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Legend (What do the different coloured posts mean)

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Legend (What do the different coloured posts mean)

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Green - link and extra resources
Orange - Powerpoint slides
Blue - activities to be done on Padlet

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https://capelleconsulting-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/p/teresa_wong/EhILYRLTZdBDpZfPf2AllMgBMw28qKvXnY3GXCE4GaN6Mw?e=WrS47W

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1. Rock paper scissors tournament
2. Learn someone’s life story in five minutes

3. The aliens have landed
4. The birth map
5. Mindfulness ice breaker
6. Two truths and a lie
7. A picture of your life
8. 10 common things
9. Scavenger hunt
10. Guess the artist
11. Favorite things
12. A bucket list
13. One word exercise
14. Flat lay your desk
15. A tour guide

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http://d1c25a6gwz7q5e.cloudfront.net/reports/2020-11-09-workplace-whitepaper-FINAL.pdf

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Conflict - intra and inter teams activity

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•What is /are the cause(s) of unhappiness in the team?

•What actions would you recommend to the team/leader?

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Capelle is an integrated solutions provider that helps companies achieve Capability Excellence. Click on this link to find out more!

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In Singapore's volatile business climate, it is more important than ever for companies to constantly evolve to remain competitive. To embark on real change and enhance organisational capabilities, companies need to start from the very foundation - its people. That is where corporate training in leadership, organisational alignment, and more play a vital role.

Capelle Consulting is dedicated to equipping corporate clients in Singapore with the essential skills to fuel company growth. We are a fully integrated consultancy specialising in organisational development, HR, and executive coaching. With decades of experience helping companies optimise capabilities and achieve excellence, we strive to empower you for success with our comprehensive bespoke solutions and leadership training program.

Why Choose Capelle Consulting?

Here at Capelle Consulting, our expert team of consultants, learning specialists, and executive coaches are committed to the highest standards of professionalism. Not only are our corporate and leadership training solutions designed holistically using international best practices, but they are tailored to your company's needs.

We are with you at every step of the learning journey, from understanding your challenges and developing contextualised strategies to implementing solutions that accomplish company goals. We have a proven track record of satisfied clients in Singapore, and we take pride in delivering practical solutions that transform organisations and touch lives.

Kickstart Your Change Journey With Us Today

Ready to embark on your journey of organisational transformation? Capelle Consulting is here to help you get started. Our extensive suite of services in Singapore range from HR consulting and executive coaching to training courses on leadership development, service excellence, and business competencies. Keen to know more about our services, or have a question in mind? Connect with us and begin taking your organisation to new heights today.

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Corporate & Leadership Training in Singapore | Capelle Consulting

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Capelle Consulting is one of the leading providers of fully integrated corporate and leadership training solutions in Singapore. Talk to us today.

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How to performance-manage a remote employee: what you need to know

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Got an underperforming remote employee? Learn how to develop performance processes to execute performance management for remote teams from afar.

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•What is /are the cause(s) of unhappiness in the team?

•What actions would you recommend to the team/leader?

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You found our list of hybrid team building activities.

Hybrid team building activities are games and exercises that consist of both physical and virtual elements. For instance, hybrid meetings involve some attendees gathering in the same room and others joining remotely via phone call or video conference. These activities might also include sending physical materials to online participants. The purpose of these activities is to support team building and community building.

These activities are similar to online classroom activities and free virtual team building activities, and make great virtual team engagement ideas and virtual bonding activities for teams.

This post contains:

hybrid team building activities

hybrid team events

games for hybrid classes

Let’s get to it!

From desktop s’mores roasting sessions to work away days, here is a list of engaging hybrid exercises for employees, students or faraway friend groups.

1. Traveling Ted

Traveling Ted is a fun game for long distance communities to enjoy together from afar. To play, participants send “Ted” in the mail to each other. Recipients pose Ted in a variety of settings, take pictures, and share the photos with the group. This activity helps group members learn about other players’ surroundings and culture.

We made a template for Ted.

Before starting the game, ask players to decorate Ted together on a digital whiteboard or a shared account on an online art program. Then, slip Ted into an envelope and send him on his way to a teammates’ house.

Flat paper cutouts are the easiest and cheapest Teds to mail, and feel free to use action figures or stuffed animals instead.

2. tiny campfire 🔥

tiny campfire brings the outdoors indoors and online. The week before the event, guests receive a s’mores kit in the mail, complete with a tealight candle for optimal desktop marshmallow roasting. Participants then join an energetic virtual camp counsellor in a secure Zoom room for an afternoon or evening full of historic ghost stories, camp games, and remote team bonding.

Check out this guide on how to run your own virtual campfire, or learn about our hosted tiny campfire,

3. Cocktail Shakeup

Cocktail Shakeup is one of the best hybrid activities for adults. Attendees receive packages full of dry ingredients to make sophisticated mixed drinks. During the event a virtual bartender demonstrates how to whip up classy cocktails while also leading teams through an online “toast-off,” prohibition themed digital scavenger hunt, and a tasteful, work-appropriate drinking game.

Learn more about Cocktail Shakeup.

4. Tea vs Coffee

Tea vs Coffee is a virtual tea and coffee ceremony ideal for remote team building, online college clubs, or even distanced high school language or culture classes. Groups receive a package in the mail containing a variety of coffees and teas in intriguing flavors, then gather on a secure Zoom line with a knowledgeable host. During the event, attendees share thoughtful icebreakers, meditate, brew and taste beverages together. The end result is zen, knowledge, and stronger bonds.

Learn more about Tea vs Coffee.

5. Online cooking classes

Remote team dinners are good for team bonding, yet online cooking classes elevate the experience by giving attendees a mission. While ordering takeout and munching during a team call is fun, cooking together via video call occupies a longer span of time and gives participants a sense of accomplishment. Learning a new skill together creates a sense of common ground amidst the group and encourages personal development.

For inspiration, check out our list of online cooking classes.

6. Virtual wine tasting classes

Similar to online cooking classes, virtual wine tasting classes combine tasting and learning in a participatory online environment. Recipients either order tasting kits, or source wines locally. Organizers should note that certain states and countries prohibit mailing alcohol, so bring-your-own-beverage might turn out to be a more practical format for the event. A sommelier joins attendees on a video call, and the group sips wines together and discusses their impressions.

For suggestions, check out our list of virtual wine tasting classes.

7. Online art classes

Online art classes occupy attendees’ hands, which is great news for can’t-sit-still teammates and guests with social jitters alike. Often, class organizers send packages of art supplies or a shopping list of materials to participants. Then, attendees join an artist on a video call, and the class leader demonstrates how to create a piece of art. Or, participants can follow a pre-recorded online tutorial step-by-step.

Projects can range from paintings, drawings, jewellery, crafts, or even more out-of-the box ideas like woodworking, found-art-sculptures, or mold making. To recreate a paint-and-sip art class online, combine your digital art class with a virtual wine tasting.

For recommendations, check out our list of online art classes.

8. Digital scavenger hunts

Scavenger hunts are exciting. The adrenaline rush from running around on the hunt for clues and the thrill of competition keeps groups engaged and entertained. Digital scavenger hunts work best when they incorporate movement, for instance, asking video call attendees to fetch items from around the house.

Online scavenger hunts can also function as hybrid activities where one teammate relays instructions from “mission control,” or the main meeting base, while another teammate explores his or her surrounding environment to find clues or complete tasks.

To perform a digital scavenger hunt, curate a list of clues, split the group into teams, then set a time limit and watch teams scramble. At the end of each round or game, assign points accordingly and award the ultimate winners with prizes or recognition.

For tips and tricks, check out our guide to online scavenger hunts and this one with scavenger hunt clues and riddles.

Also, here is a list of scavenger hunt apps to try, and one with ideas for photo scavenger hunts.

9. Escape rooms

One of the best parts of escape rooms is that players can solve puzzles online, in-person, or a mix of both approaches. By tapping into free resources, you can easily create your own escape room experiences in your house or classroom or online. Dressing up and hiding clues within view of the webcam is one way to create an engaging online environment when solving puzzles via video call. You can also require participants to play games or solve puzzles through websites and video calls, or source objects from their own homes.

For ideas, check out our articles on digital escape rooms and free DIY escape room puzzle ideas.

10. Virtual field trips

Virtual field trips enable participants to explore potentially far-off destinations from the comfort of home or the classroom. When leading a group of students on an in-person field trip, you can use video conferencing platforms to take at-home students along for the tour. One nice touch on hybrid field trips is to give remote attendees the option of picking activities or mapping out the route so that they feel more involved.

Or, the entire group may visit a museum, zoo, or national park virtually. The best of these programs offer live chats with a guide, park ranger, or zookeeper so that students can ask questions and interact throughout the experience, an approach that holds attention much better than a lecture format.

For inspiration, check out our list of virtual field trip examples.

11. Twins & opposites

Twins & opposites is a remote learning activity that helps groups spot similarities and differences. To play, ask participants to find objects within their homes or immediate vicinity.

Samples of prompts may be as follows:

Pet

Snack

Treasure

Heirloom

Ball

Family

Players grab a physical object to show off onscreen. Participants then compare and contrast the items. The meeting host can assign attendees into breakout rooms in pairs or small groups to discuss the objects, bond over similarities, and learn through differences.

Twins & opposites is an engaging game for students or geographically diverse teams, enabling participants to learn more about each other, expand horizons, and make meaningful connections.

12. Spirit days

Spirit days brighten up an ordinary remote school week or workweek. Either host a week-long stretch of spirit days, or pick one day every week or month to celebrate. Simply assign a theme to particular days, and ask participants to show up to video meetings or classes in costume or with props.

Spirit day themes might include:

Sports

Beach day

Pajama Day

Movies

Books

Music

Superheroes

Time travelers

History

Decades Day

Holidays

International

Villains

Carnival

Feel free to choose any theme that sparks attendees creativity and imagination, but try to cater to materials that folks might already have in house or can obtain easily.

Participants can also customize the virtual meeting background to suit the theme, too.

Here is a list of ideas for in-person spirit weeks, and a list of ideas for virtual spirit days.

13. Hometown tours

Hometown tours enable remote colleagues or students to show off their immediate neighborhood. First, task participants with an assignment to record videos, take pictures, or collect websites that represent their hometown or current city. Then, instruct attendees to compile the materials into a slideshow presentation to share while on a video conference call.

To make the event more interactive, ask participants to lead a tutorial teaching an activity that relates to their hometown. Examples of activities might include a cooking tutorial on a regional dish, a demonstration on how to play the town’s favorite sport, or a local language lesson explaining a unique dialect.

Participants can show off their current city, birthplace, ancestral background, or even a destination they one day hope to visit. Allowing for flexibility gives participants the option to speak about the places they are most passionate about.

Once every member presents, compile a collage with snippets from each group member’s special tour.

14. Pen Pals

Receiving physical mail tends to be more personal than receiving email. Pen pal programs are one of the simplest hybrid activities for team building, classrooms, or groups of friends alike.

To launch a pen pal program:

1. Collect names and addresses of willing participants.

2. Pair participants and exchange information.

3. Instruct writers to send letters and small packages.

You should set a minimum frequency, for instance, once a month or every other week. Either assign themes for the letters and packages, such as favorite snacks, animals, or travel, or leave the subject up to the writers.

There are many existing pen pal programs to choose from, or you can launch your own.

Access to unique perspectives and insider information about distant locations makes pen pal programs great hybrid teaching activities, with the added advantage of encouraging relationships along with learning.

15. Work away days

Working from home does not have to mean working at home. Sometimes, a change of environment can help students or workers refocus or consider new perspectives. Declaring work away days motivates home-schooled students or telecommuters to explore a brand new workspace such as a coffee shop, bakery, library, co-working space, or relative’s house.

Of course, bad weather, a lack of transportation, or other unforeseen circumstances might prevent participants from actually travelling. A change of scenery does not necessarily have to mean a change of location. If students or employees cannot leave their typical building, then encourage them to work from a new room like the kitchen or garden.

When starting work away days for home-school students, incorporate elements of the new surroundings into the lesson. Planning exercises relating to or corresponding to the environment, for example, a science experiment in the garden or a Dewey Decimal scavenger hunt in the library, makes for more immersive, purposeful hybrid class activities.

Conclusion

One of the common complaints towards distance learning or telecommuting is that too much screen time makes it hard to concentrate and connect with peers. However, the hybrid model of work and teaching enables virtual attendees to participate in tactile activities together from afar, engaging the audience and often cementing a new skill or resulting in a memento that makes the activity more memorable, inclusive, and high impact.

For more ideas on how to make online learning or remote working more fun, check out our article on online games for virtual teams, this one with team building ideas over Zoom, this one with quick virtual team building activities.

We also have a list of ideas for team building outdoors, one with indoor team building ideas for work, one with socially distant team building ideas, and this guide to make returning to the office fun.

FAQ: Hybrid team building activities

Here are answers to some of the most common questions about hybrid team building activities.

What are hybrid activities?

Hybrid activities are events, games, and exercises that consist of both online and offline elements. These activities might involve some participants gathering physically and others joining online or via phone,  or may send materials to remote attendees to make for a more tactile experience.

What are some good hybrid team building activities?

Some good hybrid activities include virtual campfires, online tea tastings, Traveling Ted, and Hometown Tours.

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Team building content expert. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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15 Hybrid Team Building Activities & Games in 2022

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A list of hybrid team building activities for students, coworkers, and online friends. Includes work exercises and distance learning ideas.

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Capelle Consulting | 1,342 followers on LinkedIn. An integrated Organization Development (OD) and HR consulting firm specializing in leadership and service excellence. | Capelle Consulting is a trusted Organizational Development (OD), HR Consulting Firm and Training Provider specializing in Leaders…

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1. Physical

2. Mental

3. Emotional

4. Social

5. Sensory

6. Creative

7. Spiritual

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When you hear the term "get some rest," what's the first thing that comes to mind? Chances are, it has something to do with sleep.

But if you've ever had the experience of waking up after a full eight hours feeling just as exhausted as you were when your head hit the pillow, you know that sleep doesn't always make you feel fully rested.

While sleep is a great way to get physical rest, it isn't the only type of rest you need. And if you're in need of a different type, you can get all the sleep in the world-and you still won't feel refreshed and recharged.

