Tweet It’s no surprise that working from home is on the rise, and many companies are ditching the traditional in-person workspace in favour of hybrid or completely remote working structures. And who can blame them? No commute, more flexibility and the ability to work in sweatpants does sound pretty amazing. However, even with numerous benefits, there are new challenges that come with the increase in fully remote work. Some social connection between colleagues is lost when you can’t simply swivel your chair to talk to your coworker, tell jokes by the watercooler or tagalong to try that new café for lunch. Missing that employee engagement can negatively impact workplace culture, productivity, and heighten employee turnover. It is clear that companies need modern solutions to this modern working structure. Well, you’ve come to the right place. Here are 7 tips for boosting engagement on your remote team! 1. Virtual Team-Building Your company is still as much of a team when in-person or remote, so it stands within reason that team building activities are just as valuable to your company regardless of your workplace structure. So do not overlook using team-building experiences made specifically for virtual settings as a way to bring your team together and foster strong connections. The virtual team-building industry boomed when the pandemic started, and there are a plethora of activities that utilize the virtual setting to its advantage. With virtual games, you are not pinned down by the practical restrictions of being in-person and after 2 years of the pandemic, there’s a multitude of options to choose from. Need some inspiration? Check out this blog post for 30+ Virtual Activity Ideas. Pro Tip: Try organizing a virtual team-building experience once a month. Not only is this a perfect way to engage your remote team on a consistent basis, but also gives them something new and exciting to look forward to each month. 2. Company Retreats Most fully remote teams host a company retreat at least once a year to bring everyone together in-person. By choosing an exciting destination and having everyone meet to participate in team-building activities, business related workshops, can completely change the company dynamic and reduce turn-over! Connecting, celebrating, and working together in a beautiful place was a rewarding and invaluable experience and truly strengthened our bond as a team. A company retreat should be a top priority for all companies, virtual or not. However, especially as a remote company, it’s the perfect way to use the money you’ve saved on having a physical space and reinvest it in your team. Take a look at some examples of company retreats that have been created for remote companies and see the amazing possibilities of your own company retreat to engage your remote team! 3. Friday Socials An amazing way to increase company engagement and connection is to involve your employees in the actual planning process. Once or twice a month on Fridays, place one person is in charge of running a fun Friday social for the rest of the team. Learning a new recipe, tarot card readings, get-to-know-you trivia, fitness classes, water colour painting and even drag Queen bingo are all examples of fun options for Friday socials. Provide each person with a small budget for the necessary provisions for their activity and leave it to them! Not only does it feel more personal, but also inspires much more creativity to think outside the box. Friday socials are a great way to let loose after a long week, reward your team and get everyone engaged. 4. Co-Working Days Co-working days are the perfect way to strike a balance between work from home and in-person connection. Once a month, book a co-working space (or a few depending on the cities your team resides in), and bring everyone together for an in-office work day! Almost reminiscent of pre-pandemic times, it’s a fun way to reignite that team mentality and enjoy working side by side with your colleagues once more. These mini-reunions are a truly special way to boost morale, but will also boost productivity or allow opportunities for important monthly meetings or even fun brainstorming workshops. Making these co-working days a monthly occurrence will give your team something to look forward to, and a perfect opportunity to catch-up with one another and even ditch the sweatpants and dress up for a day. Pro Tip: Show your employees you really care by ordering in a lunch or treats, or taking them out for happy hour after work. 5. Consistent Weekly Meetings No one wants more meetings that could have been an email but hear me out, structured meetings two to three times a week can have a huge effect on team engagement. Schedule meetings for thirty minutes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Each day of the week has its own purpose. Mondays allows for the team to reconnect after the weekend, receive high level updates, and share goals for the week. Wednesdays can include a fun ice breaker question and the sharing of daily goals. Wednesdays also include an opportunity to “ask the boss anything” as questions do always come up during the week. Fridays are for debriefing, identifying tasks that need to be done before the end of the day, setting goals for next week and having a few laughs. Each meeting should also include sharing any blockers to our daily goals which allows the team to collaborate and help each other when needed. This fosters a sense of collaboration, strengthens our team’s connection and allows us to align on team goals. Even if it’s a twenty minute meeting to bring everyone together twice a week, this consistent routine and ability to see everyone face to face will without a doubt increase remote team engagement on a day to day basis. 6. Coffee Breaks Taking breaks to actually disconnect from work can actually be more challenging in a virtual setting. It’s easier to step away from the desk, clear your mind and re-energize when you can actually interact with your coworkers face-to-face. Colleagues can jet out for a coffee, stand by the watercooler or try out a new lunch spot together. This valuable social interaction and mental health break can be sorely missed in the virtual world. Well, Donut has a unique solution that not only brings that day-to-day coworker communication back, but also encourages small healthy breaks throughout the day. This app can be used via Slack, and will periodically ask fun and unique get to know you questions! What did you want to be when you grew up? What’s your biggest pet peeve? Which fruit is the best? These questions are specially designed to inspire further conversation, friendly debates and simply make people smile. There is also an added option called Donut Intros, which essentially mimics an in-person coffee break, lunch break or happy hour. Each month, the app will pair up two coworkers who will then be responsible for finding a time to get together via an online platform of choice and get to know each other a little more. This can bring together people from different departments, and create a more connected and engaged workplace, not to mention it will brighten everyone’s days and keep that valuable social connection alive and well. Pro Tip: Not a Slack user? That’s okay. Try Coffee Pals instead! 7. Always Ask For Feedback Don’t overlook how important engagement is in your remote workplace. It can make all the difference in creating a productive workplace and increasing job satisfaction. Every company dynamic is different, and will therefore thrive on a unique combination of the above ideas. The best way to stay in tune with your team is to get in the habit of asking for feedback and actually implementing changes to continue to improve. Consider sending out a quarterly “Pulse Check” survey where each employee can share their thoughts and feedback on a range of company aspects. This information is invaluable in continuing to facilitate a dynamic, engaging and positive workplace culture.
