4 Ways to Strengthen Communication Among Remote Employees 🌐

A major challenge for remote teams is maintaining a level of communication among employees that resembles working together in an office. While it may seem impossible to match the in-person experience, some fun and effective creative solutions come close. Here are four ways to facilitate better communication for your remote team, to virtually emulate the in-person experience.

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Virtual Watercooler Chats 🚰

• Create a space for casual drop-in chats. Set up a virtual room, discussion board, or video chat channel to allow your employees to check in with their teammates on a whim.
  
  

• Use a platform like Slack to engage employees and name it something fun like ‘watercooler chats channel.’
  
  
  

Team Events and Activities 🧩

• Host events and activities for employees to encourage team bonding through socialization and games.
  
  
• You can center your event around a game, like JeopardyLabs for custom online trivia or skribbl a multiplayer drawing and guessing game.
  
  
• Crowdsource event ideas to get the team involved and excited about the event. You can start a poll in a Slack or Microsoft Teams channel to start a public discussion. Or gather information with a survey tool like Slido or SurveyMonkey.
  
  
  

Office Simulation 🏢

Set up a virtual office using platforms like Team Flow, Gather, or Remo to create a shared space that simulates working in an office.

• Have fun personalizing rooms for individuals and departments.
  
  
• Designate different areas for particular purposes, like office hours, lunch, games, and meetings.
  
  
• Make sure the program supports video chat for live calls.

Regular Check-ins 🗓️

• The best tool for building rapport and problem-solving with individuals on your team is one-on-one meetings. Block off recurring time in your calendar to facilitate moments of communication and connection.
  
  
• Scheduling departmental check-ins can strengthen communication and bonding amongst your team. Schedule a regular time, every week or two, for each department to come together to express challenges, ask for support and guidance from colleagues, or share a social moment.
  
  
• Go into one-on-ones and department-wide check-ins prepared with questions, observations, and feedback (always start with the positives and wins). Give your employees time to bring up whatever they want to talk about during these sessions.

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Put these suggestions to the test and see what resonates with your team. Your team’s overall level of communication might be better off for it!