"We have, for the most part, lumped rest over to this one category, [which is physical rest]," says Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith , TedX speaker and author of Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity . "We don't really understand that there are multiple types of rest."

"You're attempting to get something-[better rest]-that doesn't fully look at the different aspects of it and the different ways that you can accomplish it," continues Dalton-Smith. "And so what happens is, people tend to excel at getting certain types of rest-and then are completely omitting other types of rest, simply because they don't know they exist."

According to Dalton, there are actually seven (!!) types of rest every person needs . The question is: what are the seven different types of rest? How can you determine what type of rest you need? And, most importantly, how can you prioritize that rest so that you can be your happiest, most productive self?

What Are The 7 Types Of Rest?

As mentioned, there are different types of rest you need to feel your best-seven, in fact. The different types of rest include:

Physical: Physical rest is about resting your body. In addition to sleep, physical rest can include anything that restores your body, like getting a massage or attending a yoga class.

Mental: Mental rest is about giving your brain a break. People need mental rest when they're overwhelmed and struggle to shut off their thoughts. Mental rest might include things like stepping away from a busy work day to take a walk or, as Dalton-Smith recommends, jotting down any nagging or racing thoughts that keep you awake in a journal before going to sleep.

Emotional: Emotional rest is about being authentic and honest with your feelings. People need emotional rest when they get stuck in people-pleasing (saying yes to a commitment, even though they want to say no) or feel like they have to project a certain image (responding with "I'm great!" when someone asks how they're doing-even though they're actually struggling).

Social: Social rest is about pursuing positive, energizing, and supportive social connections, or simply taking a break from socialization altogether. People often need social rest when their relationships leave them feeling drained and exhausted.

Sensory: Sensory rest is about giving your senses a break. People need sensory rest when they overwhelm their senses with constant stimuli-for example, spending the entire day glued to computer, phone, and TV screens.

Creative: Creative rest is about exposing yourself to artistic, nature-based, and innovative environments, without feeling the need to produce a creation-and feeling the sense of inspiration that comes along with them. People need creative rest when they feel stuck, uninspired, and unable to develop new ideas or solutions to problems.

Spiritual: Spiritual rest is about connecting with something larger than yourself. People need spiritual rest when they find themselves so caught up in their issues that they can't see or connect with the bigger picture.

Paying attention to rest deficits is a critical part of productivity. If you're exhausted, you can't do your best work-and if you're not getting the right type of rest, you're not going to be able to get past that exhaustion.

"Most of us are producing from a place of exhaustion," says Dalton-Smith. "So we're getting work done, but is it our best work? Is it our highest quality work? Is it our most beneficial work? Or is it just work that we are able to grind out of our depletion? Because that's what we're seeing... we have a lot of people who are producing but they're producing from a place of burnout."

Getting the right type of rest is a must if you want to be happy, healthy, and productive. But how can you figure out which deficit you're experiencing?

How To Determine What Type Of Rest You Need...

Determining what type of rest you need "starts with evaluating where you're using energy throughout your day," says Dalton-Smith.

The areas where you expend the most energy are likely going to be the areas where you need to prioritize rest. For example, if you're a graphic designer and spend most of your time creating new designs, you're using a lot of creative energy throughout the day-and, as such, will need to prioritize creative rest. If you're in the middle of training for a marathon and are running 15 miles every day, your body is going to be exhausted-and you'll need to get plenty of physical rest to recover.

"When you start looking at all of these different ways you use energy in the day, start thinking about 'where are you pouring out the most?,'" says Dalton-Smith. "Because the area that you're pouring out the most, if you're not actively doing something to restore and to recover what you've poured out, that's the place that can become [rest] deficient."

If you want to determine what type of rest you need, start by taking an inventory of how you're spending your time. What kind of tasks take up the majority of your day? Which resources are you using to accomplish those tasks? What are the things that require the most energy-and/or leave you the most exhausted?

Now, chances are, you're using all seven types of energy on a regular basis. But identifying which areas you use the most-and where you feel the most depleted-will give you a good idea of what type of rest you need to prioritize. If you're not sure what type of rest you need, Dalton-Smith and her team developed a quiz to help you identify the areas where you're in a rest deficit.

"We're all using all seven [types of energy] at some points throughout our day and in our life," says Dalton-Smith. "But there's usually one or two [areas] that are higher than the others and those areas of highest deficit, what are going to make you feel the most tired, the most exhausted."

...And How To Actually Get That Rest

Once you've determined which type of rest you need, it's time to actually get that rest-which, for many people, can be easier said than done.

Here are a few strategies to help you get the rest you need to be your happiest, healthiest, and most productive self:

Tackle Your Most Impactful Rest Deficit First

As mentioned, most people use all seven types of energy throughout their day-which means that you may have a rest deficit in more than one area.

In order for your rest routine to deliver the most bang for your buck, you need to prioritize the areas where the rest deficit has the most impact.

For example, let's say you're experiencing physical and emotional rest deficits. Your first instinct might be to focus on getting more physical rest. But if your racing thoughts are making it impossible to fall asleep at night, prioritizing emotional rest will enable you to slow down your thoughts and feel more peaceful and calm. In turn, this will make it easier to fall asleep and get the physical rest you need to feel your best.

If you're experiencing multiple rest deficits, try to identify which one is having the most impact. Tackling that type first will have a domino effect and make it easier to get all the types of rest you need to function at your highest level.

Schedule Restorative Activities

Resting might sound passive. But if you want to feel well rested, it actually takes active effort.

"Rest is not just about stopping-and I think that's the mindset shift that many have to make," says Dalton-Smith. "Rest is not about vegging out on the sofa on Saturday, watching TV for 12 hours, or doing something that's just kind of a mindless activity."

In order to replenish your energy, you need to schedule restorative activities into your day.

For example, if you're in need of physical rest, you might find time to squeeze in an afternoon nap or bust out your yoga mat for a restorative flow. If you're in need of creative rest, you might spend time hiking in nature or going on a walking tour of your city to check out different types of street art. If you're in need of sensory rest, you might schedule a "no screen Saturday" and spend the day away from screens, email, and other external stimuli.

The goal of rest is to restore your energy-so make sure that you're incorporating restorative activities within your needed rest areas into your schedule.

Schedule Rest Into Your Work Day

Scheduling restorative activities is a must if you want to feel rested. But don't just save those activities for the weekend-if you want to feel as rested as possible as often as possible, look for ways to schedule rest into your every day routine.

"The number one tip is to discover ways that you can incorporate these restorative activities in the middle of your busy day," says Dalton-Smith.

If you need creative rest, don't wait until the next time you can hit an art gallery to get the inspiration you need; instead, decorate your workspace with some of your favorite prints. If you're in need of mental rest, don't wait until you have 30 minutes to meditate to slow your thoughts; instead, set an alarm for every hour that will remind you to take a " mindfulness break," close your eyes, and take five deep breaths.

Think of it this way: when you're driving your car, you don't need to let the tank get all the way down to empty before you fill it up with gas. The same idea applies with rest. Finding ways to replenish your energy throughout the day will keep rest deficits from getting out of control-and will leave you feeling more rested (and productive!) in the process.

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How To Leverage The 7 Types Of Rest To Be Your Happiest, Most Productive Self

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Discover how to incorporate the seven types of restorative rest into your workday schedule.

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As a leader, you want the people in your organization to trust you. And with good reason. In our coaching with leaders, we often see that trust is a leading indicator of whether others evaluate them positively or negatively. But how to create that trust, or perhaps more importantly, how reestablish…

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Original transcript

Welcome to the Collaboration Superpowers podcast. My name is Lisette and I'm interviewing people and companies doing great things remotely. Welcome back, everybody. Thanks for being here for another episode. This is episode number 125. Back in December, Lennie Noiles referred somebody to me on Twitter. And it was an interesting question and got me thinking. And the question was: "What's the jargon for distributed teams' digital version of management by walking around?" And I thought, "Hmm, what would that look like?" So I thought about it and I thought about it. And what I came up with was management by working out loud because of course in the digital world, we can't exactly go walking around. But if we are working out loud, then a manager can dip in at any time, check on what's going on, and have a chat with a remote worker. Now what this person on Twitter was looking for was a way to have a continual pattern of communication, water cooler chats, and ways of fostering comradery, all the things, of course, we want to do on a remote team, but maybe more from a management perspective.

So today's episode is dedicated to management by working out loud. In essence, I think that there are four components to working out loud on a remote team, and the first one is creating a team agreement together. You've heard me talk about this over and over if you've listened to past episodes of the podcast. I go into a lot of detail in episode number 42. But creating a team agreement is just a way of creating a set of guidelines for how your team wants to work together. Now how it relates to management by working out loud is when you have a team agreement, everybody knows when everybody else is available. So you've either set core hours for your team or you just know each other's rhythms and patterns because you've explicitly stated what they are to each other. This would, for example, make it really easy if a colleague of mine wanted to just check in. She knows that I'm gone on Tuesday and Thursday mornings to the personal trainer. But in the afternoons, I'm online, and she can come by any time to come and talk to me. When we've got a team agreement in place, the basic misunderstandings get out of the way, and it makes communicating easier.

This brings me to my second point of management by working out loud, which is make communicating easy. And it sounds like a very simple thing to say, but it is very complex on remote teams. How do we make a high-bandwidth environment where it's just as easy to lean over and say, "Hey, Bob, how's that marketing report?" As it would be if you were sitting next to somebody in an office. There are a number of different ways to do that. I cover it pretty extensively in both episodes number 36 and episodes number 73. So 36 is how to simulate the office online and 73 is how to create a thriving virtual office. Think of things like push to talk where you can just push a button and be talking to your teammate. That does exist. Also, think about group instant messaging systems, things like Slack and HipChat, a place where remote teams can come together and have group conversations asynchronously. Think about things like visualizing your work. How can we make what's going on and what we're working on visual to our teammates? Maybe it is some sort of online, sticky note tool. Maybe it's something a little bit more complex like JIRA or pivotal tracker. It's not really the tool that matters. What does matter is that you somehow, as a team, have a visual representation of your work that you can look at together. And of course a fantastic way of doing all of this... And if you want to make your life as a manager a lot easier, try Sococo. It's a virtual office where you can actually see where your colleagues are and who's talking to who. And you can virtually knock on somebody's door and go in and talk to them as if you were working in an office together. If you're a team that is working a lot of the same core hours or you have a lot of overlap with each other, a virtual office like Sococo is totally the way to go. Give it a try. Sococo.com, and tell them Lisette sent you. I get bonus points, and I love those.

Okay, so after we've created a team agreement and we've made communicating easy, we need to think about how we're going to give each other feedback on a virtual team. So part of working out loud, of course, is feedback. And how do we set up those feedback cycles? Many of us that have worked in corporate jobs think of feedback as being sort of a top-down from managers to the employees. But on remote teams, we're a much more flattened organization by nature, so we need to think about more 360-degree feedback because everybody is involved in the work and you need to think of it like what Pilar says. She thinks of it as a full body with muscles and organs and blood flow. Everything has to work with each other in order to continually optimize the system, so we're going to do that with remote teams as well. The Happy Melly team uses the Merit Money system. You can just Google Jurgen Appelo merit money to find out all kinds of information about that. It's a fantastic way of doing 360-degree feedback. But there are many, many, many ways out there. So whatever tool you use, whatever system you use, just make sure that you're integrating the entire team in that feedback loop.

The other thing that's important to do, of course, is to have retrospectives as a team. So getting together at least six weeks or so, Agile teams do it every two weeks or so, but at least every six weeks, for getting together and talking about what's going well as a team, what's not going well, what are the things that you're learning, and what are the questions that you still have. These are just the very basic retrospectives. There are many different kinds of retrospectives out there. But again, the key is just putting this feedback loop in place. Along with feedback is the very important and fourth element of management by working out loud, and that is showing appreciation. Man, if there's one thing that I see that can be improved in almost every company and that is super easy to do and nobody is doing it, that is showing appreciation. On remote teams, it's a little bit harder because we can't see the people. So it's a little bit out of sight, out of mind. But you can use simple apps like kudobox.co to send a Kudo card via Twitter. So that's a nice, public acknowledgment and an easy way to say thank you. And in episode number 53, I go into a whole, long list of perks and gifts for remote employees. You can make appreciation part of your retrospectives. I found that appreciation sometimes comes out during the unstructured times that we've scheduled for each other on the Happy Melly team. So what I mean by that is every week, we have 15 to 30 minutes of just unstructured time where we just hang out together as a virtual team. We don't talk about work.

And sometimes those conversations are just a really great way of expressing thanks for certain things. Okay, so those are my four tips for management by working out loud, which is create a team agreement, make communicating easy, set up feedback loops, and don't forget to say thank you.

If you'd like to learn more and dive deeply into any one of these areas, then I highly suggest that you check out collaborationsuperpowers.com and get yourself enrolled in one of the Work Together Anywhere workshops. You will come out with an entire roadmap for how your team can work online as if it were in an office together or if you're transitioning from a co-located to a remote team. One of these workshops will make your transition so much easier.

If you found this podcast useful, if you've enjoyed listening, then please leave us a review on either iTunes or Stitcher. It does so much, and it's a way of practicing your appreciation for a remote colleague, right? Hint, hint? Speaking of appreciation, a huge thanks to the awesome Nick, the podcast monster. He's the one that makes this podcast sound so pro. You can hire him to make you a star at podcastmonster.com. And another huge thanks for the dazzling Alfred Boland. He's the guy that makes the Collaboration Superpowers brand shine so bright. You can hire him to make you look cool at bolanden.nl. All right, everybody. Until next week, let's manage by working out loud and be powerful.

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Welcome to the Collaboration Superpowers podcast. My name is Lisette and I'm interviewing people and companies doing great things remotely. Welcome back, everybody. Thanks for being here for another episode. This is episode number 125. Back in December, Lennie Noiles referred somebody to me on Twitter.

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You can choose which question you want to answer.

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You can choose which question you want to answer.

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1.What will “visible work” be like in your team context?

2.How can leaders set and align expectations to organizational goals (For e.g Intra and Inter-team collaboration?)

3.How can leaders manage performance (be more result-oriented) in SCOOT’s context?

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Asynchronous communication is when you send a message WITHOUT expecting an immediate response.

