We all know great things come from working… together. While many individuals are successful at achieving something great, helping them find that success is due credit to a lot of people along the way.
When it comes to our workplace culture today teamwork seems like well… isolating. Thanks to a global pandemic, we’ve seen the largest work from home experiment right before our eyes. Call it a success or call it a total flop, many businesses are continuing to navigate working from home with new challenges arising the longer teams are working apart.
If leaders believed communication was important before, remote working teams have an even greater necessity for it. Managing contracts, meeting deadlines, work hours, time zones, and events are all factors that leaders have to juggle in their considerations of how teams work most efficiently. Even though this can be a difficult task, there are a lot of advantages to managing a remote team.
How can you assist your team in working together while working remote? We’ve rounded up 6 ideas.
- Communicate your company’s core values consistently.
Whether your team plans to continue work remotely or hopes to move back into your long-lost office space, communicating your company values, beliefs, mission, and vision on an ongoing basis helps to ensure you are all working toward a common goal. - Hire the right people.
Fact is, some people are more suited to work remotely than others. It’s essential you work to find these people. Individuals who work remotely must be self-motivated… finding that skillset or working with candidates to see how they are developing skills and learning techniques to block out the distractions and be productive at home is essential to helping your team function best together. - You set the tone on the first day.
Traditionally in an office setting the first day of a new hire’s time is spend with formal introductions. Continue to practice that via Zoom or any online platform with team lunches on a new hire’s first day or 15-minute introduction calls to ensure the tone of teamwork is set from day one. - Invest in the tools needed to work remotely.
We’ve all seen the value in digital organization throughout COVId-19. Many teams use Slack for project management and communication. However, Slack is just one of a surplus of resources out there. Basecamp is another popular one we love. - Make space for chit-chat.
We all may joke about the conversations at the copier or water tank… but they help connect employees and build team morale. No matter how you make space for employees to connect with each other, find the space before meetings for a quick “off-topic” chat. - Set team goals, not individuals ones
Remote teams often produce a feeling of isolation for many employees when it comes to goal setting. Instead of setting individual goals, think of goals you can work toward as a team. Workers will then naturally form bonds and support each other to achieve them.
Creating and putting effort into building a team that is remote has many benefits but the process to create a successful remote team takes hard work and intentional actions. Have you hired a remote employee in the last few months? How has your team welcomed them in and worked to better create a work culture of teamwork?
