Ah, remote work: the new reality that hit us all and made so many headlines in 2020!
Over the past few months, some people adapted quickly, but for others, the challenge has been harder. The question many are asking: how can you keep your team more engaged while working remotely?
At Cyberimpact, remote work is also part of our new daily routine. Over time, we’ve come up with a few ways to make the most of this new way of working, and we’re sharing some ideas you can try in your own company.
Innovative ideas to keep your team engaged
Internally and with some of our suppliers, we use Slack and Trello for communication and task management. Slack is a professional social network that tends to replace the coffee machine, and it lets you brighten a colleague’s day with a good GIF! Many other communication tools, such as Hangouts, Teams and Messenger, can help you recreate a similar atmosphere.
On our end, we set up a space in Slack for topics that aren’t work-related. This dedicated space lets our employees take their minds off work and have a laugh. We’ve seen that our team benefits greatly from it.
At the start of every day, we also take the time to ask each employee what they did yesterday, what they’ll do today, what roadblocks they’re facing and how we can help them solve them. It sparks interesting and important conversations among our team members!
Here are a few ideas to keep your team motivated, even from a distance!
Plan virtual activities or events
Even if we can’t meet in person, it’s important to talk a little.
- Hold a company event (holiday party, happy hour, etc.)
- Organize a quick weekly meeting to kick off the week or look back on the one that just ended.
- Create or improve a recognition program, e.g., employee of the month.
Every year, we usually take part in the traditional “boss’s BBQ.” This year, we had to reinvent it: the boss prepared his BBQ and delivered it to each employee’s home. Which brings us to the next idea...
Surprise your employees at home
At Cyberimpact, we had small surprises delivered to team members on a few occasions to thank them. Our employees were surprised and delighted!
- Meals, in collaboration with local partners;
- Personalized gift boxes for your employees;
- Or follow a theme (Halloween, Christmas, Easter) to surprise your employees and their families.
Yum! That was good!
Organize challenges or games
- Hold an internal contest with photos (e.g., home garden, best snowman, cutest pet, etc.).
- Organize an inter-team challenge
- Ask your employees to share ideas for improving working conditions.
For example, we organized an Advent calendar activity where everyone had to post a photo or answer a question on a different topic each day. It sparked lots of conversations!
For Halloween, we held a pumpkin decorating contest; the pumpkins were delivered to each family along with little surprises for the kids. They turned out pretty well, don’t you think?
Keys to success
To make these ideas work, it’s important to first consider your position on these measures and how much importance you’ll give them. An employee who is happy and comfortable in their work environment (physical or virtual) is the result of how their employer treats and values them.
Informal communication is just as important as formal communication, because it adds to the happiness you want for your team.
A happy team is a strong, united team!
This article was written in collaboration with William Pinard, General Manager at Cyberimpact, and Valérie Simard of Consultation VS.