Synchronous communication is when you send a message and the recipient processes the information and responds immediately.

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Study after study after study into remote work has clarified that remote workers are more productive than their office-bound counterparts.

What's not entirely clear is why.

Yes, people gain back time (and sanity) by avoiding rush hour commutes. They avoid the distractions of the office. They regain a sense of control over their workdays. They have more time to dedicate to family, friends, and hobbies.

But apart from the commute, all of those benefits aren't necessarily the result of location independence, but rather the byproduct of asynchronous communication - giving employees control over when they communicate with their teammates.

Teams who try to go remote without putting in place tools, workflows, and norms for asynchronous communication will fail.

Not only does async produce the best work results, but it also lets people do more meaningful work and live freer, more fulfilled lives. It's a game-changer even for co-located teams, but it's an absolute must for teams collaborating remotely. And as workers flex their current power in a tight labor market, it's the only way companies can give employees the flexible schedules they're demanding.

Drawing on the experience of my own fully remote, async-first company, Doist, I'll explain what asynchronous communication is, how it drives team productivity and employee well-being, and the concrete steps you can take to start building a more asynchronous workplace.

What is asynchronous communication?

Simply put, asynchronous communication is when you send a message without expecting an immediate response. For example, you send an email. I open and respond to the email several hours later.

In contrast, synchronous - or real-time - communication is when you send a message and the recipient processes the information and responds immediately. In-person communication, like meetings, are examples of purely synchronous communication. You say something, I receive the information as you say it, and respond to the information right away.

But digital forms of communication, like real-time chat messaging, can be synchronous too. You send a message, I get a notification and open up Slack to read the message and respond to what you said in near real-time.

Even email is treated as a synchronous form of communication. A 2015 study conducted by Yahoo Labs found that the most common email response time was just 2 minutes. Asynchronous communication isn't primarily about tools - though the right ones help - it's about team culture and habits.

Real-time communication

Asynchronous communication

Communication requires all team members to be present simultaneously, in meetings and video calls or respond quickly to work chats or emails.

Everyone is tied to more or less the same work schedule.

Prioritizes speed of collaboration.

Communication happens in writing or prerecorded video with team members catching up and responding on their own schedules.

Everyone can work when it works best for them.

Prioritizes focus and flexibility.

Before we dig into the benefits of a more async approach to teamwork, let's look at why we should question our current, real-time ways of working and communicating.

The problem with real-time, all-the-time communication

If employees are consistently more productive when working away from the office, there's something broken about the modern workplace.

According to the Harvard Business Review article " Collaborative Overload", the time employees spend on collaboration has increased by 50% over the past two decades. Researchers found it was not uncommon for workers to spend a full 80% of their workdays communicating with colleagues in the form of:

Email - on which workers' spend an average of six hours a day

Meetings - time spent in meetings since the pandemic forced companies to go remote has ballooned by 253%

Instant messaging apps - the average Slack user sends an average of 200 messages a day, though 1,000-message power users are "not the exception"

As one office worker told New York Magazine, "I used to wake up and turn off the alarm and check Tinder. Now I wake up and check Slack."

This trend toward near-constant communication means that the average knowledge worker must organize their workday around multiple meetings with the time in between spent doing their work half-distractedly with one eye on email and Slack.

To make matters worse, the rise of mobile technology means that workplace communication is no longer limited to the physical workplace or work hours. We can, and do, check email and respond to messages at any time, day or night. As a result, we're never fully off the clock. As one office worker told New York Magazine, "I used to wake up and turn off the alarm and check Tinder. Now I wake up and check Slack."

This highly synchronous way of working would at least be understandable if it produced results, but there is more and more evidence that all the real-time communication overhead makes it hard to focus, drains employees' mental resources, and generally makes it more challenging to make meaningful progress on work.

I've written before about why we're betting against real-time team messaging apps, but it's worth summarizing the core problems and generalizing it to most forms of synchronous communication:

It leads to constant interruptions.

Interruptions split people's attention and make it more difficult to make meaningful progress on work. High-value, cognitively-demanding activities - like coding, writing, designing, strategizing, and problem-solving - require long periods of deep, focused work. Synchronous communication requires constant context switching and makes creating large, uninterrupted chunks of time during the workday impossible.

It prioritizes being connected over being productive.

In real-time environments, you're incentivized to stay connected and available at all times. If you disconnect, discussions will move on before you even have a chance to respond to or even see them. To avoid missing out on crucial decisions and discussions, people always try to be online and in as many meetings as possible, hurting their well-being and productivity.

It creates unnecessary stress.

The expectation of being constantly available means that workers lack control over their schedules. They spend their workdays attending meetings and responding to requests rather than proactively setting their own agenda.

One study found that people compensate for the time lost to workplace interruptions by attempting to work faster, leading to "more stress, higher frustration, time pressure, and effort". A 2022 Microsoft study found that people often cope by working a "second shift" in the evening when they know they won't be interrupted. This type of synchronous culture quickly leads to burnout.

It leads to lower quality discussions and sub-optimal solutions.

When you have to respond immediately, people don't have time to think through key issues thoroughly and provide thoughtful responses. Your first response to any given situation is often not your best response.

"Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard." - David McCullough

Give your team the tools to think well. pic.twitter.com/L2hJ5PDnSs
- Twist (@TwistWork) January 25, 2022

The benefits of asynchronous communication

Most people accept meetings and interruptions as just a part of doing business, but some companies - like GitLab, Zapier, Automattic, Buffer, and my own Doist - are embracing a more asynchronous approach to collaboration.

Here are some of the core benefits of giving employees more control over when they connect to communicate with their team:

Control over the workday leads to happier and more productive employees.

In an async environment, there are no set work hours. Employees have total control over how they structure their workdays to fit their lifestyles, biorhythms, and responsibilities, from childcare to simply running an errand. Some Doisters work during the night as it suits them the best. I spend an hour with my kids every morning and no one inside my async organization notices. One Wall Street Journal survey showed that workers want flexible hours even more than they want remote work.

Async incentivizes higher-quality communication over knee-jerk responses.

Async communication is admittedly slower (at least in the immediate sense), but it also tends to be of higher quality. People learn to communicate more clearly and thoroughly to avoid unnecessary back-and-forths. They have the time to think through a particular problem or idea and provide more thoughtful responses. Instead of knee-jerk responses, people can reply when they're ready. (As an added benefit, when people have the time to think through their responses, there tend to be fewer unthinking outbursts. Over the last decade, we haven't had a single serious HR issue.)

Better planning leads to less stress.

Advanced planning is a must when last-minute ASAP requests aren't an option. People learn to plan their workloads and collaborations more carefully to give enough time for coworkers to see and respond to their requests. This leads to less stressful collaborations and ultimately higher quality work.

Deep work becomes the default.

Because employees don't have to stay on top of each message as it comes in, they can block off large chunks of uninterrupted time to do the work that creates the most value for your organization. They can come back to process their messages in batches 1-3 times a day instead of bouncing back and forth between work and messages or meetings.

Documentation and greater transparency become automatic.

Because most communication happens in writing, key discussions and important information are documented automatically, particularly if you use a more public tool than email. It's easier to share and reference those conversations later. For example, at Doist instead of asking for or explaining why a certain decision was made or the status of a particular project, we can search for and/or link to the relevant Twist threads.

Collaboration across time zones is seamless.

Communication between time zones becomes smooth, and no one is at an informational disadvantage because of the time zone. That means you're not limiting your hiring pool to specific time zones. You can build a stellar and truly diverse team from anywhere in the world.

The biggest challenge that faces hybrid workplaces is preventing remote employees from becoming second-class citizens. When communication happens asynchronously, in-office and remote employees have access to the same information and conversations. They have an equal opportunity to contribute to discussions and decisions.

While employee retention is a bit of a vanity metric, we think the async culture is one of the core reasons most people hired at Doist over the past 10 years have stayed with us. Our employee retention is 90%+ - much higher than the overall tech industry. For example, even a company like Google - with its legendary campuses full of perks from free meals to free haircuts - has a median tenure of just 1.1 years. Freedom to work from anywhere at any time beats fun vanity perks any day, and it costs our company $0 to provide.

But! You still need synchronous communication too

As with most things in life, async culture has pros and cons. Doist has experienced them both.

At the beginning of our async journey, we got rid of most meetings as we thought they were a waste of time. Most things could be done via written communication. But not long into that experiment, Brenna, our CMO, started a candid thread about how we had lost the human element, how she felt disconnected and that she missed seeing other Doisters face-to-face.

We learned that we needed to mix in synchronous communication where it makes sense: for example, in 1-on-1s and weekly team meetings. It's hard to build rapport and personal relationships with only written communication. In the words of Daft Punk, "we are human after all".

Here are some of the things we do to build personal connections on the team:

Everyone has at least one monthly 1-on-1 with their direct report to touch base, discuss roadblocks, set professional development goals, etc.

We organize monthly casual team video hangouts where people from different teams can get together to chat about non-work things.

I had a blast catching up with @aboutboard, @odsamuels, and @jvalente about life and work.

We've got lots of casual hangouts happening this week at @doist! Little things like this help us feel connected to all the great people we work with! #remotework pic.twitter.com/lAhAL8LQSw
- Andrew Gobran (@andrewgobran) October 2, 2019

Most teams hold weekly meetings. While the format differs from team-to-team, these meetings tend to focus on building rapport rather than giving status updates. Several teams use red/yellow/green checkins as a way to connect on a more personal level.

We organize yearly company-wide and smaller team retreats where people can connect in real life.

70% async using Twist, Github, Google Docs, Figma, and Todoist

25% sync using something like Zoom, Around, or Google Meet

5% in-person meetups, e.g., annual company and smaller team retreats

We fly new team members out to spend a week working in-person with their team mentor. This helps new people feel more connected and comfortable asking questions right off the bat.

We instituted an annual meet-up perk that Doisters can spend on meals, activities, transportation, etc. when they get together with teammates outside of organized retreats.

We reimburse the cost of a coworking space so our people can get outside their homes and be in a more office/community setting.

You want to build rapport with people (e.g., a 1-on-1 or team meeting).

You need to provide critical feedback or discuss other sensitive topics.

You have a lot of unknowns and you want to brainstorm different ideas and solutions.

There are a lot of moving variables and you want to bring everyone on the same page quickly, e.g., via a project kickoff meeting.

A crisis happens that requires immediate attention, e.g., a server crashes. We use Telegram with the notifications turned on at all times for emergency communications only.

(If you're interested, I've written more on the very related topic of remote work and mental health.)

Today, we minimize the number of meetings, but we have meetings when they make sense. Our current communication stack looks something like this:

In general, use synchronous communication when the following is true:

Synchronous communication should be the exception, not the rule.

How to move your team toward asynchronous communication

Moving from sync to async isn't going to happen overnight. It takes a profound shift in tools, processes, habits, and culture. Here are some concrete steps you can take, both individually and as a team leader, to get started.

Things you can do individually:

Overcommunicate. When sending a message, include as much information as possible. Visualize things with screenshots or screen recordings with apps like CloudApp and Loom. Be clear about what you need from the other person and what the deadline is. A few extra minutes adding details and editing for clarity on the front-end can save days of back-and-forths in an async environment.

Under-communication

Over-communication

Can you please provide me with reporting on content once you get a chance?

Can you please provide me with a short report (a few paragraphs) on our blog metrics from Google Analytics for next Tuesday by 2pm EST? I'd like to know top posts, unique page views, bounce rate, and conversation rate. Thanks!

Plan ahead to give people time to consider your message. For example, "I want to finish this in 2 days and would love your input", instead of "I need your feedback in the next hour."

Say no to unnecessary meetings. It can be extremely uncomfortable to say no to a meeting, particularly in meeting-heavy work cultures. But there are tactful ways to nudge people towards async-first communication. Next time someone asks for a "quick call" try one of these incredibly useful scripts from Dropbox:

"Thanks for including me! I'm wondering if we could try to solve this in a Twist thread instead?"

"I've been in so many meetings lately, but I'm trying to be more disciplined about my schedule. Could we try to solve this without a meeting, first?"

"I'd be happy to give you feedback on that! Before we schedule a meeting, could I review it in Paper/a Google Doc/Figma/a GitLab issue?"

Before meetings, start a Twist thread or document. Share all relevant information and discuss key issues before the meeting so that everyone can come with a complete understanding of the topic at hand.

After meetings, document discussions and outcomes. Start or continue a Twist thread or document so that people who weren't there can find that information. We've even started experimenting with recording the video of our meetings so that others can "attend" asynchronously. An app like TL;DV makes it easy to time stamp, annotate, and tag teammates in meeting recordings so anyone who missed the meeting can skip straight to the parts that are relevant to them.

Turn off notifications - try removing work apps from your phone altogether. Instead, set aside specific time blocks to check and respond to emails and messages during the day.

Use waiting time productively. We've found that waiting for a reply isn't a massive problem as there's always something else to work on.

Always check your document sharing settings. This seems like a small thing, but if someone needs to request access, it can lead to hours or even a full day of delay in an async workplace.

Things you can do as a team leader:

Promote writing and communication as core skills to master. This will reduce back-and-forths and help people get to the core of things faster. Everyone needs to be a great writer in an async workplace.

Evaluate people based on their output and results, not how responsive they are or the number of hours they work. We've written more on how to measure employee productivity.

Abolish required work hours or the requirements to come into an office. This will allow you to hire from anywhere in the world and will naturally move your organization towards more asynchronous communication when taps on the shoulder are no longer an option.

Emphasize trust, organization, independence, and accountability. Without these values, asynchronous communication will never work. For example, one of Doist's core values states that others can trust that you'll deliver on time and your teammates don't need to worry about you keeping your word. Brenna Loury, our CMO, has written in more detail about how to build trust in a remote, async-first "workplace".

Adopt a Direct Responsible Individual (DRI) model for management and decision-making. Made popular by Apple, DRI means a single person is responsible for any given area or project inside the company. That person doesn't do everything themselves but instead organizes the team or project, makes key decisions, and generally owns the timeline and results. The more you can decrease the number of people involved in decisions, decentralize authority, and increase individual accountability, the more efficient your team will be. This is true in any company but is especially crucial for success in an async environment.

