Three Virtual Team Building Tips That Aren’t Cringey
Photo credit: Canva.com
By Lindsay Bissett
“The ability for a group of people to do remarkable things hinges on how well those people can pull together as a team” -Simon Sinek
Remote work. It’s not the future, it’s the now. It’s the right now and the right thing for leaders and organizations who are on a journey of equity, inclusion, diversity, decolonization, and environmental sustainability.
We’ve discussed the benefits of remote work in the Leda HR Blog post, Why Remote Work Is a Win. As we continue this path of remote and hybrid work, we need to continue evolving as leaders and teammates and ask ourselves a few questions. How are we supporting our remote teams? As we say goodbye to old in-office challenges, how are we combatting the new challenges that come with remote work? How are we busting the myth that people can’t build quality relationships when working remotely?
Why is relationship building important for teams?
We’ve heard of quiet quitting. We’ve heard of burnout. These things are very real, but the good news is they don’t have to be permanent. Not only does having meaningful relationships at work help avoid dreaded things like quiet quitting (which is different than healthy boundaries) and burnout, it’s shown in many studies that people who trust and care about their colleagues are happier and perform better.
Leadership expert Simon Sinek is quoted as saying, “A team is not a group of people who work together. A team is a group of people who trust each other.” I believe in this wholeheartedly, because trust is essential for the functionality and the success of the team. If there is no trust, there is no team.
So now we know the why, what about the how?
Three ways to build relationships virtually:
1. Have an “open door” policy (and mean it)
Sure, you don’t have a big oak door to physically leave open anymore, but you do have a Zoom “door”. You do have a chat function where someone can “knock” if needed. Utilize both.
Reminder, the only way someone will know or believe you have an open-door policy is if they see it being used. Remember the “door” can also swing both ways.
Story time: When I was freshly back from maternity leave, and freshly into a new role, it was still the heat of the pandemic where we had been thrust into remote work. My new co-worker, and the only other consultant of this type in our organization, had to take an unexpected leave which left just brand-new me and my brand-new manager I had never worked with.
How did my manager support me? She acknowledged the current situation, she re-instilled how confident she was in the hiring decision she made when selecting me, and she implemented an open-door policy. I could call her anytime. For real. If she was in a meeting, I could ping her on instant message. You know what I did? I called her when I needed to, and she answered. There was never judgement from her, and I was sure to be resourceful before calling so as not to take advantage or overburden her.
Through these calls as we talked through unique files and scenarios I hadn’t seen before, we also inadvertently ended up building a relationship. We were talking on the phone daily, it was a hectic time in the workplace and the world, we were both feeling otherwise quite isolated and ultimately it bonded us tightly in a short time period. I think another huge contributor to this success was, despite being different people in different life stages, we both knew we also really needed each other for success.
You can do this, too…
Have an employee who is working on a tricky project? Check-in.
Have a new colleague? Check-in.
Have someone on your term going through a difficult time personally? check-in.
Having a hard day yourself? Lean into another colleague.
Purposeful contact goes a long way. Going back to the old Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Days, it’s ok to “phone a friend. “
2. Make time for non-work communication
When I used the word “make” I meant it. Make it happen, make it purposeful, make it important. By making it that way in the beginning, you are setting the groundwork to make it become natural, and ultimately part of your team and/or workplace culture in the long run.
Not sure where to start? A past colleague of mine encouraged our entire workplace to “connect four” last winter and people loved it.
Connect Four: Send four 15-20 minute “connect” meetings with four different colleagues. Like a casual coffee chat. Ideally send invites to colleagues you do not already have strong foundational relationships with. Someone you’d like to get to know, someone whose work interests you, or just take a chance at meeting someone new!
This activity engaged our workforce in something fun. New connections and collaborations were formed, new friendships, and actually many recurring connect meetings where people could purposefully integrate virtual “Water cooler talk” into their schedules long term. And don’t be afraid to get senior leadership buy-in for things like this. Stronger connections add value to your workplace culture. And leaders are people who need social time and human connection, too!
3. Collaborate
Working in silos is not something new, or a result of remote work alone. It is easy to get bogged down into everyday tasks, deadlines and all types of pressures that may prevent us from reaching out. Collaboration builds trust, and often brings better results. Lets’ lean into that!
Leaders: You can foster a collaborative environment by being collaborators yourselves. Model the behaviours you want to see. How are you modelling collaboration?
When you collaborate within the team people notice, when you collaborate outside of the team be sure to connect back to share what went well and where you learned.
Leaders at all levels hold power. Leader’s behaviours and endorsements create ripples far and wide.
As above, modelling the behaviours is critical and this isn’t just for leaders. Use the tools available to you. In my current team we all work remotely and have multiple active group chats where everyone can ask questions, share trends, or even share a good meme! As a new member to this team, I had heard about the group chats and that the team was very open and collaborative, but how real psychological safety was established was through me actually seeing people engage in those chats. If other people on my team could feel safe to share, and I got to see the helpful responses, then I must be ok to do the same. I am now also part of modeling the behaviour; I will further the ripple effect.
In summary, virtual team and relationship building is important and it’s also totally doable without being totally cringe. Team building doesn’t have to be playing Two Truths and a Lie (please don’t let this be your go-to), it’s really all about leaning into your Human Skills. It’s about creating habits on the team and in your workplace that encourage trust and team building. It’s about purposeful communication in multiple ways, resulting in multiple benefits.
Now go book a casual coffee chat with someone.
About Lindsay Bissett:
By day Lindsay is a Wellness and Disability Management Consultant, with a flair for social media and mental health advocacy. By night she is a mother of two, green smoothie aficionado, podcast listener, and active glamper.
Follow Lindsay on social media!