Team building plays an incredibly important role in shaping and managing a strong team, regardless if they’re co-located or distributed. As cliché as they are, those motivational posters up on the office walls do make a point – teamwork makes the dream work.
Organisations should continuously explore ways to improve workflows and build alignment to reinforce employee morale, strengthen team connections, and maximise productivity. This can be done by organising virtual team building activities to leverage team empowerment and employee engagement.
Virtual team building is the constant process of bringing remote teams together and creating deeper bonds through shared experiences. It forms the foundation for communication within distributed teams to make up for physical office spaces – like the water cooler, conference room or lunch area – virtually.
Leaders will have to deliberately manage virtual team building through specific initiatives to keep the team collaborative and on the same page.
Read on to find out 5 main benefits of virtual team building activities. We’ve even included our own ideas and activities for you to complete with your team that go beyond the traditional team building exercises.
A work environment that focuses solely on deadlines and KPIs can cause disengagement and burnout.
Team building activities empower distributed teams with positive reinforcements and make each employee feel valued. It provides opportunities to build camaraderie, which boosts employee morale, and instills higher levels of trust and transparency throughout the organisation.
Some examples include:
Distributed teams don’t have the luxury of tapping their co-worker on the shoulder to discuss their tasks or ask for help. This makes it challenging, because most tasks are interdependent and demand coordination between resources. There are greater risks of discrepancies in communication when working remotely.
Virtual team building helps employees stay well-connected with their colleagues and allows for avenues to work cohesively. Through various activities and multiple interactions, employees will also start learning of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which will help the team work more effectively and efficiently.
Some examples include:
Similar to the point above, when teams are isolated, chances are they don’t have a clear work direction or aren’t on the same page – which can decrease productivity. Virtual team building activities serve as platforms for team members to sync up and remind individuals how they fit in the big picture.
With a clearer sense of purpose, it motivates employees to work towards the same goal in the same direction, which in turn, improves the overall productivity of the team.
Some examples include:
Dr Ben Hamer, Future of Work Lead in PwC Australia, explained that “people need to feel needed… and feel like they belong as part of a team”. Constant interaction within a distributed team will positively influence employees, thereby reinforcing positive workplace cultures.
Distributed teams need reminding, through shared experiences, that we can still have a laugh at work, create authentic connections, and come up with radically new ideas and processes together. Leaders, now more than ever, need to be more intentional when prioritising for these moments. Explore things that bring joy to your team, and create space for them to share and enjoy together.
Some examples include:
Virtual team building activities help organisations build meaningful relationships and connections among geographically distributed teams and develop cross-generational relationships. When organisations embrace diversity (cultural /gender /race /hobbies), not only does it make employees feel included and part of something bigger, they will also start to appreciate and value the team they work with.
Some examples include:
Teamwork truly makes the dream work! Team building activities give your employees the opportunity to showcase their talents and passions. They also give you the opportunity to get to know your team better and continue to form strong relationships that will help become a better leader.
Tip: use an online collaboration document or tool, like a Trello board or Confluence page, and invite your team members to share some team building activities they would like to try. This way you have a document to refer back to which activities you’ve yet to try, and the outcome of those you have.
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