Set reasonable, team-wide expectations for acceptable response times. For example, at Doist, we expect people to answer within 24 hours.

Make transparency and documentation a priority. For example, everyone at Doist can read all of the core discussions regardless of which team it is. This includes leadership discussions. With transparency, people don't miss crucial conversations or decisions. They can work more efficiently and independently when they don't have to ask others for the information they need.

Use tools that promote transparency, deep work, and async communication. e.g., Github pull requests, Basecamp conversations, and Twist threads. Don't use email internally. While email can be used asynchronously, it also locks information inside people's inboxes where no one else can find it. Collaboration becomes much less efficient when people can't find the information they need. More on the pitfalls of relying on email for team communication.

For communication-heavy roles like tech support or client services, implement a rotating coverage system. Some roles are more conducive to asynchronous communication than others, but all can benefit from blocking off chunks of time for deep work. Anti-Agency Group founder Amanda Au describes how their team uses a rotating coverage system to balance client communications and creative work:

While we haven't fully adopted an async model because we are a client services team, we promote DND (do-not-disturb) time blocks or full days. During your DND time, you'll have a teammate cover for you on any incoming client comms so that you can truly have undisturbed time to finish a presentation, ideate on strategy, or dive deep into reporting.

Doist's own head of front-end development, Henning, wrote more about how we use a rotating "hero system" and "house-keeping days" at Doist to create space for deep work even in communication-heavy roles.

Have communication channels for emergencies. Doist has Telegram rooms and phone numbers that we use as an emergency mechanism. We use these a few times per year for truly urgent incidents. The vast majority of things aren't urgent and don't require an instant response.

Async is an uphill battle that challenges the status quo

We know that we are challenging the status quo and that calm, asynchronous communication isn't the current norm. It's going to take a paradigm shift to change things.

We're betting that the most successful companies and teams will be the ones who make this shift in the future. It will be the teams that don't require their employees to be always-on, prioritize asynchronous communication to create space for deep work, and allow employees to disconnect and recharge fully. We're excited to share our journey and invite you to explore this space.

What's Twist? Twist is an async messaging app for teams burned out by real-time chat, meetings, and email.

You don't need to use Twist to get a ton of value out of this newsletter and community. But if the topics we talk about resonate with you, there's a good chance the app will too. See what makes Twist different →

🌎 Built asynchronously by the fully remote team at Doist

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What is asynchronous communication? Plus, how to implement it

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Study after study after study into remote work has clarified that remote workers are more productive than their office-bound counterparts. What's not entirely clear is why. Yes, people gain back time (and sanity) by avoiding rush hour commutes. They avoid the distractions of the office. They regain a sense of control over their workdays.

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Team Building Resources July 14, 2021

As a remote team, we geek out over virtual team building. We're always looking for ways to bring our team closer together.

But over the years, we've learned that online team building is much different than in-person team building.

So, we made this list of fun virtual team building activities for remote teams.

The goal is to help you skyrocket your company culture and employee engagement.

By the way, we recently deleted 20+ activities from this list, so you will only see the best.

Quick links: sortable list, activity instructions, expert tips, more resources, FAQ.

Virtual Team Building Activities: Sortable List

Click the blue links to read full activity descriptions.

Instructions for all activities below.

37 Best Virtual Team Building Activities (Ranked)

The following is a short list of the best virtual team building activities for remote teams and employees. teambuilding.com, tiny campfire and Tea vs Coffee are run by the same folks as Museum Hack. Which means they are good 🙂

1. Online Office Games with teambuilding.com (Most Popular)

Facilitating team building online has unique challenges, and so you may want help. Our sister company, TeamBuilding, offers virtual team building activities as a service.

Examples of the available activities include Online Office Games, which is a series of virtual team building games/activities like typing-speed races, spreadsheet pixel-art and print-paper origami, and Murder in Ancient Egypt which is a murder mystery that uses "escape the room" mechanics to solve puzzles and challenges.

Learn more: virtual team building by teambuilding.com.

2. tiny campfire 🔥: 100% Virtual Campfire for Remote Teams

tiny campfire runs virtual campfires for remote teams. The experience includes haunted historic ghost stories, icebreakers, little competitions and even a real s'more making experience. It's fun, wildly smart, and probably the best damn online camping experience in the world. No mosquito repellent needed.

Before your event, tiny campfire sends your participants s'more ingredients and a tealight candle. This event creates unique shared memories, good vibes and strong virtual employee engagement.

Learn more: tiny campfire.

3. Tea vs Coffee: Live Virtual Coffee + Tea Tasting Class

Tea vs Coffee facilitates an exotic coffee and tea tasting experience with real beverages. A week or so before your event, your employees receive a mix of four specialty teas, coffees and infusions in the mail. Each envelope is marked as "do not open" to save the big surprise for the event.

On tasting day, your team logs into a virtual video-cafe, where the friendly barista will share stories, run virtual team building games, and lead a tasting ceremony. The event is fun, educational, and global minded.

Learn more: Tea vs Coffee.

4. War of the Wizards (New)

War of the Wizards is one of the most unique and engaging virtual team building activities in the world. The game is a live, facilitated event that goes for 90 minutes and includes mechanics of RPG games, escape rooms, puzzle solving, storytelling and world building.

Basically, a group of wizards have been at war for eons, and none of them quite remember why. You and your colleagues becomes the wizards' minions; telling stories, solving puzzles and completing challenges to earn "sparkle points", cast spells and do whatever it takes to bring a peaceful resolution to the war. This game is smart, fun, wildly different and perfect for remote teams.

Important: You don't need to be an RPG expert to enjoy War of the Wizards; the game format is accessible for all skill levels and interests.

Learn more: War of the Wizards.

5. Spreadsheet Pixel Art (Free Template)

You are probably familiar with Google Sheets, but maybe not as a tool for remote team building.
If you are a nerd like me then you likely enjoy developing complicated spreadsheet formulas and graphs. If you are both a nerd and an artist, then you will love doing Spreadsheet Pixel Art.

Spreadsheet Pixel Art is when you add a little code to automatically replace numbers with a color fill for that cell. You can then use these colors to "paint the numbers" and create pictures of nearly anything.

Pro tip: For virtual team bonding with a little competitive spirit we recommend introducing this activity as a competition.

Here is a free template: Spreadsheet Pixel Art.

6. Online Team Building Bingo (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Online Team Building Bingo is a fun and familiar game, which makes it a quick, easy and free way to get started with virtual team building.

Here is a template you can use:

You start with a bingo board that has a number of action items or accomplishments on it. For example, when you hear someone say "sorry, I was on mute!" you can mark that spot off on your board, and similar for "wearing pajama bottoms to a video meeting."

7. Quarterly Christmas (Recommended)

Every December 26th, Carly starts counting down for Christmas. This countdown doesn't have to be a long wait, and instead you can run Quarterly Christmas or Quarterly Care Package for your team.

Basically, once every few months you surprise your team members with a package in the mail. Quarterly Christmas is effective because getting a surprise package is like a little burst of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day.

Examples of packages you can send include tech gadgets, coffee and tea samplers, chocolate and wine, and gift cards. If your remote workers have furry friends then you can send pet toys as well.

We recommend a budget of about $25 per person per quarter, plus shipping.

8. A Slack Channel To Post Cute Pictures of Pets (Quick & Easy)

This one is a company favorite.

We made a Slack channel called #pets-of-museum-hack where we post pictures of our pets making funny faces and doing hilarious things.

Here are some of our favorite pictures to date:

This channel is really simple and takes very little effort, but there's a big payoff in the amount of team building and culture boosting it provides! Basically, this channel is a hit in the arena of quick and easy team building activities for telecommuters.

And here are more recommendations for fun Slack channels.

9. "Can You Hear Me Now?" (Team Favorite 🏆)

"Can You Hear Me Now?" is one of the best online team building games. You play this game in a virtual conference room, and nominate one person to be the speaker and the rest are artists. The speaker uses a random image generator to source a suitable image, and the goal is to describe that image in such a way that the artists can draw it successfully.

The one guideline is the speaker must only use geometric shapes. For example, you could say "draw a large circle and then three equidistant triangles" but not "write the letter E." By limiting instructions, the speaker needs to exercise extremely accurate communication skills, and the artists need to listen and interpret. This game is a proxy for effective online communication, and is also just really fun.

10. Guess the Emoji Board 🤔

Up until a few years ago, emojis were a fun and quirky part of the internet that you weren't quite sure if you should include in professional emails and messaging. Today, depending on your industry, it may be totally okay to send your colleagues emoji hearts, flames, cocktails and Christmas trees.

With more people using emojis more often, you now also have a fun new category: your most used emojis. You can snap a screenshot of your phone or desktop, and then upload the list for your remote team to see. Sharing which emojis you use and overuse can help create inside jokes. For example: why does Michael use the shrug so darn often?

Here is how to play "Guess the Emoji Board":

1. Create a list of players and distribute this list to each player.

2. Each person has up to five minutes to guess the five most used emojis by each person on the list.

3. Reveal the answers and award points for accuracy, getting the emojis in the correct order and similar.

Prizes optional 🙂

Guess the Emoji Board is a quick game you can play virtually and will entertain your team for a quick amount of time. We recommend adding the game to an existing virtual meeting instead of making it the main event.

11. MTV Cribs: Remote Team Edition

Your remote team members might never meet face-to-face. However, colleagues can still open their homes to one another and participate in some MTV style fun.

Help Scout recently started an internal MTV Cribs-inspired video series, where team members show off their homes and personality in quick self-made videos similar to the classic '90s show.

The activity makes for both an interesting look into the personal lives of your coworkers and is also a fun way to get to know your entire virtual team better.

12. petri: Online Social Engagement Platform (Large Groups)

petri runs scalable virtual team building activities for large groups and/or recurring events.

Here is how it works:

1. Each week, you can schedule from a variety of virtual team challenges, online games, and virtual happy hour activities. Example events include pub trivia, tea tastings, superhero challenges, online murder mysteries, escape-style games and more.

2. Each experience is led by an engaging host that makes sure all guests can participate and make connections in a way that feels good to them.

One of the major benefits of petri is that scheduling is off your hands. With virtual events already on the calendar, you don't have to worry about time-zones, who may or may not attend and what everyone is interested in.

Note: Petri is now "TeamBuilding: Packages".

Learn more: petri.

13. Remote Storytelling Workshops & Training (With Experts)

Museum Hack tour guides are world class conveyors of stories and information. We've honed the craft leading thousands of renegade tours, and refined a framework for telling stories and training these skills. This system includes the Five Elements of a Hack, story shortening and more fun team activities.

Our guide training is 3+ months, and we've condensed the essentials down to two hours for your team. This training workshop will empower your staff to higher levels of productivity and performance, and is helpful in a wide variety of roles.

Learn more: Online Storytelling Workshops.

14. Pancakes vs Waffles (Quick & Easy)

Pancakes vs Waffles is a game where you make decisions collectively as a team. The name is indicative of the "either or" choice you are making.

For round one, your team has to decide on whether the world is going to keep pancakes or waffles, and the other is to be obliterated from existence. Anyone can advocate for a favorite choice, and ultimately you must have a vote of majority to make the decision.

After one option is eliminated, you add a new competitor. For example, the game may become Waffles vs Pumpkins, and then Waffles vs Puppies, and then Puppies vs Kittens, and then Kittens vs Romantic Relationships, and similar.

Typically the longer you play, the more intense the conversation gets and the more team members will share their values. The game mechanics are helpful for virtual team building because the initial conversation of Pancakes vs Waffles is low stakes, and it only gradually becomes more personal as you get to later stages.

15. Werewolf (Popular)

You may have played Werewolf at summer camp, in college or on a company retreat. Werewolf is a game of wits, deceit, and skilful manipulation as you seek to survive the night. The entire game is based on speaking, careful listening and voting, so you can run the experience in a virtual conference room like Zoom or Google Hangouts.

Here is a YouTube video on how to play Werewolf:

First, each player draws a card that indicates a role: werewolf, villager, medic or seer. For a remote game, you could use a random generation tool and send each person the role in a private message. Werewolves eat other players, villagers vote on who they think is a werewolf, medics can rescue a player from the jaws of near-death and seers can reveal a player's status as wolf or not.

Once each one participant has a role, the game master announces that night has fallen, and everyone closes their eyes and does a pitter-patter drum roll for something fun to do and to mask other sounds.

The game master then calls the werewolves to wake-up, select one victim, then go back to sleep.

Next, the medic wakes up, points to a person to save and then sleeps again.

Finally, the seer points to one person to reveal whether they are a wolf or not, and the game master nods yes or no to confirm.

Then, the game master announces it is morning and reveals whether the wolves successfully ate a villager. Usually one villager dies in the night, with the exception of the occasional save by a medic.

The survivors debate who the werewolf is, and then vote to either eliminate someone or skip the round. Anyone that dies or is removed from the game becomes a silent ghost, and can no longer speak or otherwise participate in the game. Repeat this process until only villagers or wolves remain.

Werewolf is great for virtual team building because it fuels a lot of discussion. Your team will love it.

16. Typing Speed Race (Competitive)

Typing speed races are a free online team building activity that you can start right now. To begin, take a typing test using typingtest.com or similar. Then, post your results on your company message board or by email. The more competitive members of your team will reply with results quickly and others will follow.

You can then launch a larger scale challenge by hosting a typing speed relay, which is when you form squads and add up the cumulative scores to see which team wins.

Pro tip: make sure everyone is taking the same test! You can also give team members tips like "keep your fingers closer to the keys" or "if you miss a word, fix it quickly and then power through."

Typing speed races are ostensibly a fun little challenge to get everyone playing online games together. It is also great skill building; typing speed is incredibly important for remote workers.

17. Virtual Pub Crawl

One way people get together in the real world is pub crawls, where you all go to a pub for a drink and then move on to the next one. You can do a fun virtual equivalent of pub crawls too.

Here is how:

1. Join a virtual meeting or conference call with your team members.

2. Everyone goes to an interesting website, and chats about the content over a drink.

3. Every 15 minutes, move to a new website.

You can start with this cool web page that explores the depths of the ocean: The Deep Sea.

18. Call of the Champions (Instant Upgrade for Virtual Meetings)

One way to make virtual calls fun is to assign roles during meetings. If someone has a specific job to do, like cheerleader or shade thrower, then they will be more engaged.

