Working in the same physical location made it easy to meet with teammates, engage in small talk, and create a deeper and more meaningful office environment.

But without office dynamics, your remote employees are likely to feel isolated.

5 ideas to build relationships, no matter where in the world your people are:

1. Schedule virtual coffee sessions

Encourage your people to schedule virtual coffee sessions together. Have 10 to 15-minute calls to chat over a hot beverage outside of the virtual office. These conversations can help energise and motivate your team members!

Pro tip: Establish a regular cadence and set a few ground rules, like keeping the conversations more casual and avoiding work-talk. For group coffee sessions, keep it to a minimum: a sweet spot for Zoom calls is no more than four participants!

1. Make space for small talk

Water cooler conversations can lead to much deeper connections and team bonding.

Consider transferring these chats to the digital world. They don’t need to be done through video calls: for example, you can create a Slack channel where people share interesting links and news articles!

2. Take your work hats off!

Once a month, try scheduling a fun activity with your team like an online board game, karaoke, or movie night.  Many websites now offer plenty of unique virtual team building ideas or games to choose from.

Consider breaking a sweat together, too. We form deeper bonds through physical activities, so doing apartment-friendly workouts with your team can be a fun way to create memories. 

3. Hold a “Friday Roundup” to wrap up the week

Think about scheduling a more casual meeting every Friday to go over memorable moments from the week. 

You can also use this time to give kudos to your people, and invite them to discuss how they plan to unwind in the next few days. 

These meetings not only keep your employees aligned (and prepared for the next week), they’re also a nice signal to unplug and mentally log off.

4. Find ways to celebrate together

Take a personal interest in events that matter to your team members.

Whether for a birthday, Thanksgiving, or to celebrate work milestones, it’s important to acknowledge the significance of these events, even when you’re apart. 

Doing so shows that you value your team as people (not just employees), and help build a much deeper shared connection. 

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Written on March 12, 2021