01 November, 2023

Virtual Team Building Activities to Keep Your Remote Team Engaged

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Management
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Team Gifted
Help your remote employees bond and feel included through unique team-building activities. Discover ideas to engage, interact, and socialize as a team for a lifted morale.

Back in the  day, "remote" was a category for distant-office working colleagues. However, with the fast development of technology and the introduction of innovative collaboration tools, remote work has become a convenient option for individual workers and employers.

Remote work is a crowd favorite for most employed individuals today. A growing number of employers are also finding it a convenient arrangement. They can now tap into the global workers market to improve their workforce. Alternatively, their employees can work from convenient locations.  

With more companies adapting to remote work globally, they must put considerable effort into making a smooth transition for their employees. Your company will experience more employee productivity and retention by making the switch. 

What is employee engagement? Employee engagement is not just another word in the corporate vocabulary; it is a practice that focuses on maintaining excellent employee satisfaction, motivation, and success. Many people believe that employee engagement revolves around collective contentment or happiness. However, the core purpose here is to help the professional to show absolute commitment and involvement with the organization.

Engaged employees show more affiliation with the company values and take more satisfaction in their jobs. This allows them to make consistent contributions to the organization's success. They produce more than the rest of the workforce and are more likely to work with the company in the future.

Remote Employee Engagement- Explained

Let's break down the fundamental benefits of remote working now. It promises more freedom for employees who get more time at home, superior flexibility for freelancers who work on multiple projects, and better time management for teams who work in different time zones. 

As mentioned already, remote working has its fair share of demerits. It can isolate staff, thereby negatively affecting team performance. Therefore, you must organize practical remote work engagement activities to counter these threats. Your job should ideally involve looking for creative ways to engage remote employees. 

Remote employees should feel as important and valued as the in-house workforce. Although they may not be available to engage in lunchtime chats with the rest of the team, they are just interested in their work.

How Does Remote Working Influence Employee Engagement?

Engaged employees can contribute extensively to the company's benefit. We have assembled a list of some organizational benefits companies may experience with engaged remote employees.

  1. Improved Productivity

Engaged employees show thorough dedication to their work responsibilities and a willingness to go the extra mile to help your organization grow. Remote employees feel more valued and show more engagement. Remote employee engagement positively impacts the company's workforce productivity and boosts retention rates, thereby solidifying the company's long-term success.

  1. Employee Retention

Companies that concentrate on employee retention lay seeds for substantial benefits. The rewards typically include improved profits, superior staff morale, increased productivity, inspiring company culture, and complete customer satisfaction. 

Constant workforce turnover can be expensive. It affects finances and compromises productivity. Remote employee engagement ensures employee retention and perfectly counters the elevated threat of remote employees feeling isolated within the company.

  1. Employee Job Satisfaction

Remote workers typically have more job satisfaction than the in-house workforce. Job satisfaction is a crucial motivating factor in employee engagement. According to a survey, 85 percent of workers admitted that they find greater job satisfaction from their remote working arrangement. Positive job satisfaction can result in high employee retention for the company. 

What are virtual team-building activities? The genuine effectiveness of employee engagement activities for remote workers is not just confined to individual performance. It caters to establishing a thriving corporate culture. Moreover, it aims to bring the collective workforce together in parallel with the broader business objectives. 

Remote Employee Engagement: 10 Best Practices

Remote work is a thriving workforce practice today- it is here to stay. More and more companies worldwide are realizing that remote employee engagement is not just a complimentary but a mandatory approach in all virtual company environments. 

However, remote employee management is a challenging task that requires unique skill sets. But how do you begin with it in your organization? Let's discuss some practical ways to engage remote employees.

  1. Online Fitness Club

Motivated and energized employees contribute effectively to the company culture. They essentially set the standards for the rest of the company workforce. However, a lack of motivation could lower their work rate and produce mediocre results. As the company authority, you are responsible for keeping the workers motivated. 

Running an online fitness community is a solid way to initiate remote employee engagement in your company. In simple words, remote workers might just need some encouragement after developing a sense of isolation. Online fitness clubs can instill a group mentality with an environment of support.

  1. Online Watch Parties

Online movie nights with colleagues are a fine option for remote team engagement activities. They allow remote workers to develop a bond with the in-house workforce. Movie nights have traditionally presented a great opportunity for everyone to exchange opinions and thoughts on the movies. They allow for open and honest conversations. Over time, these movie nights contribute to making fond memories and solidifying connections with colleagues.

