No coffee machines or relaxation areas. When company employees work remotely, you have to reinvent the format of informal get-togethers. The same applies to team dynamics. At a distance, team-building mechanisms must necessarily take different forms. Everything happens via screens. But that doesn't mean the exercise is impossible. Here are some examples.
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Virtual games
Collaborative online games are an excellent way of bringing talents together and strengthening team bonds. They can take the form of online board games, remote escapades or even puzzle-solving. On the surface, they create a playful atmosphere. On a deeper level, they reinforce communication and cooperation between team members.
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Theme days
This is a way of injecting excitement into the daily work routine. Theme days are a way of injecting a bit of fun into the day's tasks. From virtual talent contests to "dress code crazy" days, they give the organization's talents a chance to reveal a part of their personality. It's a great way to bring together team members who are sometimes separated by thousands of kilometers and only know each other through their screens.
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Collaborative training sessions
Ongoing training is a reality for all remote workers. When organized by the company, these sessions can be an opportunity to strengthen the team. This can take the form of virtual workshops in which everyone can demonstrate their specific skills, even if they're outside the company's core business. An example might be a virtual cooking class (a tasty but easy-to-prepare recipe, for example), to round off a more formal training session. It's a way of combining the useful with the pleasurable.
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Rituals at the beginning and end of the day
Rituals are often effective. They instill a sense of cohesion and mutual support in employees (especially those working from home). At the start of the day, meetings can take on a more informal aspect, even if it's to discuss the day's objectives. At the end of the day, sessions can be devoted to sharing achievements and expressing gratitude to colleagues. Of course, this has to be adapted on a case-by-case basis.
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Creative challenges
Whether it's an art project, a fictitious advertising campaign or the design of a prototype, there's nothing like a creative challenge to stimulate teamwork and reinforce problem-solving skills. Team members have to work together, each contributing their own expertise. It's great for cohesion.
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Celebrating personal events
Creating a space to celebrate important personal moments can be highly recommended. Organize virtual sessions for birthdays, celebrations of personal achievements, or even baby showers. This humanizes the team by recognizing and celebrating the personal aspects of everyone's lives, strengthening bonds beyond work.
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Virtual leisure club
Sharing is, of course, at the heart of all these proposals. Working remotely doesn't mean you can't share your hobbies and interests. Books, TV series, films, music playlists - everything is up for discussion. You can even choose a work (literary, musical or other) for everyone to discover at the same time, and discuss it afterwards. This will immerse team members in an intellectually stimulating moment and strengthen bonds through the exchange of points of view.
Strong bonds between collaborators can be forged even when teams work remotely. It's just a question of putting in place the right mechanisms, some of which have been described here. Now it's up to you to use your imagination.
What are the most effective mechanisms for remote team building?
Collaborative online games, theme days, collaborative training sessions, creative challenges, daily rituals, celebrations of personal events, and virtual leisure clubs are effective mechanisms to strengthen team bonds remotely.
How can we establish rituals at the beginning and end of the remote workday?
Rituals can be established by organizing informal meetings at the beginning of the day to discuss objectives and end-of-day sessions to share achievements and express gratitude. Adaptation of rituals should be done based on each team's needs.
How can we foster team cohesion beyond professional work?
Creating a virtual leisure club where members share hobbies, literary interests, series, films, and music fosters cohesion by allowing informal exchanges and intellectually stimulating the team through the exchange of viewpoints.