In today’s post, I have another video tip on leading a hybrid team. Back in Strategy #7 and Strategy #9, I talked about the importance of holding weekly virtual team meetings. If you think about your team meeting as being your single chance to convey important well-timed reliable information that comes from a dependable source – you – then regular virtual team meetings make a lot of sense. And perhaps just as importantly, a regular team meeting is your opportunity to create team spirit, to build morale and excitement, and to encourage good working relationships, all so important when it comes to leading a hybrid team. For that reason, today’s tip is focused on specific ideas to build camaraderie at your virtual team meetings.
Use your regular virtual team meetings as a way to build team spirit and camaraderie
Just like you put work items on your meeting agenda, you should also plan for activities to build team spirit and camaraderie. Here are three specific items you should include in every virtual team meeting.
- Encourage your staff to keep their videos on. Sometimes people are concerned because they have children or pets around, or because they are eating. Let them know that it’s okay to have an unexpected visitor, or to eat lunch why you all talk.
- Make sure you build in time for catch-up and random conversations. Before an in-person meeting, team members usually talk among themselves – often about work matters, but sometimes they share personal details with each other as well. So build in extra time at the beginning and the end to let people talk amongst themselves. Show them that it’s okay to do so by starting up a non-work conversation yourself.
- Play contests and games. You can play online bingo, just google online bingo for lots of choices for bingo cards. You can play the guess the refrigerator. Take photos and people have to guess whose fridge it is. Hold a typing speed race, go to typingtest.com. Give away silly prizes.
Now obviously, these three suggestions are not an exhaustive list. But even if you just do these three, you will be taking giant steps forward in ensuring that you are building a cohesive team spirit and high morale within your people. And if you come up with more ideas, even better!
Leading a hybrid team takes deliberate effort
And if you’re looking for more tips about leading a hybrid team, here are some of the more recent ones:
- Strategy #18: Be vigilant about signs of burnout
- Strategy #17: Give equal “air time” to both your virtual and onsite employees
- Strategy #16: Trust your people
Or just access the full series here: Leading Hybrid and Virtual Teams Video Series