Here are some roles you can assign:

Cheerleader: Responsible for keeping spirits high during the meeting! This person will enthusiastically cheer on the speaker and other team members, and lead others to do the same.

Mover and Shaker: This role is like a virtual meeting traffic cop. When conversations get in the weeds or otherwise aren't moving along, then this person's job is to get everyone back on track.

Shade Thrower: Someone on your team is probably "that person." Empower your champ by assigning the role of Shade Thrower, which is essentially permission to politely boo others. This role is mostly for games with an element of competition.

Photographer: Throughout your call, there will be opportunities for photos and snapshots of your team. Remote teams need photos too! Give someone the role of group photographer and they can snap a few shots to share by chat or email later.

Scribe: For some people, Scribe is the least fun role at the meeting, and for others it is the dream job. The scribe is in charge of taking notes.

We named this activity Call of the Champions as a fun way to recognize the heroic roles that participants play in making a virtual call fun.

19. Virtual Dance Party (Recommended)

One of the quickest and easiest virtual team building activities is the Virtual Dance Party. You can either host your virtual dance as a standalone event or add it as a quick one-minute session during a meeting.

Important: You don't need to bust fancy moves, just turn on a song and move to the beat! Dancing can help cure awkward silences, keep energy high, and inject fun and team building into your team calls.

Some of our favorite songs for a quick dance break are:

Taylor Swift - Shake it Off

Rihanna - Work

Kenny Loggins - Footloose

Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance with Somebody

The Beatles - Twist and Shout

Here is a virtual dance party playlist on Spotify.

20. Arm's Reach Show & Tell (Simple & Fun)

One place to find inspiration for virtual team building ideas is grade school. Teachers are experts at engagement.

An example of a fun, school-inspired activity is Virtual Show & Tell. To facilitate this show and tell, you can set a 1 minute timer for participants to find "something within arms reach that is meaningful to you." Each of your team members then has one minute to share about their object, including information like where they got it, and why they keep it.

21. Exciting Sponge

Exciting sponge is a quick and easy storytelling game. To play, each team member grabs a random object in arms length and creates a story about it, or can default to describing a generic sponge.

The goal is to exaggerate the truth about what makes that object amazing. For example, if someone picked up an alarm clock, they could say "this is a relic from the past and someday Indian Jones 2.0, AI edition, will travel back in time and snatch it up for a museum collection."

The more absurd the better 🙂

22. Virtual Pub Trivia (Fun for Large Groups)

Your team can't go to the pub together, but they can still do pub trivia and similar virtual happy hour games.

First, invite everyone to a call with a pint of their favorite brew; whether that beverage is tea, beer or wine. Then, a host organizes everyone into smaller teams and reads out questions. Participants must answer as a team, and each correct answer wins points. You can do themed trivia like Netflix shows, musical clues and science facts.

Here is a very long list of trivia questions.

23. Never Have I Ever: Rated E Edition

Many people play a version of Never Have I Ever in college, and it often descends into NSFW topics. Instead, play the remote work friendly version of this game. As the event organizer, you can write all the topics in advance or have team members submit topics that you filter for the group.

Never Have I Ever is typically a knock-out game, which means you start with five fingers up and lose a point for each of the topics that you have in fact done. For example, if the prompt was "never have I ever eaten sushi", then everyone that has eaten sushi would put a finger down.

24. Things (Classic)

Things is a game of talking and topics. Before the game starts, each of the participants adds topics to a common pool. The main guidelines is each topic must start with the word "things". For example, "things my dog wishes he could eat for breakfast" or "things we want to do during our next video meeting."

One person starts as the host, and reads off a single prompt. The other players then anonymously submit answers to the host, which you can do via private message. The host reads the answers out loud, and then you go in a circle giving each person a chance to guess who said what. You can have players accumulate points and win prizes, or ignore points all-together. For the next round, switch hosts and continue with the same game mechanics.

Here is a guide on how to play Things.

25. Spreadsheet Wars (Fun for Nerds 🤓)

Spreadsheet Wars is a tiny virtual hackathon, where participants can show off their skills in Google Sheets and similar programs.

To play Spreadsheet Wars, you choose a theme like "most advanced calculation" or "design a mini game", and then the only parameter is that participants can only use the spreadsheet software to build a solution. If scrappy solutions are helpful for your organization then you could set a theme like, "cost reduction calculator" to help build useful tools.

Here are some more starter topics for Spreadsheet Wars:

Design a choose your own adventure story.

Create a beat-box harmony using sound scripts.

Compete to reproduce the best pixel art Mona Lisa.

Build a tool that someone would pay at least $5 to use.

Make a recipe generator.

Spreadsheets are powerful tools and most people have only scratched the surface of formulas and other features. By playing games like Spreadsheet Wars you can help upgrade these skills and have fun while doing it.

Flight of the Navigator is one of the better movies that came out of 1986, and today plays double duty in the realm of online team building games.

For this activity, start by watching the movie, which you can find on Amazon or Disney. Each time something "totally 80s" happens in the movie, like you spot a solid mullet or some rad headbands, take a drink. Your drink can be coffee, tea, water, or anything you like.

Flight of the Navigator isn't really the point, so you could use other movies too. The goal is to have a common element that you can play some fun virtual games around.

27. Learn the NATO Phonetic Alphabet (Skill Building)

Alfa, Tango, Foxtrot, is more than just a fun phrase that makes you feel more like a fighter pilot. It's also representative of three code words of the NATO alphabet, and inspiration for one of the best remote team challenges you can do.

If you call anyone literally ever, then the NATO phonetic alphabet will help you have more clear and deliberate conversations. Instead of saying something like, "K as in Kyle" you can communicate in short-hand that is clear and readily understood.

For your team, you may not use the NATO alphabet together much. Still, the skill is fun to learn and when it does come up it will feel like a strong bonding element for your coworkers.

The 26 code words in the NATO phonetic alphabet are assigned to the 26 letters of the English alphabet as follows:

Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

Source: Wikipedia

BTW, I call this the "Top Gun Alphabet", which is wrong but fun.

28. DIY Craft Challenge (Build Together)

The DIY Craft Challenge is a 30 minute surprise activity you can play with your team. To play, each person has half an hour to build something from materials available at home.

For example, a guy in my grade 8 class combined an old school egg beater with a fork to make an ultimate spaghetti twirling machine. You could make pasta art, an epic pillow fort or doodle a poetic harmony.

The goal isn't to build something museum-worthy; it is to spark creativity and give your team a fun way to interact together.

29. Make Video Recaps of In-Person Events (High Impact!)

With remote teams especially, it's a good idea to provide your team with regular updates about the impact their work is having. This messaging doesn't have to be for direct impact, as long as it is related and true.

You want to remind your team "Oh yeah, this is why I do this" as much as possible. Without these reminders, morale can drop and team members can become disillusioned. An easy way to keep morale high is to record videos of any in-person, company-related activities.

For example, a few of our team members recently hosted a booth at an industry trade show, and our founder, Nick Gray, recorded a three-minute video recap of the experience for the entire team.

These videos don't have to be long or well-produced. Whether it's a trade show recap, a post-call debrief with an important client, or just a Monday morning pep talk, videos are a quick and effective way to keep morale high and demonstrate to your team you want to keep them in the loop.

Bonus: Here is a great video from Help Scout that demonstrates how video can replace weekly meetings.

30. Donut Calls (💯 Essential)

Since remote coworkers don't have opportunities to randomly chit-chat at the water cooler, you have to be a little more deliberate in creating these virtual team building opportunities instead.

That's where Donut comes in!

Donut is a Slack extension that automatically pairs your colleagues up, and then they can plan a 30 minute video call together.

At Museum Hack, we have a soft rule that work should not be discussed during Donut calls, this is really just a chance for team members to get to know each other.

And since the Slack extension is automatic, this is a really lightweight way to incorporate team building into your remote company.

31. Icebreaker Questions (5 Minute Activity 🕐)

Icebreaker questions are simple prompts that allow you to get to know your peers better. For example, you can start a remote meeting by having each attendee share their name, role and what they like to eat for breakfast.

Icebreakers are easy to include in virtual meetings and virtual happy hours.

A few tips for running great icebreakers:

Start with "green level" easy icebreaker questions. Some of your team member will be nervous to share, and so you can start with simple questions like "dream vacation" or "cats vs dogs?"

Before any person shares an answer, announce who the next few people to share will be. This process helps create order and is especially important for online meetings where you don't have as many visual cues.

Go first. You can be the first to share as an example to others. By starting, you give your team members a little longer to think about answers, and also model what a great answer can be.

Keep it short. We recommend no more than 30 seconds per person.

Here is an epic list of icebreaker questions to help you get started.

32. Five Finger Showdown (Great for Large Groups)

Five finger showdown is a gem on a list of virtual team building activities, and a perfect icebreaker for large groups. For this game, everyone on your virtual conference call holds up one hand with five fingers extended. Then, either the host alone, or team members taking turns list of specific and unsuaul life experiences. For example, you could say, "has visited a beach this year" or "speaks more than one language."

Here are some more fun prompts:

Adopted a dog

Ate ice cream in the last 24 hours

Knows all the words to O Canada

Visited three countries

Knit something wearable

Made pizza from scratch

Can say thank you in at least five language

If a team member has the mentioned life experience then they can put one finger down. Either the player that puts all fingers down first wins, or if you want a twist then the last player with fingers remaining up wins instead.

33. Virtual Book Club

Kindle readers unite! A virtual book club is an opportunity to connect with like-minded people on your remote team. Like real world book clubs, the basic function is to organize members around reading the same material at a similar pace and to discuss thoughts and feelings about it.

We recommend you start with a novelette or even just an essay. The goal is for the material to be short enough that you can read the entire thing in one or two sessions. This duration is great for testing commitment to the book club and deciding whether you should do something larger and longer.

Then, when you are ready, check out this list of books.

34. Live Remote Coworking

Since your team is distributed around the world, it's likely not possible for everyone to meet up at a coworking space. And while working from home has many perks, it's not always easy to tap into the implicit motivation and social accountability that comes from working together in person with your team.

No need to worry! Remote coworking is a real thing, and it might help your team be more productive. To set up a session for your team, simply create a Slack channel called #coworking. The first person who's online for the day can create a video call that's open for anyone to join, with the understanding that the purpose of the channel and call is to get work done.

Note: If no one else is online or in the #coworking channel, you could always use a tool like Focusmate to find someone to work with.

35. Remote Team Dinner (Fun for Foodies)

One of the nice things about going into an office is the social outlet of being in rooms with other people. For example, you can say hi in the morning, have lunch together, or go for drinks or a meal after work.

For remote teams, even if you are oceans apart, day after day, you can still garner some of these social benefits. You may just have to work a little harder.

Have your team members prepare any meal, and then connect for a virtual call while you eat and chat. You can suggest ice breakers or games to keep the conversation going. Having low-key connection time like this is a good way to relax and bond without focusing too much on work or team building.

36. Recipe Roundup

In the last few months, sales of dumpling making ingredients in China have skyrocketed; people are cooking and eating at home more often. This love for cooking and eating is generally popular worldwide.

Invite your remote team to participate in a recipe roundup, which could have themes like "that one thing your grandma makes better than everyone else" and "rad cookie recipes." Assemble the recipes in a Slack channel or a simple WordPress install, and if you like you can do a challenge where participants prepare the other recipes and post photos.

While these team activities are mostly meant to be fun, there is also a strong element of communication. When you prepare a recipe you need the foresight and clarity to know what the reader might have trouble following. Overcoming this challenge is a useful skill to build.

37. Virtual Trash Challenge (Productivity Booster)

You may have seen the trash challenge trending on Reddit or Twitter, but you probably have not seen the digital "work from home" version.

In real life, the challenge involves taking a picture of a trashy park, beach or other public place, then cleaning it up and taking an after-photo of the clean space and all the bags of garbage.

The online team version of trash challenge has the same mechanics. Take a before screenshot of your desktop, then delete all the files you no longer use and empty the trash. Finally, take a screenshot to show your progress and share it with your team.

The participant with the cleanest desktop wins sanity and productivity for the week.

A Few "Must Know" Virtual Team Building Tips to Try With Your Remote Team

Team building online isn't quite the same as with a team at the office. With virtual team building, consider the following tips for maximum benefit. You may also want to consider how to 10x your team.

1. Include the Introverts

In an office setting, even the introverts may participate because of the sheer pressure of physical presence. With virtual teams, it is too easy to scroll off into the "cute pictures of cats" part of the internet and avoid meaningful participation.

To make sure everyone participates in your team activities, use mechanics like breakout rooms for small group dynamics during your virtual meetings, and icebreaker questions so everyone has a chance to share.

2. Follow the 2.5x Rule

Basically, do 2.5x as many virtual team building activities as you do local team building. For example, if you dedicated five minutes at the beginning of office meetings to icebreakers then your virtual meeting equivalent is 12.5 minutes. If you organized one company offsite each quarter, then you should organize at least two and maybe three virtual off-sites in that same time period.

3. Make Virtual Team Building Part of Every Meeting

In an office setting, you may be able to get away with just jumping into the business part of your meeting. With virtual meetings on Zoom, Webex and other platforms, we recommend including team building elements each time. You could play a quick game of Online Bingo, or do a mini scavenger hunt. Many of the activities on this page will help!

4. Send Packages in the Mail

Remember when we were little, and fun stuff sometimes came by mail? Now it's mostly grocery junk-mail and bank statements. You can give your remote team members a boost of nostalgic dopamine by sending fun packages in the mail. For example, snack packs, tech gadgets, cute socks and other items.

5. Find Opportunities for Real World Meetings

We are a 100% remote team that also runs local experiences. Our team members in large cities sometimes have opportunities to meet and hangout, but for the entire team these opportunities are few and far between. When we have projects or big meetings, we sometimes fly team members in, and we also plan company retreats. For example, we did a company cruise of the Caribbean that was equal parts business planning and fun.

Here are some more tips for remote team building.

More Resources to Power-up Your Virtual Team Building

The following tools and resources will help promote successful virtual team building.

Virtual Meeting Software

You can use these software tools for video conferencing and telecommuting.

