5 Ways to Foster Community in Remote Teams

June-2021

Remote work is becoming one of the biggest trends of modern organizations, especially in today’s world. More organizations are switching to telecommuting offices because employees who work remotely have shown be to more productive, efficient, and less stressed. In order for such practice to be successful in the long term, it is important to foster an effective remote culture and guide your team to work
together differently.

Although remote work has been beneficial for many teams, they have lost the sense of community that is often fostered in an office environment. When working remotely, it becomes difficult to connect with teammates on a personal level. A lack of physical presence makes it harder to feel a sense of belonging to something larger.

We have outlined ways that will help you grow a sense of community with your teammates:

The best way to learn about your teammates is by having a weekly set of interesting questions to ask each other. Learning small tidbits of information like this fosters relationships that build community, rather than just a group of strangers working for the same company.

Remote teams lack the opportunity to make small talk as often, as there is no place for such conversation to occur naturally. Personal conversations are however vital to forming professional relationships that lead to building trust and community amongst teammates. Having a chat platform where the teams can converse casually throughout the workday is a great stepping stone to build trust with one another – through valuable and intimate conversations.

Sometimes people just need to be around other people to feel an overall sense of community and connection; which trickles into other aspects of their personal and professional lives. For employees who enjoy working around others, consider offering co-working space reimbursements to encourage team members to network with other professionals, in a safe environment.

While working remotely 100% of the time, meeting in-person a few times annually is important. Making retreats dual-purpose by including professional training along with team-building exercises is hitting two birds with one stone. Often, staff who work from home don’t get the same opportunities to attend training or conferences as those based in an office – which is why having training included within your retreats will still feel like a fresh and exciting way to work while growing the community. Rush-A-Way offers virtual team building activities, with a variety of fun-filled challenges that help foster strengthening bonds with a team!

Having all work and no play does not help to cultivate a happy and productive team. Keeping your team excited and engaged with virtual team-building activities can help them build stronger bonds – giving them the opportunity to enjoy a bit of downtime with each other, while remaining productive. With Rush-A-Way, teams have the unique opportunity to collaborate with each other through virtual activities and challenges – developing the community aspect by uniting as one through a screen!

Effective and fun corporate team-building activities are a great tool for building stronger remote teams and in bringing them closer. Try the above-mentioned 5 ways that can help you Foster Community in Remote teams to boost employee morale, engagement and productivity.If you would like us to plan and organize your virtual team-building activity, please get in touch for a free consultation and demo.