It’s been more than a year of remote working, and Zoom meetings and working from home are now the norm rather than a novelty. Internal strategies are the best way to keep your office culture and team spirit in a positive and productive place. The key here is to balance fun and engaging activities with minimal screen time to avoid screen fatigue. These 5 tips and ideas will help employees feel active, challenged, and more confident, which will have a positive effect on your entire team and the company as a whole.
1. Team workouts
Exercise boosts morale and productivity
There’s no better way to spend time together and lift spirits than with an online workout session. There are many options here — you could hire a yoga instructor or choose a yoga studio and sign up to online training classes via Zoom. Alternatively you could do a dance class together or simply get sweaty with a functional training workout. Whatever it is, it’s more important than ever to keep moving and it will be a welcome break away from the screen. Health and well-being are now at the forefront of everyone’s minds, both inside and outside the business world, and employees will appreciate working for a company that cares about their health. Offering weekly yoga, boxing, dance, or Pilates classes will be fantastic for your team’s body, mind, and mood.
2. Cultural evening events
A vibrant dose of culture will bring your team together
This concept is perfect for Friday afternoon when everybody is winding down and wrapping up their week of work. Digital events are of a high calibre these days, and will give your team a welcome dose of culture from home. One example is a chocolate tasting event with Theyo, who will deliver a customized chocolate tasting box to each employee’s home and create a very sweet team bonding experience.
The great thing about remote events is that you can access them from anywhere in the world. You could treat your team to tickets to The Royal Opera House, to a virtual showing of the musical Hamilton, or even local theater and performance art. Eventbrite has dozens of weekly online events in Germany and beyond. From poetry workshops to botanical painting to live-streamed music events — take a look around, there’s something for everyone!
3. Catch up over a coffee
Re-create those spontaneous kitchen catch-ups
One key element of office life that everybody is missing are those spontaneous catch-ups in the kitchen. These chats are a constant boost throughout the day, and that energy exchange helps maintain our mood and motivation. But, just like with anything, there’s an app for that. Wonder.me is an ambitious digital social project, with fluid online meetings that allow people to move between rooms, groups, and conversations. It’s similar to real-world social interactions and is designed to connect new people. This concept is ideal if members of your team have not yet met in real life. With the wonder.me concept they can get to know each other with ice breaker questions and rooms for music lovers or art enthusiasts. Plus, wonder.me’s range of digital backgrounds is fantastic.
Similarly there’s Powell’s virtual coffee machine app which connects employees within channels to emulate those spontaneous, coffee machine conversations. You can even implement your language learning events into this concept, and meet for a French or Spanish-speaking coffee, too!
For more tips and ideas on implementing a culture of language learning, click here.
4. Lunch roulette
Get to know new colleagues every week
This is a simple yet very effective concept that will boost team cohesion and help employees feel connected. Enter each member of your team into a raffle, with 3 – 4 people selected to eat lunch together one day of the week. It’s a fun way to get to know each other, and helps form and maintain relationships even when we’re apart.
5. Learn a new language
Connect with colleagues and learn something new
It’s no secret that great communication is a huge factor in the cohesion of your business, and introducing a culture of language learning can have multiple advantages. In a team-building context, learning a new language can help bring colleagues closer together while building the foundations for their future in your company. With Babbel’s language learning platform, your team can help motivate each other and organize virtual learning lunches and coffee breaks to work on their new skills.
Setting learning goals together will help people bond while working remotely, including cross-hierarchical connections with management and team leads. Colleagues can take classes together with Babbel Live in a digital classroom setting with a qualified and native speaker for a multi-faceted experience. Babbel Live also serves the purpose of bringing together the same small group of people every week, which is a great way to form bonds and make new friends. The Babbel learning experience also includes podcasts and games to indulge in, as well as bite-size cultural lessons to prepare the team for their next business trip.
But perhaps the most appealing benefit to fostering a culture of language learning is its impact on team cohesion, especially on international employees who will feel more welcome and included during this challenging time. Babbel is available in 14 different languages and for every level, from beginner to advanced. Our bite-size, business-specific courses will prepare employees for real-world workplace scenarios which can be applied to their roles as well as day-to-day life outside the office.
There’s a science to remote team management — find out more about it here.
