25 November, 2018

Why Team Building Activities Are Important For A Remote Team

Small and medium companies are adopting the work-out-of-office policy at a rapid rate. It's a growing trend that creates an attractive option for Gen-Y and millennial employees. But its also a more productive approach that reduces time wasted in commuting and enables each team member their preferred environment. However, it's easy to forsake the chemistry of your team when they are working remotely. It's true that modern cloud applications can ensure the coordination of the team is in order. But the lacking of a human bond within your team is obvious when it comes to producing world-class results. At Netcore, you would find that our team members will be coding away at their favorite cafe or while lounging away by the pool, although most of us find it the easiest to focus while at our own homes. But everyone delivers like a slick-passing football team, thanks to the frequent team building activities conducted by our company. If you need further convincing, here are the top reasons why team building activities can transform your remote team.

1. Develop Personal Bond

When being colleagues is reduced to knowing the name and designation of specific individuals, it’s hard to expect any depth in collaborations between the members. But such situations are unavoidable whether you’re working in a remote team or not. People usually are more guarded in a work environment. Some may have undergone a negative experience in their previous job and projects an invisible barrier that limits communication to strictly professional. Engaging in team building activities allow you to know your team members on a more personal level. Instead of being represented by names on your screen, you get a better insight into their personal life, hobbies, and talents. This makes working together with a more effortless task.

2. Build Trust

Trust, or often the lack of, is the core reason of why a remote team disintegrates. The problem with a remote working environment is there are no body-language involved that can assure you on an emotional level. Without a certain level of trust, a team’s growth will be limited. Team building efforts brought together each member in a relaxed and fun environment. This enables members to relax your guard and trust their peers in activities where they have nothing to lose. You’ll be surprised that the new found level of trust will result in better chemistry and thus, increased efficiency.

3. Improve Communication

Relying on pure text messages, emails and group chats can lead to misunderstandings. Team members may misinterpret the intonation used and became offended. The ugly truth is that poor communications are one of the most cited reasons why remote teams fail. A remote team consists of bright professionals who are capable of working on their own. But these individuals possess unique personalities and communication style. Even if they are working in the same country, some may not be comfortable voicing their opinions to others. Instead of expecting your team members to master communication in a day or two, organize team building events to allow the team to assimilate naturally. As the physical communication barriers are broken down, communication in group chats or emails will cease to be an issue. Our team members love sending emojis and GIFs to each other, instead of boring plaintexts. It’s almost a crime for us if communications become dull and emotionless.

4. Foster Teamwork

There’s a saying that goes “If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go with a team”. You may have a group of professionals logging on to Slack, Asana, and Jira each day to share job progress, but that doesn’t mean you have a team. A team is not born overnight but takes many hours of working, integrating and sacrificing for each other to build. It may be tough to foster teamwork when each barely sees each other physically, but that doesn’t mean you should stop trying. The right team building activities encourage healthy competitions and build teamwork in the process. Team members learn how to click with each other to achieve triumph. This sense of belonging often carries over when they’re back to working on their respective locations.

5. Instill A Fun Company Culture

If you’re still reading this, you probably agree that boring workplace has no place for modern professionals. You’re probably right, and that’s why team building activities are mandatory for remote teams. Not only that, the activities need to be crafted to reflect the culture that the company believes in. At times, team building programs are a useful tool to gauge if the team members are well-suited to the working culture and environment of the company. Naturally, this attracts fun-loving high-performing professionals to your company.

6. Constructive Conflict Resolution

Life isn’t always going to be rosy, especially when a team of highly opinionated professionals worked together in a fast-paced environment. There are bound to be conflicts and if they are not resolved amicably, can lead to a dysfunctional team. It’s tough to resolve conflicts with texts and emails, especially when they could lead to further misunderstandings. But if the team has developed a mutual understanding and trust through a series of team building efforts, issues may not be blown out of proportion and team members are willing to give each other the benefit of doubt. To have your team operating with trust and understanding, it takes more than a couple of team building sessions.

7. Increase Motivation

Writing lines of code by the beach may sound like the coolest job in the world. But when nomadic working lifestyle becomes routine, you’ll wish to break the monotonous tone by getting real interactions with your fellow team members. Holding team building activities is a great motivation booster both for the team lead and other members. Team members can take opportunities to forget about work and have fun for once. This little breather will work wonder in rejuvenating tired souls and elevate team motivation.

Final Thoughts

If your team has a subpar performance lately, it’s not the remote working environment that’s to blame. Instead, start organizing fun-filled, creative and challenging team building activities. You’ll be surprised how transformative it is and the long-lasting effect it has on your team. Drop us an email, and we may just share our coolest team building ideas and how we incorporate smaller open-communication sessions on a weekly and daily basis.