential for creating a productive and successful work environment. When team members work together effectively, they can leverage their collective skills and knowledge to tackle complex projects and tasks and achieve better results.

A collaborative and engaging culture also helps to build trust and respect between team members, which can create a more positive and productive working environment. Additionally, when team members can communicate and work together, it can help reduce the isolation that can come with remote work and create a sense of belonging.

The Challenge with Remote Teams

The rise of remote teams has significantly developed in the workplace, with many companies now having their staff working from home. While remote teams can bring many advantages, one of the main challenges is fostering collaboration and engagement among employees who are not in the same physical space. 

Doing so can be difficult, as building relationships and ensuring everyone works together without face-to-face interaction can be complex. However, creating a productive and collaborative remote team with some creative strategies is possible.

Here are four ways to foster collaboration and engagement designed explicitly for remote teams.

1. Utilize Communication Tools

Utilizing communication tools such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, Slack, and Microsoft Teams helps keep everyone connected and on the same page. While these apps don’t necessarily replace face-to-face interaction, they can help bridge the gap and ensure everyone can stay in touch. 

2. Host Regular Meetings

Apps such as Zoom and Google Hangouts are great communication tools, but they won’t replace the need for a culture rooted in collaboration and engagement. One of the best ways to start this culture is to host regular interactive meetings.

Regular meetings are a great way to ensure everyone is connected and up-to-date on the team’s progress. If your team is large enough, you can create breakaway sessions to encourage collaboration and idea sharing. This is also a great way to get feedback from team members and ensure everyone is on the same page. 

3. Improve Collaboration

Encouraging collaboration through online tools such as Trello, Asana, and Basecamp can foster a sense of connectedness and ensure everyone works together. By utilizing collaboration tools, you can also reduce the number of emails and other forms of communication that get lost in the shuffle. These tools help keep everyone on the same page and ensure everyone can access the most up-to-date information. 

4. Encourage Social Interaction

Setting up virtual team building activities, such as virtual happy hours or game nights, can help to create a sense of camaraderie and help to build relationships between remote team members. Try to be creative in these sessions to hold your employees’ attention and encourage them to participate.

You can hold icebreaker virtual team-building activities such as office family feuds and custom trivia games via Zoom or Google Hangouts. You can also organize virtual scavenger hunts, escape rooms, cooking classes, team sports, and character-building activities. 

Other ideas include virtual game shows, virtual movie nights, virtual art classes, and virtual yoga classes.

If you are holding these sessions after work hours, keep in mind that you are asking your employees to spend more time with you, so do your best to make the experience worthwhile.

Conclusion 

Virtual team-building activities can create camaraderie and foster relationships between remote team members. With some creativity, these activities can be fun and engaging for your employees and help build a strong team dynamic. Whether you organize a virtual happy hour, a game night, or a virtual scavenger hunt, these activities can help to create a sense of community and strengthen the bond between your employees.

BreakoutIQ makes virtual team building easy. We are experts in online games for employee engagement and have helped unify employees in companies like Facebook, VISA, and more. Contact us today to learn more.