Zoom - Maybe the gold standard in video conferencing software, and our favorite for virtual team building because of the breakout rooms feature.

Microsoft Teams - Robust security settings.

Google Meet - Easy to access with just a URL.

Webex - Powerful platform with enterprise features.

Jitsi - Open source and secure.

Jami - Peer to peer technology and highly secure.

Lifesize - High quality video.

Skype - The original video conferencing platform, with the advantage of familiarity.

Talky - Very simple option.

Whereby - Works directly from your browser.

Learn more about conference call applications.

Tools for Teamwork and Collaboration

The following tools will allow your team to work together while working remotely.

Slack - Popular asynchronous messaging tool for teams.

Trello - Boards organized into columns and cards. Perfect for project management.

Google Docs - We rely heavily on Google Sheets for tracking team goals and progress.

Zoho Docs - Alternative to Google Docs.

Ziteboard - Virtual team whiteboard for real-time collaboration.

You can also look into how to use Instagram for team building.

Continued Reading

Here are additional resources to continue learning.

There is definitely a lot more on virtual team building out there too!

FAQ: Virtual Team Building

Here are some of the common questions we see about virtual team building.

What is virtual team building?

Virtual team building is the act of building stronger relationships between remote workers. Like team building in the real world, the virtual counterpart focuses on improving skills like communication and collaboration, while also promoting friendships and alignment. You can work with a third party on these efforts, or DIY by adding games and activities to your team calls.

Why is virtual team building important?

Remote work can be lonely, disengaged and unproductive; or the complete opposite. What makes virtual team building important is that it is the catalyst to the more positive outcome. Organizations that invest in virtual team building have work-forces that are more creative, communicative and productive; which is a huge competitive advantage.

What are the benefits of virtual team building?

The benefits of virtual team building include:

1. Improved team collaboration.

2. Better internal communication.

3. Increased job satisfaction.

4. Measurable increase in retention.

5. Happy remote workers.

6. Productive remote teams.

7. Build team culture.

8. Improve your company's reputation.

9. Give your people something to tell their honey bunches about.

10. Improved relationships between managers and direct reports.

There are more benefits too!

What are virtual team building activities?

Virtual team building activities are games, challenges and exercises you can do with remote employees to help build stronger bonds. For example, Virtual Team Trivia is a fun exercise, and so is Online Team Building Bingo.

What are online team building games?

Online team building games are games that are specifically meant to boost employee engagement, morale and connection. You can play these games over video conference calls, video games, or even games you play via email, Slack and other platforms.

How do you make a virtual meeting fun?

One way to make a virtual meeting fun is to include elements like icebreaker questions and group photos. A rule of thumb is to make these activities quick and easy for remote workers to participate in; it's not meant to be stressful or a skill challenge.

How do you build team morale remotely?

In addition to strong leadership, one of the most effective ways to build team morale remotely is to do games and activities together. For example, virtual trivia, online bingo and icebreaker questions are all popular options.

How do you engage a virtual team?

To engage a virtual team you can follow many of the same principles that apply to engagement at the office. For example, ask your people questions, do phone calls, and participate in team building activities. Another way to boost engagement for remote workers is to schedule calls between colleagues where the only rule is "no talk about work projects." These calls help build relationships and friendships between coworkers, which leads to more engaged remote teams.

How do you bond with a remote team?

Spend QTT together, which stands for Quality Team Time. If all your remote colleagues do together is work projects, then that is all they are going to know they have in common. Instead, plan activities and conversations that allow team members to learn more about each other personally. When people learn they have common interests outside of work, like travel, pets, music and more, they form deeper bonds.

How do you make a team call fun?

One of the best ways to make a team call fun is to include breakout sessions. If the main call has 30 people on it then you can schedule breakout rooms with four or five people. The advantage of these smaller conversations is more people will have the opportunity to speak and share their ideas.

How do you make virtual meetings fun?

An easy way to make virtual meetings fun is to include icebreaker questions or games. For example, you could do a quick prompt like "which Disney character would you most like to be your BFF?" or play a quick round of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

What is the purpose of a virtual team?

The purpose of a virtual team is to accomplish a goal, virtual or otherwise. In some cases a virtual team will pursue a business purpose like profit generation, while other virtual teams may have a mission based or community purpose.

What is a virtual activity?

A virtual activity is any activity that you can do online as part of a team or otherwise. For example, virtual activities include Spreadsheet Wars, Werewolf and Dance Parties. Some virtual activities are nearly identical to real-world counterparts, while others are unique to the virtual format.

How do you create a team remotely?

One way to create a team remotely is to do fun and engaging activities together. By giving your remote workers time to connect with each other you create organic opportunities to build meaningful relationships.

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37 Best Virtual Team Building Activities in 2021 (Ranked)

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Team Building Resources July 14, 2021 As a remote team, we geek out over virtual team building. We're always looking for ways to bring our team closer together. But over the years, we've learned that online team building is much different than in-person team building.

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Communication | Asynchronous Communication for more productive & inclusive teamwork

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Communication | Asynchronous Communication for more productive & inclusive teamwork

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Study after study after study into remote work has clarified that remote workers are more productive than their office-bound counterparts.

What's not entirely clear is why.

Yes, people gain back time (and sanity) by avoiding rush hour commutes. They avoid the distractions of the office. They regain a sense of control over their workdays. They have more time to dedicate to family, friends, and hobbies.

But apart from the commute, all of those benefits aren't necessarily the result of location independence, but rather the byproduct of asynchronous communication - giving employees control over when they communicate with their teammates.

Teams who try to go remote without putting in place tools, workflows, and norms for asynchronous communication will fail.

Not only does async produce the best work results, but it also lets people do more meaningful work and live freer, more fulfilled lives. It's a game-changer even for co-located teams, but it's an absolute must for teams collaborating remotely. And as workers flex their current power in a tight labor market, it's the only way companies can give employees the flexible schedules they're demanding.

Drawing on the experience of my own fully remote, async-first company, Doist, I'll explain what asynchronous communication is, how it drives team productivity and employee well-being, and the concrete steps you can take to start building a more asynchronous workplace.

What is asynchronous communication?

Simply put, asynchronous communication is when you send a message without expecting an immediate response. For example, you send an email. I open and respond to the email several hours later.

In contrast, synchronous - or real-time - communication is when you send a message and the recipient processes the information and responds immediately. In-person communication, like meetings, are examples of purely synchronous communication. You say something, I receive the information as you say it, and respond to the information right away.

But digital forms of communication, like real-time chat messaging, can be synchronous too. You send a message, I get a notification and open up Slack to read the message and respond to what you said in near real-time.

Even email is treated as a synchronous form of communication. A 2015 study conducted by Yahoo Labs found that the most common email response time was just 2 minutes. Asynchronous communication isn't primarily about tools - though the right ones help - it's about team culture and habits.

Real-time communication

Asynchronous communication

Communication requires all team members to be present simultaneously, in meetings and video calls or respond quickly to work chats or emails.

Everyone is tied to more or less the same work schedule.

Prioritizes speed of collaboration.

Communication happens in writing or prerecorded video with team members catching up and responding on their own schedules.

Everyone can work when it works best for them.

Prioritizes focus and flexibility.

Before we dig into the benefits of a more async approach to teamwork, let's look at why we should question our current, real-time ways of working and communicating.

The problem with real-time, all-the-time communication

If employees are consistently more productive when working away from the office, there's something broken about the modern workplace.

According to the Harvard Business Review article " Collaborative Overload", the time employees spend on collaboration has increased by 50% over the past two decades. Researchers found it was not uncommon for workers to spend a full 80% of their workdays communicating with colleagues in the form of:

Email - on which workers' spend an average of six hours a day

Meetings - time spent in meetings since the pandemic forced companies to go remote has ballooned by 253%

Instant messaging apps - the average Slack user sends an average of 200 messages a day, though 1,000-message power users are "not the exception"

As one office worker told New York Magazine, "I used to wake up and turn off the alarm and check Tinder. Now I wake up and check Slack."

This trend toward near-constant communication means that the average knowledge worker must organize their workday around multiple meetings with the time in between spent doing their work half-distractedly with one eye on email and Slack.

To make matters worse, the rise of mobile technology means that workplace communication is no longer limited to the physical workplace or work hours. We can, and do, check email and respond to messages at any time, day or night. As a result, we're never fully off the clock. As one office worker told New York Magazine, "I used to wake up and turn off the alarm and check Tinder. Now I wake up and check Slack."

This highly synchronous way of working would at least be understandable if it produced results, but there is more and more evidence that all the real-time communication overhead makes it hard to focus, drains employees' mental resources, and generally makes it more challenging to make meaningful progress on work.

I've written before about why we're betting against real-time team messaging apps, but it's worth summarizing the core problems and generalizing it to most forms of synchronous communication:

It leads to constant interruptions.

Interruptions split people's attention and make it more difficult to make meaningful progress on work. High-value, cognitively-demanding activities - like coding, writing, designing, strategizing, and problem-solving - require long periods of deep, focused work. Synchronous communication requires constant context switching and makes creating large, uninterrupted chunks of time during the workday impossible.

It prioritizes being connected over being productive.

In real-time environments, you're incentivized to stay connected and available at all times. If you disconnect, discussions will move on before you even have a chance to respond to or even see them. To avoid missing out on crucial decisions and discussions, people always try to be online and in as many meetings as possible, hurting their well-being and productivity.

It creates unnecessary stress.

The expectation of being constantly available means that workers lack control over their schedules. They spend their workdays attending meetings and responding to requests rather than proactively setting their own agenda.

One study found that people compensate for the time lost to workplace interruptions by attempting to work faster, leading to "more stress, higher frustration, time pressure, and effort". A 2022 Microsoft study found that people often cope by working a "second shift" in the evening when they know they won't be interrupted. This type of synchronous culture quickly leads to burnout.

It leads to lower quality discussions and sub-optimal solutions.

When you have to respond immediately, people don't have time to think through key issues thoroughly and provide thoughtful responses. Your first response to any given situation is often not your best response.

"Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard." - David McCullough

Give your team the tools to think well. pic.twitter.com/L2hJ5PDnSs
- Twist (@TwistWork) January 25, 2022

The benefits of asynchronous communication

Most people accept meetings and interruptions as just a part of doing business, but some companies - like GitLab, Zapier, Automattic, Buffer, and my own Doist - are embracing a more asynchronous approach to collaboration.

Here are some of the core benefits of giving employees more control over when they connect to communicate with their team:

Control over the workday leads to happier and more productive employees.

In an async environment, there are no set work hours. Employees have total control over how they structure their workdays to fit their lifestyles, biorhythms, and responsibilities, from childcare to simply running an errand. Some Doisters work during the night as it suits them the best. I spend an hour with my kids every morning and no one inside my async organization notices. One Wall Street Journal survey showed that workers want flexible hours even more than they want remote work.

Async incentivizes higher-quality communication over knee-jerk responses.

Async communication is admittedly slower (at least in the immediate sense), but it also tends to be of higher quality. People learn to communicate more clearly and thoroughly to avoid unnecessary back-and-forths. They have the time to think through a particular problem or idea and provide more thoughtful responses. Instead of knee-jerk responses, people can reply when they're ready. (As an added benefit, when people have the time to think through their responses, there tend to be fewer unthinking outbursts. Over the last decade, we haven't had a single serious HR issue.)

Better planning leads to less stress.

Advanced planning is a must when last-minute ASAP requests aren't an option. People learn to plan their workloads and collaborations more carefully to give enough time for coworkers to see and respond to their requests. This leads to less stressful collaborations and ultimately higher quality work.

Deep work becomes the default.

Because employees don't have to stay on top of each message as it comes in, they can block off large chunks of uninterrupted time to do the work that creates the most value for your organization. They can come back to process their messages in batches 1-3 times a day instead of bouncing back and forth between work and messages or meetings.

Documentation and greater transparency become automatic.

Because most communication happens in writing, key discussions and important information are documented automatically, particularly if you use a more public tool than email. It's easier to share and reference those conversations later. For example, at Doist instead of asking for or explaining why a certain decision was made or the status of a particular project, we can search for and/or link to the relevant Twist threads.

Collaboration across time zones is seamless.

Communication between time zones becomes smooth, and no one is at an informational disadvantage because of the time zone. That means you're not limiting your hiring pool to specific time zones. You can build a stellar and truly diverse team from anywhere in the world.

The biggest challenge that faces hybrid workplaces is preventing remote employees from becoming second-class citizens. When communication happens asynchronously, in-office and remote employees have access to the same information and conversations. They have an equal opportunity to contribute to discussions and decisions.

While employee retention is a bit of a vanity metric, we think the async culture is one of the core reasons most people hired at Doist over the past 10 years have stayed with us. Our employee retention is 90%+ - much higher than the overall tech industry. For example, even a company like Google - with its legendary campuses full of perks from free meals to free haircuts - has a median tenure of just 1.1 years. Freedom to work from anywhere at any time beats fun vanity perks any day, and it costs our company $0 to provide.

But! You still need synchronous communication too

As with most things in life, async culture has pros and cons. Doist has experienced them both.

At the beginning of our async journey, we got rid of most meetings as we thought they were a waste of time. Most things could be done via written communication. But not long into that experiment, Brenna, our CMO, started a candid thread about how we had lost the human element, how she felt disconnected and that she missed seeing other Doisters face-to-face.

We learned that we needed to mix in synchronous communication where it makes sense: for example, in 1-on-1s and weekly team meetings. It's hard to build rapport and personal relationships with only written communication. In the words of Daft Punk, "we are human after all".

Here are some of the things we do to build personal connections on the team:

Everyone has at least one monthly 1-on-1 with their direct report to touch base, discuss roadblocks, set professional development goals, etc.

We organize monthly casual team video hangouts where people from different teams can get together to chat about non-work things.

I had a blast catching up with @aboutboard, @odsamuels, and @jvalente about life and work.

We've got lots of casual hangouts happening this week at @doist! Little things like this help us feel connected to all the great people we work with! #remotework pic.twitter.com/lAhAL8LQSw
- Andrew Gobran (@andrewgobran) October 2, 2019

Most teams hold weekly meetings. While the format differs from team-to-team, these meetings tend to focus on building rapport rather than giving status updates. Several teams use red/yellow/green checkins as a way to connect on a more personal level.

