If you’ve been working in the corporate world for the last few years, it is likely you’ve been a remote worker. Even though many companies have returned to onsite workspaces, there are a significant amount of fully remote workers and even larger number of employees with hybrid work arrangements. According to Gallup, 80% of all remote-capable jobs are either hybrid (53%) or exclusively remote (27%) in 2024. Having been a remote worker and having managed a virtual team myself even before the pandemic, I learned there is great value in taking time to think creatively about ways to engage remote employees. Engaged employees have improved mental health and overall wellbeing and are often more dedicated and likely to stay with their organization. Engaged employees are likely to contribute their best efforts, leading to high performing teams. So, how can managers make remote employees feel more connected to each other, their managers, and their companies? Here are a few ideas to get you started, many of which I have personally experienced, and others that are fun options to try.
- Post or email a weekly question to promote social dialogue among team members. Some examples could include:
- share a picture of your office space
- name a song that captures your mood today
- share a favorite holiday tradition (depending on the time of year)
- share some suggestions for breathwork to help manage stress and ask team members to share how they felt after they tried it
- remind everyone of the benefits of going outside for a walk and ask them to post a picture of themselves outside on a walk.
- Donut chats/virtual 1:1 meetups. Technology can assist with setting up short (about 15 minutes) periodic (perhaps monthly) 1:1s to give team members a chance to chat about anything. Share a list of potential topics or questions to ask each other for those who are unsure of what to say. Another idea for a 15-minute chat is a fun activity such as finding 10 things in common that are not work related.
- Ask me anything sessions with leaders. These can be short (15 – 30 minutes) sessions for teams to get to know a different leader each session by having a chance to ask the leader any questions they’re curious about.
- Organize a fun virtual team building event. Many options exist today that make it easy to implement virtual team building events. A very memorable one I participated in was a virtual charcuterie board assembly. Each team member received by mail a package of meats, cheeses, and dried fruits, along with a nice slate board. Via Zoom, an instructor taught us how to creatively build a charcuterie board while explaining items that pair well together and sharing other helpful tips (such as how to store cheese in the refrigerator). Team members were asked to put their cameras on their own boards as we built them so we could all see our peers’ creations. It was incredibly fun and tasty! This event was talked about for months afterwards.
- Hold show and tell sessions. Just like we did in elementary school, ask team members to find an item that has meaning to them and show it to the team via Zoom and explain why they brought that item. This can be so insightful!
- Incorporate ice breakers into team meetings periodically to allow team members to get to know more about each other. Some examples are as follows:
- Baby pictures: prior to the meeting, ask team members to submit a picture of themselves as a baby and then ask the whole team to guess who each baby is.
- Three truths and a lie: ask each team member to state three truths about themselves and one lie. The others must guess which one is a lie.
- Once upon a time: one team member starts a line of a story (once upon a time..) and then each team member takes a turn to add on another line. The last person must conclude the story. This always leads to fun and laughter!
- Ask each team member to share something interesting that they believe no one else on the team has done or experienced. If anyone has the same experience, they must share something else.
- Ask simple fun questions for everyone to answer such as: Do you prefer coffee or tea? What’s in a name – where did your first name come from; were you named after someone; were your parents inspired by someone or something? Which fictional character would you like to trade lives with?
- Ask team members to volunteer to talk to the rest of the team about something they are passionate about. This could be a hobby or a cause or a place or anything else of importance to a team member. This is a great way to appreciate the passions and interests of our team members and learn about them in a deeper way.
- Organize a virtual bingo game or scavenger hunt based on information about the company or about team members. This will take some planning but will be worth the investment of time and creativity. Technology can also help.
- Have a team meeting over a lunch hour and send remote team members a gift card to purchase a meal of their choice while also providing lunch to any team members on site.
- Encourage team members to bring a coffee, tea, or another beverage to virtual internal team meetings providing a more casual vibe to the meeting.
- Host optional book clubs for employees who would like to participate. Encourage team members to volunteer to choose a book and lead a club. It can be fiction or nonfiction, at Compass we have both!
- Implement a forum for peer recognition. We all appreciate recognition, and it’s a powerful way to encourage collaboration when peers can recognize each other publicly.
- Utilize virtual breakout rooms in video calls to allow team members to interact more personally in smaller groups. This could be especially useful in brainstorming sessions.
- Gather an engagement team (similar to a social committee) to organize and implement ideas for building relationships and camaraderie amongst your team members. Encourage all employees to give input to the engagement team to help generate more ideas.
At Compass, we are passionate about employee engagement because of the value it brings to both employees’ health and wellbeing and the bottom line of the organizations we serve.
Contact us at info@wearecompass.com if you are interested in learning how we can help you increase the engagement of your workforce, both remote and onsite!
