In this article, we discuss virtual team building best practices that will help your staff develop connections and improve their teamwork.
Virtual team building best practices can mean the difference between a successful meeting of minds and disastrous tedium. Team building can have huge benefits for your team, but it’s easy to get wrong, especially on virtual platforms.
About 86% of working people cite poor teamwork as the source of job place failures. These best practices can help you improve workplace productivity and foster meaningful relationships in the process.
Virtual Team Building Best Practices
Below you will find a list of guidelines that will bring your collaborative efforts to the next level. Of course, keep in mind that you know your team better than we do. Feel free to tweak these tips accordingly.
Keep it Regular
Team building doesn’t begin and end in one sitting. For best results, think of team harmony as an ongoing effort that takes place over time. It has been estimated that 35% of a team’s effectiveness relates directly to how well they know each other.
The more you meet, the more effective you will be. Weekly or bi-monthly sessions will go a long way towards fostering better relationships. But the most important thing is to keep the scheduling consistent and predictable, so that employees can both look forward to and prepare for it.
Make Your Goals Clear
Clearly stated goals lend your virtual team building efforts direction. What that goal is will depend on what you wish to achieve. It could be as simple as having your team members learn something new about one another. It could also be more complicated like improving familiarity between employees in departments that need to work together, such as sales and marketing.
The goal itself is less important than having one. No one likes directionless meetings!
Virtual Team Building Technology
Virtual employees are well acquainted with connectivity frustration. There is nothing you can do to completely eliminate tech mishaps. What you can do is use software that is dedicated to team building. Services like Duelbox that are built specifically for virtual team building will have better performance. Integrating such a service into your regular video conferencing will be an upgrade from a team building perspective. The more seamless the experience, the smoother your virtual team building efforts will go.
Recognize Participation
Workplace recognition is really important. More than half of all surveyed workers reported that increased recognition would encourage them to stay at their job longer.
Sometimes not everyone is bought in to the idea of team building. So, telling your employees that you value and appreciate their time and effort in attending, makes sure that everyone is receving proper acknowledgement. Besides, doing so is fast, free, and easy.
Involve the Host
Whether you or someone else is the host, make sure everone joins in! This way you can lead by example and set the tone. No one wants to feel like they are just being observed playing a game, so it’s important to have everyone on the call join in!
Virtual Team Building Game Ideas
At Duelbox we have an ever-growing game universe! Take a look at some of our interactive games here.
