5 Fun Ways to Keep the Team Spirit High With a Virtual Breaktime
As working remotely is slowly becoming the new normal, it is up to company managers to get creative and come up with effective ways to improve team interaction, productivity, and motivation. This is especially important to achieve if employers are running remote teams from all over the world who lack the group cohesion and connection that is necessary to create a positive work culture.
Out of the many options available, incorporating virtual coffee meetings has recently become the best way to bring coworkers together and develop a genuine bond, even if they are far apart. During these meetings, people can catch up on small talk, discuss future projects, and even engage in team-building activities, all of which can help enhance their connection and increase productivity.
So, if you are planning on incorporating virtual meetings in your company, here are five great ideas to help you keep up the team spirit high while working remotely.
Organize Weekly Catch-Up Meetings
Organizing weekly catch-up meetings is a great virtual breaktime idea you should consider. For this, you can schedule a brief preview meeting one day of the week, preferably Monday, where the agenda will be to gather all team members for a quick chat.
During this meeting, you shouldn’t talk about anything work-related, but rather discuss other important topics such as the wellness of the team and personal events that happened last week or are going to take place next week. Make sure you give all of your employees a chance to speak up and share ideas so you can improve team communication and engagement.
Host Team Brunch Gatherings
Since spontaneous interactions between coworkers in the office kitchen during break time are not possible when working remotely, you can take advantage of your virtual meetings to invite your employees for a casual brunch. All you have to do is create a meeting for your team that will be open for all employees to log into anytime and join brunch for random conversations.
Make things more interesting by coming up with a brunch menu your team members need to follow so the whole event can resemble the social gathering you used to do when you were working in the office.
You can use communication tools like chat and video conferencing to create virtual watercooler moments. Encourage team members to use these tools to chat with each other informally, just as they would if they were in the same physical location. This can help team members feel connected and can foster a sense of community among your team.
Schedule Remote Happy Hours
There is no question that work sometimes can get really stressful and significantly affect everyone’s mood. That’s why many company managers schedule occasional happy hours to allow workers to get a break from their workloads and have fun.
Since these events aren’t feasible when working from home, you can take advantage of your virtual meetings and schedule virtual happy hours to let your team decompress while having a drink.
You can make these occasions more fun by creating themed happy hours or trying out different drinks each time you gather around remotely.
Host Team-Building Activities
If there is one thing employees are looking forward to is team-building activities. The benefits of these activities go beyond engaging in fun exercises that help release stress and allow workers to grow closer together.
In fact, hosting regular team-building activities also contributes to improving employee collaboration, communication, and morale, all of which lead to employee retention, productivity, and engagement.
That’s why company managers should take advantage of their virtual coffee meetings and organize fun team-building activities to reap all the benefits they offer. Some ideas you can consider are a virtual scavenger hunt, karaoke, trivia night, and online office Olympics.
Celebrate Milestones Remotely
Another fun virtual breaktime idea you can consider is celebrating office and employee milestones. This way you are giving your team members a great opportunity to stay connected with each other and recognize both the company’s and personal achievements, even if they cannot be in the same place.
Whether the company has successfully completed a project or an employee has reached a certain work position milestone, virtual recognition meetings are a great excuse to have an online party. All you have to do is ask everyone to bring their own drinks and snacks or have a small party gift box sent to everyone’s homes.
Final Thoughts
Even if your employees are working remotely, it doesn’t mean you cannot improve their interactions far away from the office setting. By incorporating virtual breaktime meetings you are allowing your team members to come together for a quick chat, discuss office or personal projects, and exchange ideas, all while having a cup of coffee or a snack.
Incorporating virtual breaktime meetings can be a simple and effective way to improve social connections and foster a sense of community among your remote team. Additionally, virtual breaktime meetings can also be a great way to improve team communication and collaboration.
By providing a regular opportunity for team members to interact and share ideas, you can help your team stay connected and on the same page, even when working remotely. It’s important to create a sense of community and connection among your team, especially when working remotely, and virtual breaktime meetings can be a great way to achieve this.
In case you need inspiration, borrow some of our ideas and make your virtual catchups more interesting.