Steps for building effective teams

• Loneliness was reported as the biggest downside for 21% of remote employees, and one of the reasons that makes them more likely to quit.
• Most remote managers say they’d be more inclined to stay if they had more friends at work.
• Individuals who have 15 minutes to socialize with colleagues have a 20% increase in performance over their peers who don't.
• Positive social relationships are correlated with better life expectancy.

If your icebreaker questions are intriguing, cheeky, humorous – the answers you receive will be, too.

Many remote teams will kick off their weekly meeting with an icebreaker question or insert it during their morning stand-up meeting. Even more popular is asking a series of icebreaker questions during the onboarding process when hiring someone.

Companies with increased growth are 72% more likely to have high diversity in their organization.

Use Learning & Development (L&D) training to raise awareness about the current state of diversity and inclusion in your work environment.

Up to 70% of trainees forget what they learn within 24 hours after training. However, it does not have to be the case for your employees.

An effective leader will implement and integrate an agile training infrastructure into their daily operations that can change quickly to keep up with the pace of innovation.

This stage of teamwork is all about first meetings and first impressions.

What everyone needs most is a clear understanding of their part in the journey and a setup for building emotional connections. Setting goals together puts their skills and interests into the open.

Most teams go through the storming stage in some form or another because discord is inevitable. The key value to emphasize in the team is positive intent. 

A little conflict is needed to bring upfront weak spots in projects and to bring new valid arguments to the table. But constant storming leads to the destruction of productivity, projects, and ultimately, the team itself.

To make your remote workers really feel connected, use instantaneous messaging tools that organize conversations into customizable channels. You should also create channels that allow your remote workers to chat about topics unrelated to work so they can benefit from the social aspects of work and strengthen their bonds. 

Face-to-face interaction is an effective way to make your remote workers feel more connected. Holding regular video meetings will allow remote workers to get that face time they're missing and form bonds with their co-workers.

To build even stronger connections during your weekly video meetings, don't talk only about work. Add a personal touch like allowing team members to share any good news they have. 

Most effective one on one meetings typically last about 30 minutes:

• 10 minutes for the direct report from the employee;
• 10 minutes for the manager’s remarks and messages, and;
• 10 minutes for the employee and manager to draw a way forward.

• find out about the employee’s current emotional state.
• track the status of the employee’s performance and how their goals are coming along.
• learn if there are any obstacles in the way to the employee’s goals.
• discuss specific issues – either the employee’s, the manager’s, or both.
• get honest value-added feedback from the employee.
• provide an opportunity for the manager to coach the employee.
• share formal and informal information about the team and company as a whole.

Even high-performing employees can face a decline in job performance and engagement when working remotely. This can be due to:

• Lack of face-to-face supervision, which leads to a two-way communication gap and even mistrust.
• There is a delay in the procurement of information as remote workers aren’t able to sense the atmosphere and real-time events at the workplace, leading to a lack of ‘mutual knowledge’.
• A sense of isolation among remote workers, leading to a feeling of less belongingness within the organization.
• Distractions at home due to unplanned work-from-home transition, with employees balancing childcare and many other responsibilities along with work.

A few specific, research-backed steps that can be taken to improve the engagement and productivity of remote employees:

• Establishing Structured Daily check-ins, by establishing a daily call or touchpoint.
• Providing several different communication technology options, using virtual communication tools like Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc., and making use of video conferencing.
• Establishing clear rules of engagement for communicating with the coworkers or the managers, according to the levels of urgency.
• Providing opportunities for remote social interaction by talking about non-work activities, thereby reducing the feeling of isolation among remote workers.
• Offering encouragement and emotional support by listening to the workers, acknowledging their stress, and keeping their needs and issues in focus.

Even when poor behavior affects our work negatively and we have a regularly established open space for criticism, we still often hold back for fear of getting a negative reaction.

Most people rather receive feedback on what they did wrong than just praise on their successes. So while we tend to categorize this as negative feedback, the communication is often viewed positively.

Too often, people over complicate the process of giving corrective feedback. It doesn’t require elaborate stories or some pop psychology analysis. 

Just a straightforward discussion with a few key points will do.

The best attribute to bring to a team is adaptability. To become more flexible in your thinking:

• Keep learning. Jot down new information as you learn it.
• Think beyond your role. Learn a little bit about everyone’s duties, especially those higher up on the ladder than you. 
• Think creatively. Look for unconventional solutions when you meet a challenge.

Grow your enthusiasm by:

• Showing a sense of urgency. Give yourself deadlines for completing the steps of a project.
• Taking on more. Do what is required and then go beyond the assignment.
• Striving for excellence. Nothing breeds enthusiasm like the feeling of success that follows a job well done.

Start at the endpoint: What is the outcome you want and why? Leave the team some flexibility to develop the best way to get there.

Without a clear sense of what the team needs to accomplish and how a successful outcome will be defined, it's impossible to assemble the right group of people to get there.

Look at the workflow and resources available to help you understand the scope of the project and what support the team will need to be successful.

Important questions to keep in mind: Is your organization prepared to support the team in its objectives? Will they have the right tools and resources to complete their tasks? How will you measure their efficiency during the process and monitor it for improvement?