In recent years, a sense of team connection has become increasingly difficult to achieve, with more remote and hybrid workers starting in role with only limited, or without any, face-to-face contact. Where a new colleague will be working remotely or where their team works remotely for some or all of the time, you may need to make a more deliberate effort to plan interactions.
Think about how to encourage bonds to form; people will not have the same opportunities to bump into a new colleague as they do in the workplace, and have those informal chats that encourage them to get to know one another.
Over lockdown, many teams took part in remote coffee breaks and team quizzes, but there are many other ice-breaker and team-building activities that can be conducted remotely – try to find one that suits your team culture, or encourage the team to come up with ideas.
Other ideas include: allowing time for informal chats at the start of meetings; having a virtual office environment now and again, which is where everyone keeps there cameras on for a few hours, allowing people to ask questions and raise issues more easily; and providing the space for team online chats on social topics through your organisation’s software, such as Zoom or MS Teams.
Where possible, it is still important to have those face-to-face interactions so, in conjunction with your team, plan some social get-togethers in person.
