Team Building With Your Remote Team: 4 Tips

When you think about team building, remote work likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But, it’s just as important as any one location for building a strong and successful team. No matter where your business is, or how your team might come together, creating a better bond will have the same positive effects on your company. So, how can you build a better remote team to work together?

  1. Schedule Regular Calls

The great thing about working as a team remotely is that technology is so advanced. Scheduling a daily call to check in with each other is easier than ever: You can do it over the phone, through Skype, FaceTime, etc. Try to have these calls reflect both work, and a bit of your personal lives. It’s important to get to know your remote co-workers beyond the work you’re doing.

  1. Use Icebreakers

Icebreakers don’t have to be the old cliche one-liners used on dates and in awkward situations. Make a list of quality icebreakers, and start off every remote meeting with one, making sure everyone gets their answer in. You may be surprised at what people have to say, and you’re learning more about your team every single time.

  1. ‘Hangout’

Similarly to hosting daily calls, try hosting a Google Hangout one day a week where work is on the back-burner for a bit. Friday is a great day to do this, since everyone can be in ‘weekend mode’ already. By hosting a Hangout on a Friday afternoon, where you all can talk about your interests, plans for the weekend, etc., it’ll feel more like water-cooler talk, and can help to further build relationships and trust. You’ll likely find you look forward to these Hangouts week after week.

  1. Meet-Up

Meeting up once or twice a year can be extremely beneficial – even more beneficial if it’s just the remote team that meets up, and not the entire company. Whether it’s for work or specifically designed as a team-building ‘retreat,’ being face-to-face with your team is exceptionally important when possible, and can help to boost the trust you have for one another, even if you only see each other once a year.

As you can see, team building with a remote team is all about communication. The more a remote team can stay in touch with each other, the better. Thanks to technology, that’s easier than ever!

3 Fun Ways to Motivate Your Teams

Everyone knows that team building is an important part of keeping a business afloat, and successful. Your organization is only as good as the employees running it day in and day out, and the more confident, comfortable, and motivated they are independently, and as a group, the more benefits will arise within your business. Let’s take a closer look at a few different ways you can motivate your team to do their best, and work together to become more successful than ever.

  1. Include Everyone

Whether your employees are excited about ‘team building’ events, or a little hesitant to get involved, be sure to include everyone in the group whenever you plan something. It doesn’t have to be a huge event – in fact, it could be something as small as a ‘Secret Santa’ gift exchange at Christmas, or an in-office giveaway. Do what you can to make sure as many people as possible are involved. It will help to boost spirits, and it’s likely to get someone who may have originally been uninterested on board.

  1. Have Fun

This is probably the biggest component to this short, but important list. Having fun wherever you work practically ensures that your employees are not only going to be in good spirits, but do a better job for you. No one wants to come to work everyday and feel miserable. Having team events, holding parties, or just randomly inserting fun things into the day (like getting pizza for the office, etc.) can make a huge difference. Don’t be afraid to let loose once in awhile. Your happy employees will reward you for it with better work.

  1. Be Flexible

Some of the most successful companies today allow their employees to essentially ‘work when they want.’ Now, that doesn’t mean they only come into the office for an hour each week. But, there aren’t strict rules about when to come in, and when to go home. Not only does this tend to encourage a creativity flow, but it takes off the grinding pressure that many employees who work a 9-5 job typically face. When someone doesn’t feel pressured and stressed about their work, their production can soar.

There are plenty of ways to motivate your teams, and make them strong advocates for your business and its success. These are just a few tips to get started, but put them into place, and you’re bound to see growth within

7 Tips for Creating Successful Team Building Exercises:

Many businesses are interested in introducing team building activities to their staff. The problem you may face, if you have never done team building, is that it can be an overwhelming and scary task.  Your employees might resist team building activities or you may feel like you don’t have the proper resources. Here are some tips on how you can unite your workforce and introduce fun team building activities.

  1. Integrate team building activities during work hours: One of the biggest problems that many small businesses face when planning team building activities is scheduling. If activities are scheduled outside of work hours, your teams may be resistant to participate, especially on a weekend or after a long day at work. If you are committed to introducing team building activities to the general work day, then you make sure everyone is able to participate.
  2. Make the experience collaborative: rather than establishing a tough competitions that break teams up, think of the team building exercises that ensures everyone needs to work together. This will encourage team bonding and collaboration!
  3. Consider volunteering as a group: Team building activities take the form of group volunteering! Set time aside to volunteer as a team for a local charity or help out with an activity like a food drive. No reason you can’t improve as a team while improving your community as well.
  4. Get out of the office: Getting your employees outside of their comfort zone and helping them interact more freely can create productive and happy teams.
  5. Make sure the activity is accessible: Think about all your employees. Make sure that the activities you plan have social and health benefits, but don’t plan activities that might leave a certain team member out. Ensure that all employees can participate so that the team can truly work together.
  6. Set your intentions: Let your staff members know the intent of the activity. If your goal for a specific team building activity is to introduce new people in your business, let everyone know. If your goal is simply to increase employee morale by taking part in some fun outside the office, make that intent known.
  7. Get feedback: It’s important to know what works and what your employees enjoy doing. A few days after team bonding event or team building exercise, gather feedback. Ask your employee if they would be comfortable doing a similar activity again, this will help you understand what to plan for the next time.