We organize yearly company-wide and smaller team retreats where people can connect in real life.

70% async using Twist, Github, Google Docs, Figma, and Todoist

25% sync using something like Zoom, Around, or Google Meet

5% in-person meetups, e.g., annual company and smaller team retreats

We fly new team members out to spend a week working in-person with their team mentor. This helps new people feel more connected and comfortable asking questions right off the bat.

We instituted an annual meet-up perk that Doisters can spend on meals, activities, transportation, etc. when they get together with teammates outside of organized retreats.

We reimburse the cost of a coworking space so our people can get outside their homes and be in a more office/community setting.

You want to build rapport with people (e.g., a 1-on-1 or team meeting).

You need to provide critical feedback or discuss other sensitive topics.

You have a lot of unknowns and you want to brainstorm different ideas and solutions.

There are a lot of moving variables and you want to bring everyone on the same page quickly, e.g., via a project kickoff meeting.

A crisis happens that requires immediate attention, e.g., a server crashes. We use Telegram with the notifications turned on at all times for emergency communications only.

(If you're interested, I've written more on the very related topic of remote work and mental health.)

Today, we minimize the number of meetings, but we have meetings when they make sense. Our current communication stack looks something like this:

In general, use synchronous communication when the following is true:

Synchronous communication should be the exception, not the rule.

How to move your team toward asynchronous communication

Moving from sync to async isn't going to happen overnight. It takes a profound shift in tools, processes, habits, and culture. Here are some concrete steps you can take, both individually and as a team leader, to get started.

Things you can do individually:

Overcommunicate. When sending a message, include as much information as possible. Visualize things with screenshots or screen recordings with apps like CloudApp and Loom. Be clear about what you need from the other person and what the deadline is. A few extra minutes adding details and editing for clarity on the front-end can save days of back-and-forths in an async environment.

Under-communication

Over-communication

Can you please provide me with reporting on content once you get a chance?

Can you please provide me with a short report (a few paragraphs) on our blog metrics from Google Analytics for next Tuesday by 2pm EST? I'd like to know top posts, unique page views, bounce rate, and conversation rate. Thanks!

Plan ahead to give people time to consider your message. For example, "I want to finish this in 2 days and would love your input", instead of "I need your feedback in the next hour."

Say no to unnecessary meetings. It can be extremely uncomfortable to say no to a meeting, particularly in meeting-heavy work cultures. But there are tactful ways to nudge people towards async-first communication. Next time someone asks for a "quick call" try one of these incredibly useful scripts from Dropbox:

"Thanks for including me! I'm wondering if we could try to solve this in a Twist thread instead?"

"I've been in so many meetings lately, but I'm trying to be more disciplined about my schedule. Could we try to solve this without a meeting, first?"

"I'd be happy to give you feedback on that! Before we schedule a meeting, could I review it in Paper/a Google Doc/Figma/a GitLab issue?"

Before meetings, start a Twist thread or document. Share all relevant information and discuss key issues before the meeting so that everyone can come with a complete understanding of the topic at hand.

After meetings, document discussions and outcomes. Start or continue a Twist thread or document so that people who weren't there can find that information. We've even started experimenting with recording the video of our meetings so that others can "attend" asynchronously. An app like TL;DV makes it easy to time stamp, annotate, and tag teammates in meeting recordings so anyone who missed the meeting can skip straight to the parts that are relevant to them.

Turn off notifications - try removing work apps from your phone altogether. Instead, set aside specific time blocks to check and respond to emails and messages during the day.

Use waiting time productively. We've found that waiting for a reply isn't a massive problem as there's always something else to work on.

Always check your document sharing settings. This seems like a small thing, but if someone needs to request access, it can lead to hours or even a full day of delay in an async workplace.

Things you can do as a team leader:

Promote writing and communication as core skills to master. This will reduce back-and-forths and help people get to the core of things faster. Everyone needs to be a great writer in an async workplace.

Evaluate people based on their output and results, not how responsive they are or the number of hours they work. We've written more on how to measure employee productivity.

Abolish required work hours or the requirements to come into an office. This will allow you to hire from anywhere in the world and will naturally move your organization towards more asynchronous communication when taps on the shoulder are no longer an option.

Emphasize trust, organization, independence, and accountability. Without these values, asynchronous communication will never work. For example, one of Doist's core values states that others can trust that you'll deliver on time and your teammates don't need to worry about you keeping your word. Brenna Loury, our CMO, has written in more detail about how to build trust in a remote, async-first "workplace".

Adopt a Direct Responsible Individual (DRI) model for management and decision-making. Made popular by Apple, DRI means a single person is responsible for any given area or project inside the company. That person doesn't do everything themselves but instead organizes the team or project, makes key decisions, and generally owns the timeline and results. The more you can decrease the number of people involved in decisions, decentralize authority, and increase individual accountability, the more efficient your team will be. This is true in any company but is especially crucial for success in an async environment.

Set reasonable, team-wide expectations for acceptable response times. For example, at Doist, we expect people to answer within 24 hours.

Make transparency and documentation a priority. For example, everyone at Doist can read all of the core discussions regardless of which team it is. This includes leadership discussions. With transparency, people don't miss crucial conversations or decisions. They can work more efficiently and independently when they don't have to ask others for the information they need.

Use tools that promote transparency, deep work, and async communication. e.g., Github pull requests, Basecamp conversations, and Twist threads. Don't use email internally. While email can be used asynchronously, it also locks information inside people's inboxes where no one else can find it. Collaboration becomes much less efficient when people can't find the information they need. More on the pitfalls of relying on email for team communication.

For communication-heavy roles like tech support or client services, implement a rotating coverage system. Some roles are more conducive to asynchronous communication than others, but all can benefit from blocking off chunks of time for deep work. Anti-Agency Group founder Amanda Au describes how their team uses a rotating coverage system to balance client communications and creative work:

While we haven't fully adopted an async model because we are a client services team, we promote DND (do-not-disturb) time blocks or full days. During your DND time, you'll have a teammate cover for you on any incoming client comms so that you can truly have undisturbed time to finish a presentation, ideate on strategy, or dive deep into reporting.

Doist's own head of front-end development, Henning, wrote more about how we use a rotating "hero system" and "house-keeping days" at Doist to create space for deep work even in communication-heavy roles.

Have communication channels for emergencies. Doist has Telegram rooms and phone numbers that we use as an emergency mechanism. We use these a few times per year for truly urgent incidents. The vast majority of things aren't urgent and don't require an instant response.

Async is an uphill battle that challenges the status quo

We know that we are challenging the status quo and that calm, asynchronous communication isn't the current norm. It's going to take a paradigm shift to change things.

We're betting that the most successful companies and teams will be the ones who make this shift in the future. It will be the teams that don't require their employees to be always-on, prioritize asynchronous communication to create space for deep work, and allow employees to disconnect and recharge fully. We're excited to share our journey and invite you to explore this space.

What's Twist? Twist is an async messaging app for teams burned out by real-time chat, meetings, and email.

You don't need to use Twist to get a ton of value out of this newsletter and community. But if the topics we talk about resonate with you, there's a good chance the app will too. See what makes Twist different →

🌎 Built asynchronously by the fully remote team at Doist

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What is asynchronous communication? Plus, how to implement it

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Study after study after study into remote work has clarified that remote workers are more productive than their office-bound counterparts. What's not entirely clear is why. Yes, people gain back time (and sanity) by avoiding rush hour commutes. They avoid the distractions of the office. They regain a sense of control over their workdays.

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1) Belonging - Individualistic
Action to take to strengthen inclusiveness: Organize socialize activities (virtual & in-person)

2)

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Resource 2: Streamlining communication for the hybrid workforce

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Resource 2: Streamlining communication for the hybrid workforce

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A recent PwC remote work survey confirms what many employees and business leaders already know: there's no going back to the pre-pandemic status quo. Most executives envision a future where employees spend some time at the office and work remotely other days in a hybrid workforce model. However, there's little consensus yet on the optimal ratio.

The move toward a hybrid workforce has many logistical and practical implications for businesses, including in the areas of commercial real estate and training and development. But one facet that isn't getting as much attention is the shift that's already taken place in internal employee communication, whether for collaboration purposes or support requests.

In their pre-pandemic office routines, employees grew accustomed to conversing with each other using platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams. But when they needed support from HR or IT - to inquire about training opportunities or to ask for help with a technology problem, for example - they channelled their support requests through email. This continued when they moved to remote work.

Minimise interruptions to the conversational flow by offering support where employees are

But a bifurcated approach is inefficient, and organisations that reject it by consolidating communication on a single platform can realise important productivity, automation, and accessibility gains. Here are some of the ways consolidating communication can improve hybrid workforce efficiency.

Minimise interruptions to the conversational flow by offering support where employees are: With an email-based ticketing system, employees must log in to their work email to create an HR or IT ticket, then follow up via email to track progress or receive a resolution. That interrupts the natural flow of communication, which is now taking place on business communication platforms like Slack and Teams.

There's no advantage to using email rather than a business communication platform for ticket resolution. Technology compatible with popular help desk and knowledge base systems and business communication platforms now make it more efficient to handle ticket resolution on one platform rather than toggling back and forth between email and Slack or Teams.

Automate with AI to deliver conversational support: As HR, IT, and training professionals know, many employee questions are routine. The questions are important to the employee and the company and must be answered promptly, but every minute staff spends responding to mundane queries is time they cannot spend on higher-level work.

AI can automate responses when a ticket is generated on Teams or Slack. It can automatically respond to frequently asked questions via a chatbot that offers answers from the company's internal knowledge base, responding via Teams or Slack to keep the conversation in context.

So, routine queries such as 'how do I sign up for a training programme?' can be deflected in this way, while questions that don't have a knowledge base answer (or employee requests for more help) are automatically escalated..

Prioritise convenience as much as content: HR and training professionals understandably focus on content quality, which is incredibly important. But it's also crucial to keep in mind that the best content in the industry won't help employees drive company success if they don't access it because doing so is inconvenient. Prioritising convenient access is therefore critical.

Consolidating communication on employees' preferred channel streamlines their access to the information. Technology that incorporates AI works within the preferred business communication platform and is compatible with the existing help desk system can also bolster compliance by creating audit trails to track responses to employee inquiries.

As HR, training, and IT professionals plan for a hybrid workforce, the evolution in how employees communicate with colleagues and support personnel must be top of mind. Those who find a way to consolidate communication channels, automate routine tasks, and provide easier access to information will be positioning their companies for success in the 'new normal'.
About the author
Shalin Jain is CEO of HappyFox

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Streamlining communication for the hybrid workforce

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A recent PwC remote work survey confirms what many employees and business leaders already know: there's no going back to the pre-pandemic status quo. Most executives envision a future where employees spend some time at the office and work remotely other days in a hybrid workforce model.

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It's how you include everyone
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With Slido's 5 types of polls, Q&A, quizzes and surveys, you can engage your participants in a variety of ways.

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Slido is the ultimate Q&A and polling platform for live and virtual meetings and events. It offers interactive Q&A, live polls and insights about your audience.

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https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/wellness/blah-feeling-languishing-emptiness-stagnation-restlessness-14655328?fbclid=IwAR08IyQIApHMQEe-3YGhA-603Iid2by0kIWw26cmbrL5LAN0D2LxyAuSjEg

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Here’s a rundown of the top tools to help your remote and hybrid teams. Collaborate from anywhere and work smarter with these 16 great pieces of software.

A New Way of Working

Remote working was the biggest change for companies in 2020. And 2 years later, companies are still figuring out how to balance in-office teams with those who are still working from home.

For many offices, hybrid workplaces are filling this void. More and more, hybrid and semi-remote employees are now replacing 100% onsite teams. This structure helps to balance the flexibility of remote work, with the camaraderie and support that comes from being in an office.

And now with more companies than ever rolling out initiatives for this practice, other organizations are beginning to follow suit.

This is a huge shift for many workplaces. So with their rise in popularity, the question naturally becomes, what are the best tools for remote and semi-remote hybrid teams?

To help with that, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best and most useful tools for your hybrid and remote teams. These will cover all the important aspects of this new way of working. And help you to mitigate the inevitable challenges along the way.

Here’s our picks for some of the top tools for your hybrid teams and remote work, broken down by different categories.

For some more tips on remote and hybrid working check out a few of our other articles:

Our comprehensive guide to remote and semi-remote virtual teams

Best practices for virtual project management

The benefits of remote work for the employer and employee

And our list of the top virtual management software of 2022

The Best Tools for Remote Teams and Hybrid Work

We broke our recommendations down into 5 categories.

1. Collaboration

2. Management

3. Communication

4. File Sharing

5. Virtual Offices

Remote Team Collaboration Tools

As opposed to your office’s bulky whiteboard, this software helps you collaborate from anywhere in the world. Get creative with the interactive features and encourage your team to participate in more engaging meetings. This software makes the daily brainstorming and planning process more visual and more fun!

Explain Everything

This Polish based start-up offers cloud-based software to help teams collaborate visually in real-time. Use the whiteboard for meetings, as there’s high-quality voice chat, and you can take notes in Explain Everything‘s web-based interface. Record meetings or video presentations, add images, or draw your own in the tool. From there you can share it with your team, your stakeholders, and even send it to non-users. Connect and sync across all devices with their IOS and Android apps.

Explain Everything is cloud-based collaborative software that lets you visually express your ideas. You can use it in a meeting or record a presentation and send it to anyone.

Conceptboard

Conceptboard is an online, infinite canvas which acts as a centralized hub for your team’s content and ideas. The shared workspace lets you manage all your visual projects seamlessly, across teams and timezones. You can follow actions on-board, screen share, or video chat, so even if you’re remote you can collaborate together.

Miro

Described as an “online collaborative whiteboarding platform” Miro helps you build and develop ideas across remote teams. Visually map out your team’s strategy on an infinitely zoomable canvas, in real-time or asynchronously. Integrate with your workplace’s favorite apps to seamlessly coordinate all your projects and see why they say it’s where “distributed teams get work done.”

Read on: Find out how to enhance collaboration and teamwork for your dispersed and hybrid teams. Read a few ways that hybrid workplace models can actually improve your team's productivity and keep teams agile.

