"At a time when workplace mental health was already a growing talking point, the last few months have truly highlighted the importance of simple team morale."
Can you remember the last time you squeezed into a crowded conference room, or piled into the office kitchen for an end-of-week beer? Work doesn’t look like it used to – and it’s looking increasingly likely that it never will again. In many cases it’s impossible to know when you’ll next be in the same room as your colleagues.
Lockdown has presented innumerable challenges for businesses of all shapes and sizes. From simply staying afloat to scaling back staff or rethinking their entire offering, many companies around the UK bear little resemblance to what they were before March. And with businesses reshaped and reconfigured, it’s not simply been a case of plugging in the laptops, opening up the conference calling software and ploughing on as usual.
Being isolated from colleagues has a huge, tangible impact on teams and their individual members, and it’s impossible to underestimate what an impact this can have on the performance of an organisation. For many managers, the key to success during this period hasn’t been keeping spreadsheets looking healthy but keeping employees engaged, happy and motivated every single day. At a time when workplace mental health was already a growing talking point, the last few months have truly highlighted the importance of simple team morale. It’s one thing no business can do without.
Keeping teams engaged remotely
Every office has its own unique culture, and all the technology in the world is no substitute for the genuine buzz of a happy and thriving workplace. But what’s important to remember is that nine times out of ten, it’s the after-work socials, the quiz nights, the team building days – all those little out of the ordinary moments – where memories and friendships that can last a whole career are forged. Brilliant workplace cultures exist because people have had the chance to bond away from their desks, and these connections feed back into the work that they do as teams.
This means that remote employee engagement isn’t just about checking in on a video call as many times as possible per day. It’s about recreating those unique experiences at home, and ensuring that teams forge the same bonds that have always resulted in collaboration and great work. Teams that talk about more than their work can motivate one another whatever they face – and at the moment, that’s more important than ever.
Team building is especially crucial in the current climate, and whether you’re shifting to a permanent remote working structure or itching to get everyone back into the building, it will equip your teams for the months and years ahead.
At Wildgoose we’ve always been proud of the positive culture in our offices, and we know a thing or two about reinvention during lockdown, too – having repurposed our business in order to develop and deliver the world’s leading virtual team building events. So how exactly do you go about keeping teams engaged at a distance?
Here are the solutions Wildgoose can bring to your business, no matter how many miles your team members are separated by…
The Team Quiz
There’s nothing quite like a quiz to bring people together. Any form of social is great for team bonding, but there’s something about that fast-paced competitive environment – it creates connections that really stick. Relationships formed in events like quizzes can go on to mean better communication at work and easier collaboration.
Your team might just be more deserving than ever of a chance to let their hair down, and our virtual quiz is designed to replace the after-work social and allow people to do exactly that. Played from the comfort of colleagues’ own homes, this challenging quiz involves everyone and is guaranteed to bring the laughs.
The Virtual Away Day
Our Virtual Away Day takes things to the next level – delivering an exciting and memorable experience for everyone involved in that unique way that (usually) only a trip out of the office can. Played from home via participants’ own devices, this exhilarating set of challenges brings everything that’s best about the classic away day into the remote working environment.
Working against the clock, players need to communicate and work closely in order to score the maximum number of points possible. It’s fun, it’s fast-paced and it’s bound to keep employees engaged with one another and reinforce a positive company culture like nothing else can.
The Virtual Escape Room
Your team might show logic, creative problem solving and communication skills in meetings, but there’s nothing like the pressure of an escape room to make sure those qualities are really honed! Encouraging colleagues to work together to complete a set of cryptic tasks, riddles and puzzles will get them well and truly engaged with one another.
Completed from the comfort of their own homes via our interactive app with image recognition and augmented reality technology, our escape room will push teams to the limit as they unravel clues and avoid curveballs against the clock.
The Virtual Murder Mystery
Changing careers for a few hours might not seem the most obvious way for teams to build their communication skills, but by playing detective and becoming lead investigators to solve a murder, they’ll truly bond in ways that translate back into the regular working day. Our murder mystery delivers all the fun of a regular murder mystery party with none of the dressing up.
With the body of an internationally renowned lawyer found at an old manor house, there’s a real sense of urgency to begin ruling out suspects and bring the killer to justice. Only by using their problem solving skills and teamwork – all from the comfort of their homes – can your team succeed!
Looking for something different?
Take a look at our in-person events to find out how we can deliver exactly what your team is looking for.
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