Keep some of these top tips in mind for scheduling successful team building exercises.

3 Tips for Keeping Teams Happy and Productive

We all know team building is extremely important. It helps make teams more efficient and can improve the overall success for your company. Here are 3 awesome tips to help you make more productive and happy teams!

  1. Have Fun!: Do some FUN team building! Whether you are at a weekly meeting or planned team building adventure, the activities shouldn’t feel like work! When you teams are having fun, they’ll be more open to being creativity. The playfulness might even inspire new ideas! Plus, fun activities act a stress relievers.
  2. Get Everyone Involved: Make sure all your employees are involved in office events and team building activities. If your teams are remote or don’t work together all the time, getting everyone on board will be critical to team success. An easy way to do this is to ask icebreaker questions before meetings or conference calls. This gets everyone involved and won’t leave anyone on the sidelines.
  3. Introduce Flexibility: Flexibility can be key when it comes to building an efficient and strong team. Flexibility can often increase work ethic, employee morale and productivity. Simple ways to introduce flexibility to the workplace: Let teams work from home one day a week, give them flexible hours one day a week. When your employees feel like they have control over their work, they will feel empowered to take initiative and be more productive.

 

6 Movies To Get Your Teams Motivated

Sometimes the best way to motivate your team is through good old fashioned storytelling. Stories transform our thinking and inspire us to do great things. Great stories not only entertain, but they bring people together through shared experiences and help build strong connections.

Movies at their core are just stories with actors and moving images, that’s why we love them! Sure, they act as a form of escapism, but they also offer a way for us to see new places and experience things outside of our own reality. Want to build stronger teams and inspire them to do their best? Show them examples of teams that struggle, overcome and ultimately succeed. An easy way to do this is to simply show them some kickass movies!

Check out the 6 movies Museum Hack picked as awesome team building flicks:

1. The Mighty Ducks

Leave it to beautiful-haired Coach Gordon Bombay to give epic team building advice. This classic 90s movie covers everything from teamwork to building focus. The Ducks may have started at the bottom but they fly to the top. Why? Because of awesome leadership and primo teamwork, of course.

What other movies did Museum Hack pick? Read the full post here: https://museumhack.com/6-team-building-movies/

6 Reasons to Get Your Teams Out of the Office

Your teams need frequent changes to their environment. Especially if they are stuck in a office or cubicle all day. Don’t be afraid to mix things up. Encourage your teams to ditch their desks or give them the option from working from home or a coffee shop. The difference you’ll see in work ethic and team morale will be totally worth it.

Here are 6 reasons why getting your teams outside and out of the office is awesome for business – and employee happiness.

 

  1. New environments inspire creativity.

  2. Out-of-the-office activities encourage team building.

  3. Flexibility and choice of our work environments boosts productivity.

  4. New ideas and interesting places can help spark better ideas.

  5. Field trips, scavenger hunts, team adventures are just fun! They will encourage laughs and boost morale.

  6. Ditching the office can make teams happier and get them excited!

 

Your teams deserve awesome rewards for their hard work! Do fun activities outside the office as groups or give them some flexibility to find out what works for them.

 

5 Icebreaker Questions That Won’t Stress Out Your Teams

Icebreakers have a bad reputation for being stuffy and stressful. But when you have an early meeting or a conference call with a diverse group of employees, a simple icebreaker question can get the energy flowing. Rethink the traditional icebreaker. Develop questions that keep your teams relaxed but also inspire them to share things about themselves. A great icebreaker is not only relevant but requires people to share meaningful answers.

Here are 5 awesome icebreakers to help get your team chatting!

  • If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing, what would it be? This question may sound superficial but it will give team members insight into what their coworkers enjoy outside of work.
  • If you had to try out for a reality TV show, which one would you choose and why? Pop culture questions are fun. They get people laughing and connecting. Plus, you can learn a lot about a person from the type of reality TV they like.
  • Who is the better businessman or business woman and why? Timberlake or Justin Bieber? Modify this question to fit your industry or the department you are working with. There may be critical thinking involved, but the veil of humour makes it fun.
  • What was the worst job you ever had? A basic but personal question. Background information like work history helps teams understand one another. If two people had the same job, it will help boost camaraderie!
  • What would your superpower be and why? Everyone loves a good superpower. A fun but insightful icebreaker, this question inspires teams to share what they value in a relaxed way.

The greatest thing about icebreaker questions is that they involve zero planning! Keep a list of icebreakers on hand. Use them to welcome new employees, boost morale mid-day, or start a stressful meeting.