Virtual teams are growing increasingly popular among modern businesses, in a world where it’s becoming increasingly easy to connect groups around the world, and source talent from all corners of the globe. While virtual teams have plenty of benefits to offer – from a more diverse corporate team, to lower company costs, they also have their unique challenges too.
One challenge of the virtual team, is making sure that your employees feel as though they’re part of a strong corporate culture. The easiest way to respond to that concern, is to use virtual team building activities, to solidify work relationships, and improve communication among your staff. Here, we’ll look at ten tips that can help you make your virtual team-building activities more effective.
1. Use Team Profiles
Ask your team to complete profiles brimming with useful information about themselves, and share those profiles to a connected folder. The profiles should include communication information, pictures from their life, and personal information too. The more your employees can learn from each other’s profiles, the better.
2. Use a Range of Media
Email may be the most common form of business communication – but it’s also very isolating. It’s hard to make a connection with someone if you can’t hear their voice or see their face. Try using video and audio conferencing too.
3. Set a Time for Networking
Set a time on weekly or daily basis to contact teammates and talk about the day, or the week ahead. You don’t just have to chat about business, you can also talk about personal matters too – as this will help to build deeper relationships, and create stronger bonds among the workforce.
4. Use Video
Video is the simplest way to bring a “face-to-face” communication experience into the digital world. There are plenty of video conferencing solutions out there that can help you organise group meetings, and many will come with accessibility across the most common operating systems, including browsers, iOS, Windows, and Android.
5. Try Virtual Team-Building Activities
If you think that your employees could benefit from building a stronger bond with each other, consider trying out some simple team-building activities. For instance, get all of your virtual staff together on a single video conference, and ask them to share a couple of little-known facts about themselves with the group.
6. Share Screens
Sometimes, connecting your workers can be as simple as making sure that your team can collaborate together on different ideas and projects. Sharing a screen for instance, could allow your team to brainstorm new ideas for a company, or come together to think about ideas that are completely unrelated to the business.
7. Use a Project Management System
Managing a virtual team and improving collaboration is easier when you have a project management system in place. The right management system should help you to store documents safely, organise projects, and ensure that everyone has access to the information and resources they need to complete tasks according to deadlines.
8. Keep an Eye on Productivity
When you’re building a virtual team, make sure that you keep a close watch on productivity levels. It’s crucial to make sure that your staff feel engaged by their jobs, and time-tracking software, or attendance-tracking solutions can help you to measure this.
9. Make Sure You Hire the Right People
Creating a virtual team that works begins with making sure that you hire the right people. It’s not just about finding someone with the best skillset. You should also be looking for a new employee who represents a perfect fit for your corporate culture. This will help to ensure that they blend well with the rest of the group.
10. Give Them the Compensation They Deserve
Finally, most virtual team members will be happier to go the extra mile for the business they work with, if they know that they’re being treat with respect. Make sure that you don’t under-pay your workers. Give them a competitive wage that pays the bills, and let them know that you value their contributions.
Building your Virtual Team
A virtual team can be a powerful asset for any business, but it’s important to make sure that you’re making the most of it’s potential. From building the bonds between your team members, to ensuring that everyone can collaborate more efficiently on tasks, the tips above will help you create a virtual team that works.
