Team building is an essential piece of creating a fun atmosphere that promotes hard work, camaraderie, and a bond that fosters growth and movement. When you have a team that loves to be around each other, works hard together, and bonds over laughter, you will see great success happen.
Successful team building is hard enough when people work in the same office. Now as every company is moving towards a more remote environment, the challenge is even more difficult. How do you create that camaraderie within your team when half of it is working from home or is even in other cities or countries?
Well…you get creative!
As the work environment continues to shift towards a more remote setting and large offices bustling with teams of people are slowly disappearing, we must shift gears and find ways to create that office camaraderie remotely.
Here at Laxis, we have found that when we foster a community and culture through connecting, bonding, and team building, we set ourselves up for the most success.
We have put together a list of some team building exercises you can do virtually from anywhere.
Virtual Icebreakers
During your next virtual meeting, think about starting out with a virtual icebreaker. While this sounds like something you may have done in grade school, it is highly effective at breaking the ice between coworkers and encouraging them to get to know each other on a more personal level. One way to do this is to ask questions and have every member of the team go around and read or share their answer. The types of questions you ask are up to you but have fun with it and allow your team to laugh as they learn about each other. This type of human connection fosters growth and camaraderie that pushes people into new levels of trust and connection with their coworkers.
Play Games Such as Two Truths and a Lie
If you want your team to get to know each other better, a fun game to play virtually is two truths and a lie. For this game, simply ask your team to write down three statements about themselves…two should be real and one should be false. You then have each team member read their answers out loud and the other team members must guess which are true and which one is a lie. This is a fun way for your team to get to know each other and learn more about each other’s personal lives.
Schedule One-One-One Video Conference Calls
Sometimes when we have virtual meetings people feel disconnected with each other because they are just saying hello briefly through a screen. By promoting and scheduling one-on-one conference calls with different team members, you will reconnect them in engaging one-on-one conversations. At Laxis we understand the importance of connection and sometimes it is hard to do when there are several people on one virtual call.
Expand Your Means of Communication
If you have a remote team and you just meet virtually once a week, one way to foster new growth and connection is to change up your means of communication. You can add text chains, email groups, etc. and give your team more ways to connect than just the weekly video chat. Sometimes sending funny memes in the middle of the workday can break barriers and make people feel connected.
Building that team connection especially during a time when most of us are working remotely is huge for growth and success.
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