Going beyond Zoom, here’s how the Komorabi team have been maintaining our team spirit despite the distance.
Teambuilding activities and away days have long provided ways to build connections between employees, despite their tendency to prompt unenthusiastic sighs across the office.
Change is here! At Komorabi, we have designed our team-building activities to include both immersive games, because – fun! AND volunteering, because doing good always makes you feel good. But what can you do if your team is scattered in home offices or even overseas?
Why remote socialising matters
There’s a huge difference between “I’m online”, and “I’m present and ready to contribute.” We must remember that there is a person behind the Slack name, or email address, who needs to be connected with on a human level to get the best out of them.
Over half of remote employees say they have never had a team building session, according to a study TeamBonding. By organising virtual team building exercises, employees will feel valued as individuals worthy of investment, and viewed no differently to office-based workers.
The importance of chit chat
According to the Harvard Business Review, “close work friendships boost employee satisfaction by 50%.” Furthermore, “people with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to engage fully in their work.” Basically, it’s a personal chit-chat that helps employees relate to each other.
Donut is a fantastic Slack extension that creates random pairings of team members every 1-4 weeks for virtual meet-ups that can last anywhere from 15-30 minutes. After about 4 months of using Donut, the Komorabi team regularly has a natter over a cup of tea – more than can be said for a lot of in-office-teams!
Aloha is another slack extension that welcomes new employees and urges them to introduce themselves to the team. Aloha is perfect for remote teams to use in onboarding, a great way to give a warm welcome.
Our fabulous founder Maria Lazar recently set up a “Just for fun” Slack channel for team camaraderie, currently dominated by pet photos and funny gifs. We use it to ask for recipe advice or holiday recommendations, and it acts just like the space around the kettle in an office kitchen. We wholly recommend it!
Fun and games
If you haven’t yet heard about Houseparty, you’re in for a treat. A less “corporate option”, Houseparty lets you have an epic virtual games night through activities like Heads Up, Quick Draw and Trivia. We like Heads Up best, which challenges players to help their teammates guess the word without actually saying it.
Who doesn’t love a bit of trivia down the pub? When the pub isn’t an option, Quizup is the next best thing. With over 1,200 topics to choose from, there’s something to engage even the most shy employees.
We recently ran our very own Komorabi online game, Heroes of History! Part quiz, part scavenger hunt and part volunteering challenges. If players managed to solve the clues, they received a video message from the famous figure themselves – Komorabi actors rose to the challenge of becoming Marie Curie!
