10 team bonding ideas for remote workers
Working remotely is something we are all adapting to at the moment.
All of you will likely have some, if not all, of your team working from home or other locations. You may even have Executives who live in different cities worldwide, and you are not seeing them face-to-face.
It can be pretty tricky, including remote teams and remote workers in all of the various things that organisations do to create a team atmosphere. Getting everyone together in a physical office, down to the pub or out for some team-building event is pretty easy.
With half, if not all, the team working remotely, it can be pretty tricky getting everyone to bond – let alone creating a fun and friendly office culture.
Office culture and creating a great team dynamic often fall to the Assistant in the office. Assistants will always be asked to organise team drinks and building activities and be the life and soul of the team.
Inspiring Team Bonding Ideas for Remote Workers
So where do you start if your team live in a completely different country?! Here are 10 team bonding ideas for remote workers that Assistants can use to create a great remote office culture.
#1 Shared Calendar
Most of you will have a shared calendar if you work with remote teams. Make sure everyone adds details to the schedule to help everyone get to know each other.
So, for example, add birthdays and special anniversaries. Ask everyone to add if they are travelling and where they are going (for business and pleasure).
It is up to the individual how much they share, but adding a little bit of their personal life will give the team more information for general chit-chat and the possibilities of things in common.
#2 Weekly Hangout
Ensure your remote team meets virtually as often as they need to.
Many brilliant collaboration tools will help your remote team keep up to date on what is happening in the physical office.
Also, make sure you have a weekly hangout that isn’t work-related. So, for example, every week, you could have a different theme.
It could be a movie hangout, karaoke hangout or games night. Whatever happens, ensure everyone can come together online to share some time that isn’t about work.
#3 Group Chat
Again, I’m sure your remote workers will use group chat tools to discuss current projects and tasks and introduce fun group chats.
Find out what everyone is interested in and go from there. You could have a fitness group chat. A tech group chat, a movie group chat. A ‘meme of the week’ group chat is a fun place to start. Who doesn’t love a meme!?
#4 Leaving drinks
Leaving drinks are pretty much the staple of a team-building session. Everyone feels like they have to go along to somebody’s leaving drinks, and usually, the leaving drink turns into more leaving drinks, and before you know it, you’ve missed your train home.
Hey, we’ve all been there.
So, to give those leaving the team a chance to say goodbye, why not organise a remote ‘leaving drinks’ party and encourage everyone to get together online with whatever drink is appropriate at their point in the day?
#5 Team Collections
Okay, team collections are just the worst thing for Assistants to organise (cards left on people’s desks, money going missing, nobody giving any money).
But they make people feel good, so why not keep the tradition with your remote team? Many online team collection sites will help you organise the next birthday gift, baby shower present, or leaving card.
#6 Book Club
A monthly book club is an excellent way for people to get together and bond over a common topic. Pick a book; you can do this through an online poll. Choose a date everyone has to finish the book and a date that everyone can discuss.
Pick five questions to get the conversation started, and off you go. Maybe you could ask your organisation to front the cost of the book. That would be a nice incentive!
#7 Team Spotify Playlists
Again, this one is just an excellent way for the team to get to know each other better, and when you work remotely, you listen to a lot of music.
So, why not ask everyone to assemble their own Spotify playlist that everyone else can access? You’ll find the team will bond over a shared taste in music, and there will be many “I can’t believe you listen to that noise!”
#8 New team members
Onboarding a new team member and getting them involved in the team culture does take time. It can be more difficult with a remote team, so why not ensure you have some structure for your remote team?
Every new team member should hang out with the rest of the group. At the next monthly team meeting, ask them to come prepared with three facts about their life. You could ask them to write a short ‘day in the life’ and email it to the rest of the team.
Get them involved in the other team activities to get to know everyone as soon as possible.
#9 In-house training
In-housing training is such an excellent way for people to up-skill at work. But this isn’t an option for remote workers. Why not introduce a quarterly in-house training session?
Ask a great trainer or speaker to record a webinar or training video and live-stream it to the remote team. You could use YouTube Live to get everyone together and allow them to introduce themselves and ask questions during the training.
#10 In-person meet-ups
With all these fun activities, it is easy to forget the importance of face-to-face meetings for remote teams. At the very least, everyone should get together once a year.
But, also encourage the team to meet if they happen to be in the same location. Your organisation could pay for dinner to promote the interaction (within reason!)
So, there you go, 10 team bonding ideas for remote workers. Just because your team are not in one office together doesn’t mean you can’t create a great culture that encourages collaboration and boosts morale.
Assistants have such an important role in building team spirit and morale. Overcoming this challenge is no small feat. If you are looking for some great advice on how to get started and even additional training on all the skills the modern Assistant needs, then check out our Assistant Essentials Online Course.
