Until recently, contributing to a positive company culture involved celebrating great work with fun team outings, connecting with colleagues during morning coffee runs, taking a break to play a round of bags, and all of the other in-person activities, small and large, that promote a collaborative team dynamic.
So how do you nourish a culture that’s rooted in face-to-face engagements when your full team has to work remotely for an extended period of time?
As many of us embark on another month of working remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions, I’ve outlined a few suggestions to keep your team connected and engaged that have proven successful for our team thus far:
Team meetings
Used to having a full-team meeting on a monthly basis? Increase the frequency. Consider weekly or bi-weekly Zoom meetings to help keep your team connected and supported.
These don’t need to be, and shouldn’t be, all business all the time. Turn the meeting into a happy hour or spice it up with a fun theme or activity like college colors day or show and tell.
Our team is partial to an end of week happy hour paired with a few rounds of virtual Drawful.
Virtual lunches
Studies have shown that working from home can increase productivity levels when employees are taking proper breaks throughout the day.
If you’re used to having lunch with your team or desk mate at the office, there’s no need working remotely has to get in the way. Send around a calendar invite and encourage your teammates to unplug (figuratively in this case) and join you for a lunch break.
Pro tip: The mute button is your friend during remote lunches, so give it a click then munch on those Baked Lays to your heart’s content.
Activity competitions
These days, everyone with a smartphone has the ability to track their steps. Hold weekly or monthly step competitions to encourage your teammates to get up and get active throughout the day.
Pro tip: If possible, incentivize the competition with a grand prize for the person with the most steps at the end of the month.
Team Spotify list
Get to know your teammates on another level by setting up a shared Spotify playlist. Have everyone contribute their top five favorite songs of all time or keep it fluid and encourage everyone to add the song they can’t get enough of at the start of each week.
Take initiative
This is essential. Maintaining a positive company culture is not the sole responsibility of the leadership team. If your company culture is going to thrive while your team is working remote, it’s because the entire team understands they’re equally responsible for putting in the effort. No one is too junior or too senior when it comes to contributing to company culture. So, the next time you’re feeling disconnected from your team or wondering when the next team activity is happening, take initiative and be the one to reach out and make it happen.
What methods are you using to keep your company culture alive while working remote?