We have been used to (permanent) working from home for a year now. Working from home certainly has major advantages: the efficient use of your time, you can better combine your work and private life, you choose your own workplace. Because you feel good, you are also more productive and happier in general.
However, this abundance of work at home also has its drawbacks. You can feel lonely and cut off from the important things at work. Regular contact with your colleagues is very important. And the office is simply a place with frequent social contacts where you can build strong relationships with your colleagues.
As a manager you also have to respond to this. When your team is rarely together in the workplace, you need to build the corporate culture in a different way. This is important. Home workers have to experience the same emotional connection as during traditional office work.
This is confirmed by a Harvard Business Review study that states that close collegiality and friendship in the workplace increase employee satisfaction by 50%. Furthermore, it says that people with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to be fully engaged in their work.
Planning and organizing a virtual team building is a cost-efficient and effective way to increase the productivity, happiness and engagement of your employees.
What is Remote or Online Team Building?
Remote team building, also called virtual team building or online team building, is a method of offering remote teams a moment of relaxation and social interaction. In some virtual team buildings there is an additional learning effect. Then the focus will be on, for example, efficient online communication or the use of digital tools.
In short, a virtual team building allows the whole team to get to know each other and create meaningful relationships. This gives homeworkers the opportunity to socialize and make contact with colleagues they would otherwise not see for a long time.
Remote team building is just like regular, physical team building, except that you are not in the same physical space. In virtual team building, each team member sits at his or her computer and works together using online tools such as video conferencing and gaming platforms.
Why virtual team building is important
The Buffer “State of Remote Work 2018” states that “Remote workers have some unique struggles to work through: Loneliness (21%), collaborating and/or communicating (21%) and distractions at home (16%) are the biggest struggles of remote workers.“
Employees who work together in an office naturally build relationships through face-to-face conversations, meetings, lunches, etc. However, remote teams do not have this advantage and so companies need to facilitate these interactions virtually through team building activities.
Virtual team building games ensure that employees feel involved and connected with their employees. These activities result in happiness at work, efficiency and a stronger company.
What kind of online team building?
One year of COVID has resulted in hundreds of creative ideas for virtual team building. Virtual team building is more popular than ever. Event agencies continue to come up with new and exciting ways to entertain, engage and reward your teams while working from home.
Click on the button below to discover the best online team building activities.
