​When there’s the distance between team members, it’s easy for your team’s sense of togetherness to fade. Communication often focuses on the mechanics of getting things done, without the pleasures of small talk and those little interactions we take for granted. But it’s those short interactions and a bit of laughter that brings a team together. Even with all the technology needed to do our jobs, we suffer without proper human interaction.

Fortunately, it’s not difficult to fix: you only need to make a few adjustments to ensure the human side of things isn’t left out, and your team continues to gel, while they work remotely.

Conduct Daily Stand-ups Or Check-ins

Starting the working day with a short ‘stand-up’ meeting – where everyone shares what they’ll be working on – gets everyone on the same page right away (even if most people will be sitting down at home). It’s common in Agile software development, but there’s no reason it can’t be adopted more widely.

You might need to experiment with group sizes to discover what works. A company-wide stand-up with 25 people will be too much, too many people, and too many things to share, but smaller team-based meetings to start the day can get things moving nicely.

These are not supposed to be confrontational or seen as checking up on your team – they are more like the water cooler/brew station in the morning where you say ‘good morning’ to one another.

You can keep these as short as you like, too. Even if you don’t have anything to share, a couple of minutes just to say ‘hello’ will make everyone feel like they’re in work mode, part of a team, and are working towards a common goal.

If daily is too much, you could try doing it every other day or twice a week – whatever works best for your team.

Celebrate The Wins

You can’t have an ‘employee of the month’ picture on the wall in a distributed team. And you can’t hand out trophies or give a round of applause. But you can still make employees feel valued.

In fact, you need to, or else you’llrisk motivation gradually fading. And in difficult times, when we’re prone to ruminate on big things like meaning and purpose, it might cause people to ponder, “Why am I doing this, anyway?”

You’ll want to focus on reminding them of the contribution they make to the company, to their colleagues, and the world around them, to make them feel valued. How this works depends on the nature of your business, but it should be a combination of significant victories and small wins.

Sales targets achieved? Fantastic! Completed a difficult task in challenging circumstances? Excellent!

Managed to keep the kids out for a full hour during a video conference? You deserve a medal!

Share these big and small wins however you can – via email, Slack, or during your daily check-ins. And if it’s appropriate, why not share your appreciation on your business social accounts?

Keep The Feedback Going

Maybe you have 1-to-1s or regular employee feedback loops. If you do, then keep these going. Keep those same routines, those same feedback channels and people won’t feel alienated, you’ll protect that opportunity to update people on company objectives and goals.

You don’t have to make a big occasion of your 1-to-1s; a half-hour or so might be enough. A simple and personal check-in on how things have been going recently and a chance to outline what you expect in the near future is often appreciated. As well as this, it’s an important opportunity to speak privately about things that might not come up in other conversations:

Are they coping with the workload?

• Are they having any problems at home?

• Is there anything you can do to support them?

Individual attention is important, not just to keep productivity up, but to maintain that feeling of inclusivity. Especially for the quieter team members who can easily work on their own for days at a time – don’t let them go ignored just because they don’t make a fuss.

A Dress Code

It doesn’t seem the most logical move – why would you tell people how to dress in their own home?

Politely asking your team to dress appropriately for video calls might be unpopular with some. But the truth is, being dressed for a working dayacts as a psychological advantage for everyone.

I’m not talking about suits and ties here, but making a conscious decision not to sit in your PJ’s or tatty sweatpants can act as a ritual to switch your mindset to ‘work mode.’

It’s especially useful for those who don’t have a dedicated home office space. The change to workplace dress can be one of the only ways that feel like they’re at work, rather than at home.

And be prepared to let others into your home, virtually, is essential for last-minute video calls and ad hoc meetings. Most people don’t want to look like they just rolled out of bed, and on a group video chat, a scruffy environment will get noticed (as the dynamics of Zoom eye contact means eyes will inevitably wander around the screen).

So having everyone put in the effort to scrub up a little will make it feel a bit more like the office. Suits and ties? Probably not, I’m sure you can decide what’s appropriate.

Arrange Fun Non-work Events

There are loads of opportunities to connect with your team and keep spirits high without being physically together, and much cheaper than hiring venues!

Just like any work-based social event, don’t expect everyone to attend or be enthusiastic. Some folks want to keep their work and personal lives totally separate, and that’s fine. But most people appreciate an invite, at least.

Some popular things right now using video chat are quiz nights, beers, or cocktail happy hours. Movie nights, where you watch a film at the same time and chat along, can work too. Book clubs, debate societies, cooking nights, or video game tournaments are all easy to organize.

The point with all these things is trial and error, don’t try to push if your team isn’t responding, you’ll find a balance of what works best. If you switch things regularly, see what works and what doesn’t, and refrain from making anyone feel guilty for not joining in, you’ll find your remote workers still feel like part of the team.