Are you having trouble breaking the ice with your team members? Your efforts to bond with your employees may partially be due to the massive roadblocks caused by Covid-19. It’s not so easy to bond with new hires when you can’t even be present in the same room. This is why you may need tips on how to build your team virtually.
Get on Skype and Say Hi
It is true that you can’t just drop by the office, gather all of your team members around in a Kumbaya semi-circle, and have everyone introduce themselves to each other. Thanks to the global pandemic disaster, it’s barely even safe to be located too closely together in the parking lot, much less the office or the break room.
But, thanks to the advent of the world wide web and modern conferencing technology, there is a handy solution. Instead of doing it all face to face, you can now look forward to a new age of socially distanced virtual team building. How you feel about this as an actual modern phenomenon is your own affair, best kept to yourself.
You can’t deny that it’s a quick and handy way to get everyone to know each other’s names. Spending 30 or 45 or 60 minutes a week on a virtual Zoom or Skype conference may not be your ideal way to make friends or introduce yourself to a team of new hires. But, for the moment at least, it does seem to be a safe and responsible method.
There are a lot of fun activities that you can actually enjoy via a completely virtual conference. You can share feelings, jokes, memories, anniversary notices, and even the odd bit of job talk. There are even some handy new apps that will allow you to enjoy some fun team building games together. The sky is the limit for the virtual association.
Share a Lunch Break with Your Team
Why not schedule something fun like a weekly lunch break? Since you are all working from home, this is the closest you’ll get to actually socializing as a team. It’s a nice relaxed and informal way to enjoy some virtual interaction with your employees. It’s a socially safe way to observe everyone in their natural environment.
You can use the time to catch up on your various work details, share some instructions or insights into the work ahead, and then quickly get on to the good stuff. You want to take this time to learn about your employees as you observe them interacting with each other and yourself. This info will serve you well when things return to normal.
Take the time to relax and show your human side after all of the important details have been shared. It’s not a sign of weakness to relax your “game face” and interact as an equal with your employees. It’s a side of you that they will definitely appreciate seeing. And it costs you nothing to cultivate a few new friends.
Make Time for Game Playing
As mentioned above, there are a few new apps out there that will allow you to enjoy the pleasurable social exercise of participating in team-building games. These games can range from “escape room” shenanigans to “choose your own adventure” type mysteries. Take the time to canvass the group to choose what style is best for you.
You’ll be amazed at how well a team made up of virtual strangers can suddenly pull together when there is a common goal to work toward. Enjoying these virtual games will have a very beneficial effect.
Interacting in this team building manner can teach them to apply these skills as a unit when things return to normal. This is an exercise you will surely profit from in more ways than one.
It’s Never Too Late to Connect
The important thing to keep in mind is that it’s never too late to connect with your team members, one way or the other. Even if things have gotten off to a rocky start, you can get it back on track. With a bit of laughter, honest expression, and perseverance, you can connect in a virtual sense just as tightly as the physical.