My clients are so frustrated by the continuing trend of hybrid work environments. Most are still stuck in a 70s timewarp of "if I can't see you, I can't trust you." They also believe it's impossible to be part of the culture without physically being present. This article offers some ideas of how to stimulate engagement and feeling part of the team and culture with remote workers.
Hiring top talent is only the start. Now you have to work hard to keep your very best talent. Most companies stink at structured and systematic retention of their top performers. Discover how to prevent turnover and keep your best people.
Southwest Airlines, Patagonia, and Zappos—all recognized for their highly engaged culture—prove that culture doesn’t have to become a casualty of growth.
Another good article on creating a compelling culture that drives 100 percent effort from the majority of your employees.
The Fast Company article talks about a path to get there through 3 key legs of the stool. Are you focused on doing work around elements like vision and purpose? Why should I work for you? Most of your high performers will give 100 percent effort because they are turned on by the vision and understanding the way - the purpose of the firm.
Every infection that hits our bodies and is repelled or fixed by our immune system makes us stronger. This same concept works with your company's immune system as well.
Interesting perspective on using PIPs to reinforce compliance and set consequences for violating company values and culture. How do you keep employees within the guide rails of your values and culture?
Spread the love“`html As more organizations shift to remote work, understanding how to cultivate a strong remote company culture becomes crucial. A positive company culture impacts employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention rates.
Many of my clients are embracing remote/hybrid work schedules. Keeping a strong company culture is critical to success but hard to keep when people are divorced from the mothership. Good article on some of the key points to consider. When trying to improve the culture, it's important to be very intentional in culture and values - especially given that 90 percent of traditional informal conversation in the office just disappeared.
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Culture eats everything - process, strategy, tactics. If you have a great culture - it's easy to attract top talent, management is simple because of the level of discretionary effort shown by employees - initiative, proactivity, self-motivation - and for every percentage improvement around employee engagement with your culture - it has a dramatic impact on customers. 1000s of studies have proven this to be true.
So why do I find through my Talent by Design by Practice that most employees indicate their true company culture is either negative or missing - there is no real culture - it's more of an extension of the negative behaviors of the CEO.
Small investments in making your culture a living - breathing - evolving element of your company - can have a significant impact on talent and customer acquisition and retention. Why do you most companies treat culture like it's after-thought and might happen magically?
Explore current employee engagement trends to foster a motivated and productive workforce. Get the insights you need to drive success in your organization.
In the modern hybrid workplace, successful entrepreneurial leaders must prioritize empathy and intentional strategies to build diverse teams and foster genuine connection, ensuring that flexibility does not lead to employee isolation but instead strengthens company culture.
Braden Kelley is a popular innovation keynote speaker creating workshops, masterclasses, webinars, tools, and training for organizations on innovation, design thinking and change management.
All my clients are struggling to improve employee motivation and engagement. Gallup has shown that 50-70 percent of your workforce is disengaged - giving you the rock bottom minimum effort by which they hope you continue to give them a payroll check.
It's a crying shame that most companies experience the vast majority of their workforce not providing 100 percent of effort. In fact, only a small percentage are giving you 100 percent effort.
How do we improve this engagement from around 30 percent into the 75/80 percent range? Two of the key things discussed in this article is communication and feedback - which are two of the greatest frustrations employees - especially younger employees - have with their employer.
How do you execute on communication and feedback: monthly and quarterly one-to-ones, town hall quarterly meetings, suggestion boxes, career discussions, clear vision discussions, structured processes in performance management to collect and give feedback, 360 degree feedback, engagement surveys - 100s of ideas.
Most companies are barely scratching the surface. Not having a systematic process for engagement and retention is a recipe for disaster - low engagement, weak customer retention, turnover, low performance metrics/KPIs.
When will you start to create a process for retention and engagement?
Key takeaway from this article "The takeaway is simple: recognition works when it is frequent, meaningful, and clearly connected to the behaviors your organization wants to see more of."
Next to the problem of not defining job outcomes and success, the next major element of driving exceptional performance with high performing teams is having a comprehensive and vibrant reward and recognition program.
In this video by Simplilearn, discover the fundamentals of Change Management and learn how organizations successfully navigate transformation in today's fast-changing business world. From managing workplace change and driving employee engagement to leading digital transformation initiatives, this short video explains the key concepts, benefits, and strategies behind effective change management.
Whether you're a project manager, business analyst, aspiring change manager, or business leader, understanding change management is a critical skill for career growth in 2026 and beyond.
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16 Strategies for Scaling Company Culture from Growing Companies Scaling company culture as a business grows presents unique challenges that require intentional strategies and clear frameworks. We asked industry experts to share how their companies ensure that culture is scalable as they grow.
Great article on best practices in executing on driving culture and values as your grow your company. Many CEOs look at culture and values as soft and squishy issues that take a backseat to more important issues like getting sales or hitting financial objectives.
The reality your culture and values drive motivation, effort, impact, and desire. They make a difference in whether you are able to attract top talent and keep those great people. Number one reason outstanding performers leave is that your culture and values are either horrible or non-existent.
When are we going to realize that creating and executing on culture and values is what drives above average success?
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My clients are so frustrated by the continuing trend of hybrid work environments. Most are still stuck in a 70s timewarp of "if I can't see you, I can't trust you." They also believe it's impossible to be part of the culture without physically being present. This article offers some ideas of how to stimulate engagement and feeling part of the team and culture with remote workers.