Weekdone

Weekdone is an easy tool for planning projects and tasks. As well as sharing updates and giving your co-workers praise for work well done. Whether you’re part of a development, design, or marketing team, Weekdone is a go-to tool for remote teams in 2022. By leveraging asynchronous communication, Weekdone’s newsfeed lets you get crucial updates when YOU need them. Pair that with a seamless weekly planning feature and gamified reward system for jobs well done and you have an ideal tool for teams spread out around the world.

Remote Employee Management Tools

Keep everyone up to date with their tasks and changes to projects. This software ensures everyone knows what they need to do and by when. And helps your PM more effectively tackle their project planning, resource scheduling, and task management.

Ganttic

Online resource management software that visualizes your resources, tasks, and projects through Gantt charts. Ganttic’s simple drag and drop capabilities means you can make schedules in no time. Then share it with everyone on your team. The cloud-based tool comes with an advanced timeline, that’s as flexible as Excel, but without any of the hassle or security issues.

Plus, dedicated project management features such as capacity planning, reports, charts, Kanban boards, and more ensures you’re creating the most efficient use of your resources with each plan. Use the app’s integrations with Outlook or Google to notify your team or build it yourself with Ganttic API or through Zapier. Keep everyone up to date and no longer stress about what your team is up to.

Lumeer

Lumeer is an absolutely flexible collaborative team and project management tool. It enables easy digitalization and automation of workflows, transparency, ad-hoc reporting and insights into what to do next, how to do it and why it matters. Tasks, clients, projects, features, bugs, invoices, inventory, budgets, expenses… connect everything within a single space. And use the right visual view that fits your needs. Lumeer introduces agile collaboration in teams, anywhere, anytime.

TeamHood

This project and teamwork management platform has taken a leap to make digital Kanban boards more visual. Teamhood‘s “advanced Kanban board” not only features horizontal swimlanes for categorizing items into stages or areas, but also sub-swimlanes for sub-processes. The detailed visibility allows high level project management and operational teams to collaborate smoothly on the same board. That way you can control the process with Kanban, the timing on the Timeline, and the resource capabilities and availability with the Workload view.

ProofHub

Online project planning software with loads of features. ProofHub offers Kanban boards, Gantt charts, proofing and collaborative abilities, project notes, calendars, and more. All organized in one central location. Assign different roles within the software so your project manager can keep track of your projects’ progress with overviews and timesheets. Plus, the mobile app means you can use it on the go.

Orangescrum

Project and task management software to organize projects, team, and tasks in one place. Orangescrum keeps your team or customers on the same page. And it has tons of features to simplify your collaboration and workflow. Scrum board, Kanban, sprint help to keep you agile a maximize productivity. Plus, OrangeScrum offers project planning capabilities such as milestone/task groups tracking, task status tracking, priority settings, document sharing, and invoice management.

Tip: Have some questions about the features of remote team management software? Take a tour of Ganttic to learn more. You can also sign up for a personal webinar and demo, and we can walk you through set up and answer all your burning questions.

Remote Team Communication Tools

An integral aspect of remote work is keeping in contact with your team. Here we present some ways to help you meet up for daily chats or hash out your big plans in online meetings. Bonus: these remote tools are all free!

Zoom

The ubiquitous tool of 2020 isn’t going away anytime soon. Enterprise cloud video conferencing, online meetings, and group messaging in one easy-to-use platform. Zoom lets you join a meeting without downloading any additional software, and host one with only a simple sign-up. The free version lets you host up to 100 people for up to 40 minutes, with stable connections and useful screen sharing. Plus, scalable paid packages let you choose the features you need.

Discord

Open-source software that was originally developed for gamers. But its rich features, easy setup, and smooth UI give Slack a run for its money. Discord describes itself as an “All-in-one voice and text chat for gamers that’s free, secure, and works on both your desktop and phone.”  If you can get past the gamer feel, you’ll see why many are considering this their office and remote team tool.

Skype

Video calls and chat software from a fellow Estonian company. Skype lets you create group chats (with up to 600 participants!) and group calls (up to 50) from your phone or desktop. For free and from anywhere you have wifi. Plus, its end to end encryption means all your messages are secure. The fact that you probably already have it downloaded is another reason to integrate it with your remote team.

Read on: Watch out when scheduling meetings for your remote and hybrid team. There's actually a lot of ways to communicate that won't require 3+ hour long conference calls. See what we mean with our 10 tips on managing your virtual project team.

File Sharing and Syncing

Remote working can’t happen without your team having the correct files or docs. Here is some software for sharing and making sure everyone is in sync.

Samepage

Samepage is an “all-in-one tool” which combines “chat, video conferencing, screen sharing, task management, file sharing, and real-time document collaboration in a single cloud-based collaborative workspace.” With the software you can drag and drop files onto a page, edit them, and share the changes with your team. Or edit them from Dropbox and even your desktop and share them when you’re done.

Read on: You can't effectively manage a remote team with Excel. Don't believe us? Here's 5 reasons why Excel is so ineffective when you're a virtual PM.

Wimi

Wimi provides file sharing and online file storage that’s accessible from any computer. With this tool, your information is synchronized and available whenever you need it and from whichever device you have on hand. Create secure and customized file-sharing workspaces that allows you to preview or edit most file formats. Manage the access rights and collaborate with your team, clients, and external partners. Plus, with files too big for email, you can send a link to download.

Virtual Office Tools

If remote working has your team missing the office, here’s some great alternatives. All without the long commutes, fluorescent lights, and drab cubicles. Create your own virtual office for your so no one ever misses a beat.

My Digital Office

Built by a fully remote team, My Digital Office is the solution for those who feel disconnected from their coworkers and those who’ve “grown tired of green status circles.” This tool lets users build their own digital workspace: desks to store documents, an office phone for chats with coworkers, and meeting rooms with an online whiteboard for team meetings. The chat recreates those inspiring water cooler moments and your avatar communicates your current status.

Pesto

Pesto is a free open-beta virtual office software. Put a face to your voice by customizing your avatar to showcase your personality. Instantly start chatting with colleagues, similar to a walkie-talkie, to get status updates, quickly check-in, or clarify a confusing task. Or set up a meeting with video and screen sharing options. There are also cool features like the lofi rooms where you can silently listen to music with your teammates, the spatial rooms where you can walk around a map and hop in and out of conversations, and the trivia rooms for team social events.

Qube

Qube’s virtual office transforms how you work remotely, by providing an online office context – who’s talking to who, who’s out of the office and who just stepped out to lunch. It connects with Slack and Zoom and you can chat with coworkers in the common rooms or in private meeting rooms. The “people watching” feature sends you a notification whenever the person you need to talk to is available. And it works the other way by sending you a list of people who want to get in touch with you.

Don’t Let Distance Determine How You Work

When it comes to remote and hybrid work, flexibility is key. Flexibility for how you and your team work. And flexibility for where you work. But flexibility doesn’t mean disorder.

Quite the opposite! With these tools, your remote teams will be able to stay connected, and be more productive than ever before. And you’ll be able to ensure an uninterrupted workflow, whether you’re in the office or working from home.

Wherever you’re working, if you’re a PM you need to be able to plan out the next year with ease and efficiency. With Ganttic, you can plan future and ongoing projects, manage portfolios and bookings, as well as schedule your staff, tools, events, or machinery. Gain a clear overview of your day-to-day and create transparent plans to keep everyone on task.

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The Best Tools for Remote Teams & Hybrid Work in 2022

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Some of the best tools for remote teams and hybrid work. Manage workflows, plan projects, and communicate better at home and the office.

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Resource 3: Collaborating with Microsoft 365

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Resource 3: Collaborating with Microsoft 365

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Best practices for collaborating with Microsoft 365

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Training: Watch these best-practices videos for Office 365 to learn how to collaborate remotely and video conference with colleagues and peers at work, school, or other organizations.

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With microphones on mute, virtual meetings tend to be a one-way conversation. But with Pigeonhole Live, your attendees can easily voice their questions and concerns, share ideas, and brainstorm together without ever interrupting the presenter or unmuting themselves.

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Ensure that your remote team does not feel left out when bringing your distributed workforce together with a hybrid all-hands meeting. With Pigeonhole Live's Q&As, Polls, and Chat you can make sure that your remote and in-person attendees can contribute to the meeting, connect with the management and each other, and have their concerns heard.

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Engage your audience with live Q&As, Polls, Chat, Reactions, and Surveys, whether online, in-person, or in-between. The audience interaction tool for your virtual and hybrid events and meetings. Try for free!

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https://www.mom.gov.sg/covid-19/tripartite-advisory-on-mental-well-being-at-workplaces

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Good example of a team huddle and connecting remotely

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How Teams Can Meaningfully Connect Remotely | Simon Sinek

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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mental-wellness-an-important-issue-amid-covid-19-pandemic-shanmugam

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https://www.kornferry.com/insights/this-week-in-leadership/coronavirus-burnout-four-ways-to-handle

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With new people joining all the time, remote working makes it difficult to get to know people and to build the team to be closer to each other

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The lack of face-to-face meetings poses challenges because it takes more time to communicate and achieve something

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Working in a hybrid environment with part of the team working on-site/ off-site

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I mean... :)

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There is trust among the team members and everyone continues to contribute positively

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#4: Trust & respect for each other's time

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#4: Trust & respect for each other's time

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Invite received at 5:59pm for a 6pm call.
Messages on Work Chat NONSTOP.

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It's harder to pick up on someone's reactions and actual mental state virtually, as compared to when you're in person, being able to pick up on their body language and other cues.

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- Workload (high workload remain the same)
- Engagement (staff engagement: F2F vs Virtual)
- Compliance to Regulations remain the same!

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1) focus better, lesser meetings/interactions
2) saves traveling & fashion/dress-up time
3) we become more adaptable

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#6: Technology - not always a friend/ enabler

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#6: Technology - not always a friend/ enabler

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"Caaaaan you seeeeee my screeeeeeeeeen"
"Sorry my building has an electrical outtage"
"My WIFI sucks today, I need to tether"
"Sorry, you're on mute"

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1. Shift in the way we track performance/outcomes. Task or project oriented.
2. Lesser team bonding and physical interaction.
3. New hire training constraints (Example, training and general engagement)
4. Arrange routine/daily meetings for updates.

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Grp 1 - Loss of facetime (tracking performance)

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Grp 1 - Loss of facetime (tracking performance)

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1) Things to re-learn:
- IT tools for hybrid co-working, e.g. Teams, Zoom,

- trust that laggy response to work chat means that they are busy and occupied at work

- outcome driven assessment of performance instead of interaction volume

2) Things to unlearn:
- needing face to face interactions to get project status updates,

- mindset that needs to see physical presence,

3) Things to pick up:
- project mgmt tools to help real-time update of project status

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Group 2 - Loss of spontaneous communication

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Group 2 - Loss of spontaneous communication

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1 Things to unlearn:
Not to work in silo - not not-communicate
Not to be complacent and take things & people for granted
Not to make assumption

2 Things to relearn
Learn to communicate
Make small talks before e-Meeting while waiting for people to join
Collaborate with new technology eg. file sharing on sharepoint

3 Things to pick up
Intentionally listening
Making effort to be present

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1a Unlearn - Moving away from using physical presence as an indicator of being present at work. Focus on outputs.

1b Learn - Effective communication & Adjust KPIs to more accurately measure productivity

1c Pick-up - Respectful of each other's time in terms of availability to discuss work related activities.

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Group 4 - Loss of Office Pantry (Team Bonding) 

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Group 4 - Loss of Office Pantry (Team Bonding) 

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1. Things to Relearn

Team bonding activities (eg. employees monthly catch up session) to comply with current regulatory requirements. Move toward virtual session instead of F2F.

2. Things to Unlearn

Concise Meeting Agenda (keeping to 1hr) --> informal sharing of work updates

3. Things to pick up

Intentionally arrangement and set aside time despite work requirements

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Grp5 - Loss of office pantry-Team bonding

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Grp5 - Loss of office pantry-Team bonding

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1.Unlearnt- no physical bonding place, must find online alternative or any outside cafe; no lunches in groups;
2.Relearnt- redefining concept of team bonding to better define relationship; building friendship; organise gathering to bond
3.Pickup- celebrate little success to share each other on; proactively contact each other

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1. Frequent updates (keep the team informed). (Example; Project updates/status)

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Q1: Revenue/ segments/ PLF

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3. Setting work scope and timeline. Focus is on good work delivery and on target.

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1. Once we have established tasks to different team members and timeline, they will update their completed work in Drop Box e.g. updating of ppt training slides, etc.

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1.What will “visible work” be like in your team context?
> Weekly team meeting to share and update on our own to-do items using JIRA

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1. Visible work will mean an update of project status on tasks that they are accountable for and execution of ideas and plans.

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1. Providing updates on Weekly Update meetings and also update on Jira

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- On a weekly basis, set up fixed meeting schedule where the team comes together to track and monitor activities and projects
- Brief minutes can also allow project to be monitored regularly and action items to be followed up in an agreed lead time

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1.What will “visible work” be like in your team context?

- When internal and external stakeholders benefit from system enhancements, in terms of the convenience from automated / shortened work processes (Stakeholders are very vocal about it)
- Increase in volume / quality of work delivered (Eg. expedited bookings creation etc)

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2. How can leaders set and align expectations to organizational goals?
>>Get involvement and buy-in from the top (and also bottom-up with the working team) at the start where objectives and approaches are aligned, and subsequently, by keeping them abreast as the project unfolds and develops.

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1. Updating on the progress or status during the meeting or via the MS Teams. Keeping the team in the loop of things.

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3. Look at partnering with the team through understanding needs and removing friction and helping them thrive instead of focusing on managing performance. Performance is an output of the team's contribution.

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#3
Improve time management, prioritise tasks and split work into smaller tasks to have incremental result.

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1. Visible work mean where there are updates/ progress, achievement and results. Constant pulse check session to keep understanding and target align.

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1. Use data and dashboards to monitor and track work done - for less visible operational BAUs
2. Overarching vision can be reiterated in every team meeting, and guide decision-making.

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Qn 1 What will “visible work” be like in your team context?

Usage of JIRA -> able to track tasks (epic & child problem) & status

Able to know the timeline and progress of the completion status of the tasks to be done for the project