Building a Connection in Virtual Teams with Relaxing Activities | #hrmanagement #hrexecutive

Remote working can be a stressful thing if not catered to in the proper manner. Coming from someone who was working remotely and was also hired via a completely remote process with zero in-person interaction with anyone from my workplace. I know how emotionally and physically draining it can be. 

Creating a close bond with remote employees is hard if you ask me because it requires a lot of strength and courage to engage with someone from behind the screen. You don’t know them like you do your other employees whom you have met in person, and things are just very, very awkward. 

But someone has to break the ice because it will become a nuisance for you instead if you have a hard time building a connection with your workplace remotely. Coming from personal experience, it gets hard, and by the end of the day, work gets disturbed when your own communication with the said team members is rigid. 

Building an understanding is essential, and that is why we have listed below some of the best virtual activities that you can work on with your team to enhance and build a friendly and productive environment. 

1. Virtual Movie Nights

Work can be strenuous, and to take one’s mind off from it and have a more casual approach in getting to know your team is either via a get-together or a dinner. But since none of that is possible when you are remote hiring, that too from anywhere from the world, a rather appropriate approach can be a virtual movie night. Since cinemas are not in service now, and it’s not safe to get together for a movie night, we would always choose a virtual option. Select any movie that everyone enjoys, or simply follow the ScreenBinge guides to get HBO Max in your region and watch the latest releases on it. 

2. Weekly Quiz Nights

Not trying to kill your weekend night, but a lot of us have nothing better to do anyway. When the world used to spend their weekends with friends or by themselves, things were different then. And they are different now because of the pandemic. So to keep everyone occupied and to let go of the gloomy “alone on a Friday night” vibe, y’all can have a quiz night. With informative and technical questions which will lead towards an amazing prize in the end. The kind of motivation we all need.

3. Virtual Game Nights

Ever thought about maintaining a board game on your own for yourself and other people? It may seem like a hassle, but trust me when I say this will be way better than binge-watching any show in your free time and will be an enjoyable experience. Board games are always fun, and it creates a bond between people so quickly that you can also get to know about their thinking skills and strategies based on these games. Plus, you get to open up and stand out in the crowd as well. 

4. Bucket List Sharing

Another thing that brings people together is their shared dreams and similarities. And what’s a better way to open up and bond with your fellow team members by sharing your dreams and approach about life itself. Sharing your bucket list will be an excellent insight for not only yourself but also others. People with similar goals will definitely relate to you and have something in common with you as well. 

Moreover, all these activities are a mixture of bonding, building a connection and simultaneously describing the kind of person you are to your team. Opening up about life itself is one of the rawest and the most original factors involved in this process. It may seem like you’re sharing too much, but you can share without revealing too much and maintaining your privacy as well. 

Your work buddies are humans as well, with lives, and they can be your best friends too if the vibe matches. So, take inspiration from The Bold Type on how to be friends with your co-workers and keep it non-toxic as well; it may seem too good to be accurate but, it does exist, and with this bonding, I too found multiple friends in my own workplace. Friends that I will cherish for life, even when I am working 100% remotely. 

Photo by Yan Krukov from Pexels