  1. Virtual Coffee Breaks

Virtual coffee breaks are another way to develop interpersonal relationships between your company's remote and in-house workforce. Coffee breaks provide a conducive environment for mixing with colleagues, and joining a virtual coffee break during work hours can also improve your mood. 

Building connections with the workforce can result in creating a sense of camaraderie. A simple virtual coffee break can do wonders in eliminating any feeling of isolation among remote employees. The potential for positive social interactions from a virtual coffee break can effectively boost their job satisfaction.

  1. Virtual Lunch Breaks

Taking the lead from virtual coffee breaks, virtual lunch breaks can almost identically benefit the remote employee. They offer the necessary option for interacting with employees to build interpersonal bonds. These remote employee engagement exercises can lay the foundation for improved collaboration in the office. 

Virtual lunch breaks allow teams that work together daily to have a chance to network and socialize. Your company will stand a better chance of success when your employees share a positive dynamic.

  1. Virtual Talent Show

Every individual has a talent- that's a fact. And this holds for your company employees as well. Therefore, you may consider hosting a talent show to boost the morale of your remote workers. You will provide a platform for the workers to show their skills and talents. 

Talent shows at work don't only put the workers under the spotlight but also promote inclusivity. Workers will move on from any fear of missing out or under-appreciation when they are celebrated by the entire workforce for their various skills. Simply put, it can improve employee satisfaction, better engagement, and a sense of belonging for remote workers.

  1. Virtual European Adventure

Arranging online travel adventures can be a great virtual reality team-building exercise for your workforce if they share a passion for traveling. Virtual travel adventures develop networking channels between colleagues. They are also a great method for effective remote employee engagement, where the workers can collaborate through exciting rounds of European-themed trivia.  

The workers will be segregated into multiple groups for these unique virtual team-building activities. Then, they will participate in a warm-up social mixer followed by some fun and exciting travel quiz rounds. You can always finish it off with a European travel conversation. Virtual travel adventures and quizzes always generate great fun for workers who are travel enthusiasts. 

  1. Virtual Murder Mystery Games

Continuing with the exciting app-based virtual team-building activity ideas, you can also arrange virtual murder mystery games for your remote and in-house workforce. Here, the groups can connect virtually and then settle into multiple teams to solve the in-game mysteries. 

You can choose to host it on your own or delegate the task to your HR personnel or event coordinator to host it for you. These sessions will allow you to instill a sense of teamwork and networking amongst your workforce. 

  1. Virtual Yoga Class

You can always schedule virtual yoga classes to help your employees manage their stress better. Bring a live instructor to host your workforce for a relieving yoga session. Alternatively, you could record some beginner-friendly yoga disciplines and make them available for the team. Hosting a virtual yoga session where your entire team participates can generate unity and motivation.

  1. Virtual Arts and Music Sessions

Most individuals share artistic aspirations but fail to nurture them due to their professional commitments. You can leverage it and host virtual arts and music sessions for your team. Your workforce will have the opportunity to learn and play music. Additionally, you could consider utilizing lively and engaging guides. 

Furthermore, arranging such team-building exercises allows employees from diverse backgrounds to represent their culture. During this virtual session, there's always the option to host musical team-building challenges. 

  1. Introduce Remote Employees

It's a common practice to introduce new employees to the company's entire workforce via email. It's a generic and formal approach to onboarding, and the new/ remote employee may feel anonymous to the team. Therefore, you may instead look to give it a more personal touch by asking HR to organize a team call. 

This will allow the new/ remote employees to quickly build rapport with their colleagues. Team calls will allow them to share more personal information and details. A group call will simplify the introductory process and enable the team to learn more about their remote colleagues.

Gifted: A Smart Way to Achieve Remote Employee Engagement

There are various engagement activities for remote employees to improve productivity and retention. We encourage you to implement these tips to avail yourself of the many benefits of a remote workforce. Furthermore, you will also retain a workforce that is content, motivated, and committed to the company. 

At Gifted, we can help you successfully maintain an empathetic bond with your team. We are your one-stop shop for individual and meaningful employee appreciation gifts. Give us a call to lift the spirits of your workforce for all the efforts they have put into your company.

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