INSIDE: How can you stay connected with remote teammates? These days, it’s easier than ever. Use these tips to make sure you stay connected.
Whether you’ve been hiring a remote team for a long time or you’re new to the business, you may feel the need to create more of a team environment. It can be quite difficult to handle a remote workforceAnd things can only get more difficult if everyone feels distant and disconnected from the company and their coworkers.
We crave a sense of belonging and fellowship. That doesn’t go away just because we’re working from home. And feeling that camaraderie and that you are fighting for a common cause can increase productivity and the quality of work. 
So how can you stay connected with remote teammates?
Fortunately, it’s not too difficult to assemble your team. there are so many great collaboration software available today. With a few simple clicks, everyone can feel like part of the gang.
The best remote work tools for team building
There are so many great remote work software available to stay connected as a team online.
For everyday communication and project management, you don’t necessarily need a video component. You simply need a centralized place where your remote teammates can exchange ideas and monitor the progress of a project. For that, you can consider:
- Private Facebook Groups
- Loose
- asana
When it comes to team bonding activities and really creating a sense of community, video is an absolute must. The connection is much stronger when you can see someone’s face and hear their voice.
Keep things light and fun. Bring pets and children if you gather during non-business hours or during lunch. It is very important to make everyone feel at ease. Some remote work tools for these activities:
- Zoom
- google hangout
- skype
Try this real-time meeting idea for better collaboration.
7 ideas for fun team building activities
Once you’ve planned your first meeting, you don’t want everyone sitting in silence. To find out how you can stay connected with remote teammates, you’ll need to have some team building activities planned to break the ice and get people talking.
1. Remote Teammate of the Month
You can simply introduce a different remote team member each month and give them time to share a bit about their personal life and what their job and the responsibilities are in the team. Or, you can take the reins and share a team member’s accomplishments if something special has happened.
2. Curiosities
Who doesn’t love a friendly game of trivia? This is a great monthly activity and everyone can take turns organizing and choosing the theme. The office trivia, someone?
3. Take turns teaching
We all have talents to share. Help your remote employees identify strengths that may be of interest to everyone. These skills can be related to work, a hobby, or helping everyone stay healthy. One person can help everyone with meal planning or low carb lunches. The next meeting can be a yoga or stretching session. Next month, someone may have some simple tips for a more organized office, budget, or shared family calendar.
4. Involve the family
Who doesn’t miss company picnics? How can you stay connected with remote teammates when you never see them outside of work? If getting everyone together for a beach getaway isn’t feasible, make those connections online. Arrange a meeting where your children or spouses can introduce themselves and talk. Maybe they will find a new virtual pen pal.
5. Book Club
A virtual book club is not only a great way to connect with others, but it can also be a great way to get your team to relax and focus on things other than work. It sounds counterintuitive, but having overworked and overwhelmed team members is not a good thing. You need your mental health time, so do they.
not all your remote colleagues You may be interested in a book club. And that’s okay! This can be voluntary and in addition to other virtual events.
6. Working lunch
Working lunches were a regular thing when I was at the office. Whether you’re putting together commercials that needed to get out or listening to a presentation, there’s a strong sense of belonging when you share a meal with someone, even if it’s your virtual team.
Whether it’s for breakfast or lunch, share a meal over Zoom regularly to discuss projects and procedures. Another benefit is that it’s a more relaxed environment and your team is more likely to open up with ideas or problems in mind.
7. Co-work
Feeling isolated is one of the biggest challenges for remote work. It’s likely that at least some of your virtual team members miss being able to ask a simple question on the fly, or just long to hear what’s being typed from the next cubicle. Many remote workers feel so alone.
If you’re managing a long-distance distributed team, a real-life coworking space may be out of the picture. However, you can set up a day where everyone logs into their favorite video chat platform and gets their work done. This one can do great things for the relationship.
How to deal with different time zones
Your biggest challenge in organizing these gatherings will likely be dealing with different time zones and family obligations. For those extracurricular team-building activities that need to take place outside of business hours, you may want to alternate evening or weekend meetings each month so that everyone has a chance to attend from time to time.
How can you stay connected with remote teammates?
Now that we’ve looked at various tools and ways to answer the question, “How can you stay connected with remote teammates?” Let’s see some final thoughts on this topic.
One important thing to remember when creating a space to stay connected with your remote employees is to keep things positive. A negative space will only breed more negativity. Nobody wants that. Keep things light and set limits on what will and won’t be allowed. People are looking for a positive space online where they won’t be attacked or belittled. They are looking for positivity and a sense of community.
