6 Tips to Stay Connected as a Team When Working Remotely

Working remotely doesn’t mean you can’t still stay connected and collaborate with your coworkers. However, you may need to get creative and be more intentional about staying connected with your team when you can’t just walk over to their desk or grab lunch together every day. Here are six helpful tips on how to stay connected as a remote team.

1)    Have the Correct Tools in Place

In the age of remote work, teams need to have the correct tools in place. Communication and connectivity are especially important for remote workers, which is why there are many collaboration tools for remote teams. Keeping team members on task with project management apps like Jira, Monday.com, and Click Up can help them stay up to date and organized with project progress. Having a communication tool like Slack, Google Chat, Trello, or Discord to chat throughout the workday is also essential.

One tool you might not have considered for your team is a shared office space or coworking space. These spaces provide an environment where teams can come together and collaborate while also having time to work individually when needed. Renting out an office space for a day for planning or team collaboration is a great way to get together in a professional office space while maintaining a remote or hybrid work environment.

2)    Encourage Good Communication Habits

Working remotely sometimes means your employees aren’t always in the office and they might not be able to communicate with each other and their managers as often. Remote workers must be encouraged to communicate with colleagues over chats and calls frequently. Providing updates often, calling coworkers when needed, and checking are all good communication habits to encourage in your team.

3) Meet in Person Whenever Possible

If possible, meet in person at an office, at a coworking space, or a café. This allows you an opportunity to collaborate as a team and learn more about your coworkers. You’ll also be able to have in person conversations and brainstorming sessions that you might not be able to have virtually. Meeting in-person as much as possible will help your team stay cohesive while maintaining a remote or hybrid work environment.

4) Frequently Check in With Team Members Virtually

Quick social check-in sessions with team members to stay connected and learn more about them are crucial. These should be quick chat that are not realted to work. You should also encourage team members to give updates on their work, share insights about their day-to-day activities, and ask for feedback from others whenever possible. You can also create positive team engagement by encouraging team members to give each other feedback and praise. Kudos is an employee recognition platform that can help make giving shoutouts to team members easy.

5) Create an Exciting Work Space

Offering access to office space for your team is a great way to provide an exciting hybrid work environment that fosters collaboration. Coworking spaces can be a great option as they often have access to luxurious amenities like lounging spaces, a café, and meeting rooms. They also offer a place to host social events regularly. Encouraging colleagues to meet for social activities is a great way to connect outside of work. Many coworking spaces also offer community events and activities your team members can choose to participate in.

6) Build Trust Among Colleagues

Your employees and teammates need to be trusted to work independently while maintaining communication in a remote or hybrid work environment. To build this trust, team members need to outline when they will be available and when not to expect an answer. This can be done with regular check-ins or by creating boundaries around work times. Many communication tools have a feature to set your status as on lunch or out of the office. You can also update your calendar to show your availability. Knowing when team members are available or online will help improve collaboration and communication.

Collaboration, Connectivity & Community at Venture X

At Venture X Canada, we know how important collaboration, connectivity, and community are for big teams as well as individual workers and small businesses. We try to foster these values within our coworking spaces and our culture as much as possible. We offer various workspaces including open desks and meeting rooms for teamwork and Community memberships with access to one day pass per month and conference room usage at member rates. We also offer space for private functions including social work events or parties, training sessions, or corporate events. Visit our website for more information on Venture X Canada coworking spaces and benefits.