A recent Gartner article explains that, without physical colocation and the opportunities for spontaneous collaboration it provides, team members must be more intentional about interacting. The article states, “Employees don’t experience the happenstance, serendipitous interactions that might occur in an office. Even a simple social conversation with a co-worker can take effort.”
The article also recommends
That teams not limit their thinking to country wise email marketing list where each member is working. They should also consider when. This factor allows for people in various time zones to work together, perhaps more easily than when everyone was expected to be in the same place at the same time.
- Goal setting. In a remote or hybrid work team, the goals may be the same as those employees were striving toward pre-pandemic. But, without a shared physical presence, it may be harder for people to stay on track. Team leaders must set clear and achievable goals and milestones and have this information posted somewhere accessible to everyone, such as a project management application.
- Clear expectations. In addition to knowing the goals they’re working toward, team members need to know the expectations about how to get there. For example, some teams have a cameras-always-on rule so members can get to know each other by sight as well as sound. Others may prefer a cameras-off rule to cut down on video conference fatigue.
- Communication. To productively this is probably the most visible effect of move toward those goals, team leaders must strive for effective communication. That means setting up regular check-in meetings and using technology to enable spontaneous conversations as well.
- Meeting team member needs. Team leaders must advocate for team members no matter where they work for things like needed equipment, benefit support such as mental health care, and scheduling flexibility.
Consistent Teambuilding
Just like with in-person teams, remote and hybrid team members can work together without being friends. But, even if friendship isn’t the goal, workers appreciate the opportunity to know a little about the people they are working with.
New team configurations require new ways of getting acquainted and maintaining good relations. Here are a few ideas:
- Plan opportunities for team members to get to know each other. This approach may seem more forced than the natural opportunities whatsapp phone number that occur when people are working together, but that doesn’t make it any less effective or important. Spend 5 minutes or so at the beginning or end of meetings having each person respond to a simple question like, “What is your favorite food to eat at this time of year?”
- Simulate in-person situations such as arriving late to meetings if you’re the leader to allow team members to chat among themselves. Or use breakout rooms after a meeting for people who want to follow up on topics that came up during the meeting.