The work done in remote teams has increased by 63% over the last decade. The joys of working in your bathrobe come with their fair share of disadvantages, one of which is a lack connection between colleagues. It is difficult for your people to bond with each other when they hardly ever see each other in person. However, with these few simple tips, you can create the deep meaningful connection among team members, even in remote work scenarios.
Speak Your Appreciation
Make it the first agenda item of every session to take some time for the team to celebrate recent wins by acknowledging even small items of progress since last time. A good format is simply to open the line for anybody who wants call out a win to do so by stating both the positive progress achieved and the quality expressed by the person involved that made it happen.
Name the Emotion
A great way to deepen person to person connection is by highlighting the emotions that arise during a call. Use statements like “I can see how you could be frustrated by that” or “wow, it’s incredible to see how passionate you are about this project”. When team members are heard for what the feel, not just what they think, they open up.
Arouse their Imagination
Punctuate key moments in the conversation with comments that draw a picture in the mind’s eye of those online. For example, to close a topic you might say, “Thanks for coming up with a great solution…I just see the smile on the faces of our customers as they see you implementing that.”
Use Short Videos
It is very powerful to send team 1-minute videos of what your vision or feeling about a particular topic and have team members do the same. So much easier to communicate your passion or concern that way. So much quicker for people to give input. And when you meet in person having viewed each others’ videos, there this feeling of hitting the ground running, of being with people who feel close.
At Numina, we’ve created a system that creates mutual trust in teams despite the distance. If you believe your team would benefit with a customized, intimacy focused coaching experience, we suggest taking advantage of our two free trial sessions. Contact us to schedule your first call and begin building powerful bridges within your team today.