5 Ways to Keep Team Spirit Alive in an Online Team

5 ways to maintain wellbeing and relationships in remote-working teams

Is there something special that makes this company a great place to work? Please give specific examples – this open-ended question always appears in surveys conducted by Great Place to Work® around the world. Polish respondents pointed to "atmosphere" as the distinguishing feature of their workplaces – according to an analysis of employee responses to the open-ended question in surveys conducted last year by Great Place to Work® in 16 European countries. A solid foundation for this unique atmosphere was often good relationships with co-workers.

With the arrival of the pandemic, our workplaces changed. Our customs that bring people together also changed, such as the morning coffee meet-up or going out together after work to celebrate a job well done, or simply to spend time pleasantly with the whole team. Overnight, we had to limit contact to a minimum. The coronavirus pandemic locked many of us in home offices. And everything indicates that, willingly or not, we will continue to keep the recommended distance for some time yet.

So what can be done to maintain strong bonds in the workplace and reduce the negative feelings associated with being stuck in social isolation? The good news is that we most often build relationships with co-workers during less formal meetings, often held in smaller groups, on the occasion of working together on a project or community initiatives. And sometimes employees are brought together by similar non-work interests, resulting in workplace clubs, such as sports clubs. All these opportunities for networking, bonding and working together can now be recreated by adapting their form to the new conditions. They may lack some of their former charm, but the important thing is that they will let employees feel part of the team again and simply be closer to one another.

So, leader:

1. Don't give up on less formal meetings – just move them into virtual space

Move meetings online

Undoubtedly, a well-arranged office space naturally encourages employees to hold conversations in a less formal atmosphere and to bond across teams. Meanwhile, we have to do without the help of the office kitchen. However, we can make use of the various features of the messaging tools used in the company, such as a virtual room that lets everyone have a pleasant coffee chat in the morning hours.

2. Put time for non-work topics on the meeting agenda

Reserve time for conversations

Are you tempted to jump straight to the agenda items scheduled for the meeting, since the invited employees showed up on Zoom on time? There's nothing wrong with sticking to the plan. But generally, the meetings you used to hold in the office allowed for a moment of interaction. Your co-workers would probably like to be able to chat with each other about non-work topics again. Reserving time for a less formal discussion is advised by Claire Hastwell, an American expert from the Great Place to Work® Institute.

Think for a moment about how many times, as people arrived for an office meeting, you heard: "How's your day going, everyone?" or "Michał, good that you're here, because I think you once…". Start a virtual meeting by asking a similar question that encourages others to share what's going on with them. And if a member of our team is struggling with a problem at a given moment, a conversation held in a relaxed atmosphere can help solve it.

3. Celebrate successes together

Celebrate achievements remotely

Don't give up on celebrating, which Claire Hastwell also encourages. It improves employee morale. It seems that especially now, when we are facing a crisis, such support will be very much needed by everyone. How to celebrate remotely? A few tips below:

• You gather information about team successes in a more or less formal way. Make sure that a team achievement doesn't go unnoticed. Share the good news through company communication channels available to everyone. Use the occasion to invite a senior manager to join your meeting and thank the team for a job well done. Because although elaborate reward programs set a company apart positively from other organizations, an employee often just needs their effort to be noticed and to hear praise from management to feel appreciated.
• Is the celebration of team members' personal anniversaries coming up? Sending personalized wishes and thank-yous remotely is certainly possible. A package with a small gift should also reach an employee's home without obstacles.
• The company party will have to wait for better times. Not necessarily, as shown by the real-life example of SoftwareMill, which organized a remote party for employees. It shared its company case on its blog.

4. Connect people, shorten the distance

Build bonds, shorten the distance

How to keep team spirit alive online? 5 practical tips

This is a demanding time, all the more reason to look for ways to shorten the distance between people, literally and figuratively. Below are a few suggestions for how to connect co-workers when all we have is remote contact:
Make use of employee forums. You can expand them with previously untapped topics, mainly non-work ones, e.g. tips related to remote teaching of children, or sharing information about what's worth watching online (many cultural events are now available at your fingertips, or more precisely, at a single click).

Book time for a shared lunch or an after-work meet-up. Perhaps some employees will also use the fact that they work from home to finally be able to eat lunch together with their family or simply spend time with loved ones after working hours. However, in many companies there are people whom the pandemic has locked alone in a home office. Connecting over a shared meal or a virtual Happy Hour will also provide the positive emotions that accompany in-person meetings. And it will let them forget, at least for a moment, about unwanted exclusion.

Let employee groups based on the voluntary work of people from different departments operate at full capacity. This is a good moment to give them the initiative in developing solutions to help maintain people's engagement in this challenging time. The activities of such groups are a common practice among companies recognized by Great Place to Work®.

5. Share with others

A good word. Encourage co-workers to show each other appreciation – let sending thank-yous to one another become a good practice (not just for the time of the coronavirus)!

A good gesture. Of course, this is about actions for others. It's wonderful if employees themselves join charitable initiatives. An example of a charitable action during the pandemic, based on the potential of the people employed in the organization, is the company Sii Polska, repeatedly recognized by Great Place to Work® with the title of Best Workplace. As part of Sii Power Volunteers, with the help of the social project Warsaw Hackerspace, Sii volunteers 3D-printed adapters connecting ordinary diving masks with medical filters. Another idea for a charitable action – maybe a running competition? It turns out this is possible to carry out even now. One company running a chain of sporting goods stores, together with a Polish start-up, organized the first online running competition.

Of course, the runs took place in real life, they just weren't held as group runs. 20% of each purchased starting package was donated to the Siepomaga Foundation, which supports hospitals in the fight against COVID-19. Check whether runners from your company would like to actively take part in a similar event.

Shared experiences bring people closer. Right now we are painfully feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It's worth reassuring employees that their company creates a strong community that has a chance to remain so even in unfavorable conditions. Focus on practices that will sustain interpersonal bonds, so that the social capital built up over the years will pay off in the company's faster return to the right track in the new reality.

The author of the text is Anna Szmigiel, Consultant at Great Place to Work® in Poland

Summary

Keeping team spirit alive online requires conscious action by leaders – from virtual coffee meetings to celebrating successes on company channels. Great Place to Work® experts advise reserving time for casual conversations and involving employee groups in new initiatives. Companies such as SoftwareMill and Sii Polska show that remote parties and charitable actions (e.g. 3D printing of mask adapters) genuinely bring people closer. Shared experiences, even virtual ones, build social capital that will pay off after the return to offices.