Virtual Team-Building
Due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, working from home (WFH) has become the new norm in most workplaces. Although WFH has its advantageous, due to lack of social face-to-face interaction it can have a negative impact on sense of team, resulting in feeling of loneliness and in the true sense, isolation.
It is also found that employees that WFH tend to work over 40 hours per week and 43% more than employees who work in an office environment. Along with isolation, this can lead to increased stress, decreased focus and work life balance, and, burnout.
So, what can businesses do to encourage avoid such outcome? The answer is Virtual Team Building!
What is Virtual Team Building?
Virtual Team Building involves utilising the digital space or tools to create interactions between teams. This means that employees will have the chance to regularly connect and interact with their team members and direct manager in a fun way.
Benefits
The use of regular Virtual Team Building activities can:
Increase team morale and collaboration
Encourage creativity and innovation
Encourage a positive work culture
Increase positive reinforcement
Improve communication skills
Build trust, interdependence, and a productive team environment.
Tools to Use
Conducting Team Activities online is easy, as most employers already utilise some form video chat, conference calls, slack channels or screen sharing tools.
A tip is to use a tool which the team uses daily, as this encourages employees to feel more comfortable and confident when participating.
Examples of Virtual Team Building Activities
To encourage communication, collaboration and teamwork, employers can implement any of the following activities:
Check-ins: Have daily or weekly virtual check-ins with the team to discuss wellbeing and set expectations for the week.
Learnings: During the team check-in’s, dedicate 5-10 minutes to ask different employees each week to share a recent learning. This could be on a particular topic such as efficiency or a topic of interest to the employee.
Virtual Games: A great idea to destress employees and encourage social interaction and team bonding is through hosting virtual games. These games can be held end of Friday and may include, a Digital Scavenger Hunt, Virtual Escape Room, Trivia (Kahoot!), Charades, Bingo or a Show and Tell.
Friday Happy Hours: Get together with the team on Zoom or Teams to share a beer, coffee or soft drink to chat and catch-up.
Challenges: A great way to increase employee engagement and ensure physical wellbeing is to introduce challenges such as walking challenge, 7-Hours Sleep Challenge, 8-Glasses of Water Challenge, Daily-Meditation Challenge. This can be done in teams and employees can use relevant fitness tracking apps to record results. Employers can also provide rewards such as giftcards or discounts at major retailers.