You receive a call from the employer you’ve been interviewing with for the past three weeks; you were just hired for the position. Filled with excitement, you immediately call your friends and family to tell them the good news. Reality finally sets in, you’ve just landed the job of your dreams, but there’s only one thing you forgot to take into account: your new position is remote.
You’ve never held a remote job before, so the thought of it is slightly intimidating, however, it doesn’t have to be. In fact, there are a number of benefits to working remotely. Your new and improved lifestyle now includes: no daily commute, improved work/life balance, a flexible schedule that suits you, less office politics, reducing your carbon footprint, better overall employee health, as well as much more (Miro). As you can see, there are numerous benefits to working from home.
This then begs the question, what will your life look like now as a full-time remote worker?
One of the first hurdles you will encounter from working remotely are virtual meetings. In the past, it was standard to report to the office meeting room slightly early with your fellow coworkers, while waiting in anticipation for it to begin.
Having a meeting now has taken on a whole new form; employees can now sign into a meeting within one minute of it starting and not have to worry about running late (unless they forget about it altogether). However, that is the easy part.
What makes these types of meetings especially tricky is that there tends to be no small talk leading into the meeting because everyone just shows up immediately when it begins. That means not talking about how someone’s day is going or what they’re planning to do after work; it is just straight to the point and diving into the meeting agenda.
Having these one-dimensional interactions can be troubling for those who need a deeper connection with others; some work at their best when they get to know their coworkers on a more personal level. “As virtual team members aren’t interacting with their coworkers, it can result in a lack of team spirit. This, in turn, can create a lack of trust and hesitation to depend upon fellow coworkers” (Time Doctor).
This could also be the reason why it might be difficult for introverts to make their presence known right away on these calls. It typically takes some time for this personality type to warm up to a large group, so they unfortunately might get steamrolled by those who are more vocal. Being on these meetings for a long period of time can cause Zoom fatigue for many people as well. Similar to staring at a singular point and feeling tired when driving a car, the same can be said for Zoom meetings. Staring at the same point on the screen for a long time can lead to drowsiness and increased fatigue, and we both know you don’t want that happening to you in front of your co-workers, let alone your boss.
Introducing a new team member remotely can be tricky for both parties involved. The reason being that the right approach to this can be subjective. There is no set way to necessarily introduce a new employee to the already existing team, you just have to take the plunge and go headfirst.
However, there are some steps to help people feel more welcome in remote environments. You can make sure they have one-on-one meetings set up with other employees/team members, arrange role-specific training, schedule follow up calls in the coming weeks to see how they’re adjusting, and even send them some company swag (Workable). It won’t be long before your new employee is well adjusted to your company and your team.
While there might be an initial struggle for a new team member to adjust, the same can be said for working with another team inside your company that is not your own. You’d be surprised how difficult this can be, especially if you’re not used to someone’s personality or work style. Of course everything can work out swimmingly, but there is always the small chance that it doesn’t.
It also might not be easy to establish a new external partnership via a remote meeting either.
In a perfect world, these interactions would take place in person and in office. However, that is not always the case anymore. We have to learn how to read a room virtually, as if we were physically present. To ease the anxiety on both sides, an icebreaker to introduce both teams to one another is a great option. It opens the door up for discussion beyond just work, lets people’s real personalities shine through, and ultimately helps build empathy among team members. The end result is teams that have each other’s back, communicate more effectively, and turn out higher quality work on tighter deadlines as they are better able to play to each other’s strengths.
Business meetings such as virtual strategy planning or brainstorming can be a stressful time for most. To lighten up the mood, why not kick off the meeting with an icebreaker? This can include a short getting to know each other session or even a game of some sort.
While the topic you are planning to discuss is of a serious nature, that doesn’t mean the entire meeting has to be that way. This can also help new employees get adjusted to the team and its different personalities, making them more comfortable in the group so that they are willing to put themselves out there and contribute creative ideas during the brainstorm session.
Learning about someone strengthens your relationship with that person because you discovered personal information that is unique to them as an individual. As a result, this generates greater empathy for him or her. The same holds true for team members in an organization; the more you learn about a person, the greater the connection. While it is important to not get too personal with your coworkers, a certain level of openness is required for these relationships to be developed. As stated earlier, this creates a stronger team dynamic and results in a more productive work environment.
While working with a remote team, you can only learn so much about people when you’re limited to just work projects. You tend to see the “work version” of someone rather than their true self and personal interests. You and your coworkers might bond over work, but what else do you have in common? Do you even know?
That’s why we recommend including time during virtual meetings where there is an opportunity to just socialize. For example, if your team had a scheduled 30 minute meeting that ends early, take the rest of the time to simply chat and get to know one another better (Trello). Discovering these common interests can lead to a stronger relationship among the team. Who knows, you might have more in common than you think.
Sometimes, or maybe even a majority of the time, people don’t want to open up to their coworkers unless their friendship exists beyond work itself. The truth is, vulnerability can be scary for most people. While opening up can lead to a stronger work relationship and a more productive work environment, it’s still perfectly alright to not do so. At the end of the day, it is your personal choice on how much information you disclose to people, regardless if you work with them or not.
Remote:AF’s approach is a unique one that your remote organization should implement for your own teams. When you use this tool that we’ve designed, you are building stronger remote teams. Download the Story Me example template to see how you could use it for your remote team.
Remote:AF is a professional membership group offering a transformational agile framework for remote organizations who want to drastically improve their alignment, coordination, connectivity, visibility, and speed to deliver value while minimizing their carbon footprint and bottom-line expenses. Learn more about how Remote:AF training can help your organization navigate your way to becoming an exceptionally optimized remote workforce by visiting www.remoteaf.com