Working With Great People… in My PJs!
Bonding ideas for your far-flung team
For the past couple of years I’ve been in a love-hate relationship with remote work. On one hand, nothing beats the convenience of taking a Go-To-Market Review meeting on zoom in your PJs. In a remote world, I’m just a click away from hopping on a quick huddle, sending next steps over Slack, or meeting with someone from across the country, all from the comfort of my apartment.
On the other hand, from small talk to happy Fridays, coffee runs and lunch breaks, and the comfort that comes along with having some company while you work, working IRL undeniably has its perks. Social bonding and a sense of community comes easier when you’re face to face with the people you work with, in a way that’s not always easy to replicate when every zoom link comes with an agenda and a 40 minute time limit .
This all got me thinking, can the in-person experience be replicated in a virtual work world? To find out, I decided to take a stroll down to the old virtual watercooler to get the real tea from my colleagues on how they felt about remote work, and what companies can do to level up the remote experience. They had plenty to say, but for your convenience, here are the highlights:
Virtual Team Bonding
Nothing beats face-to-face social hours at work, but watching your co-workers crumble when they choose the assassin card in Codenames comes pretty close. First on the list is obviously virtual bonding events. This one might be controversial because team bonding events can feel like the big “laugh now” sign they use for sitcoms — “mandatory fun”. But with the right set of games, you and your team can break up your 9–5, get to know each other, and have a few genuine laughs. At Resultid, we dig our game nights. On a bi-weekly basis, we ring in the end of the work week with games like Mafia, Secret Hitler, and Codenames. As a member of the ~party planning committee~ I have escape rooms and Skull King (outwit your opponents as a pirate!) in the plans. There’s a world of virtual games out there that you can use to bond with your team far and wide, and is one of the best ways to make remote working feel a little less isolated.
Free Food
If the lure of virtual card games doesn’t work, free food definitely will. What better way to encourage your team to hop on the zoom if your next bonding activity comes with an Uber Eats stipend? After all, the best way to eliminate town members in a game of Mafia is over a plate of your favorite meal, on the company card of course 😎.
Fun Group Chats
Say it with me: not all group chats have to be work related. Let’s be honest, you’re not always talking to your coworkers about work. Sometimes it’s commenting on how nice the weather is, or asking what someone did over the weekend, or sharing conspiracy theories over what genre we think Taylor Swift’s album “Midnight” will be (team rock all the way). In short, you shouldn’t have to miss out on all that fun small talk just because you’re working remotely. Our default communication method is via Slack. My personal favorite asynchronous Slack channel is probably #random, where we drop– (are you ready for this… — random finds). This has actually been the most effective way for me to get to know the broader team, who I often don’t get the chance to catch up with. Occasionally, we’re even lucky enough to bond over some wholesome AI inputs or data tests.
Give Out Merch!
On that note of free food, consider its complement: free stuff. There is nothing I crave more from my place of work than a nice, cozy branded crewneck. From stationaries, to desk ornaments, to hats, to hoodies, merchandise is a fun way to make work feel more tangible, and allow employees to display their company logo with pride.
Occasional In-Person Meetups
Just because you’re a remote team doesn’t mean you can’t meet in person! The Resultid team has tried doing US meetups at least once a year, and I’m personally excited to see our broader team in New York City later this year. As a fully remote team, we aren’t restricted to one city. If you’re traveling to the same place as one of your co-workers, try to grab lunch or coffee together, or even work with them for today. Group offsites can also be a great way to prioritize team-building and create an opportunity for everyone to meet each other in person.
The world is much smaller now thanks to the internet, but that doesn’t mean corporate life is getting less lonely. On the contrary, remote work, while convenient, leaves less room for social team building, which can be vital for productivity and employee satisfaction. That doesn’t make it impossible though, in fact, we’d argue that cyberspace is a great place to build a sense of community in your virtual workplace. Although I’d love to see my Resultid co-workers more in person, our remote working style has given me the opportunity to work with unique talent from all over the world to build our amazing product. From New Jersey to Turkey, marketers to software engineers, we’ve been able to accomplish so much because of our talented team, and it’s been a real pleasure to watch us grow with our amazing, transformative data-storytelling machine.
