Many companies are increasingly embracing remote workers, including the company I work for now. We're evolving our approach so we can support fully remote, fully in-office, and hybrid.
My own team is gravitating toward fully remote, while I tend to go into the office most days (it helps me cleanly maintain a "work mode" / "home mode" mindset).
I definitely see myself as part of a team, but being physically separated from them (along with my introverted style) is challenging. I want to keep these relationships healthy, productive, and fun from a distance.
As we move to this model, a couple of the things I'm thinking of are:
- Schedule regular in-person "summits" or similar face to face events. Goal: Bring people together for a few days at a time, 2-3 times per year. I've done a couple of those types of events this past year, and it seems to help - especially if you can get people together for dinner in the evenings for informal networking. This is especially valuable in better integrating people we hired during the pandemic.
- A larger, online, annual Holiday Party event to celebrate the year, recognize excellent efforts, play some games (prize drawings, costume contests, etc.)
Apart from the usual "best known methods" for remote working (dress like you're going to work, keep a regular schedule including a clear "end time," have periodic 1:1 meetings to stay connected, that sort of thing), what approaches are you taking?