It’s 2022 and most of the world has started to embrace a hybrid work culture, if not fully-remote. As per a recent study, most teams are now following a hybrid work model where they get together once in a week or even a month to catch up and discuss new ideas, while spending the rest of their work days working remotely.

This has not only increased many employees’ level of productivity, but has also given them a better work-life balance, leading them to a healthier state of mind and well-being.

However, a question that often comes up every so often is, “How do you build team spirit when everyone is scattered around the country or even the globe?”.

That’s an extremely valid question, because building a connection with people whom you’ve never met beyond a screen can be difficult, and having a good rapport within the team is impossible unless the team feels united.

That’s where tips like the ones we’re about to talk about in this blog come in – where you can successfully build and maintain a healthy and wonderful relationship across the team, despite not seeing each other very often.

Let’s get started!

Make a list of birthdays so you never miss one

One of the most common (and extremely awkward) situations is when you throw a coworker a great birthday party only to realize that you missed someone else’s birthday that was only last week. To avoid such situations, the first step is to create a list of everyone’s birthday and set a reminder in the calendar a week in advance so you know you’ve got to start planning.

Don’t feel overwhelmed by this – online birthday surprises don’t need to be a huge event. There are so many ways in which you can make your colleagues feel appreciated without always having to plan an extravagant and long birthday celebration. In fact, think of it more like a team bonding experience that you’d schedule every now and then to catch up.

Choose a good platform that’s collaborative

Sure, you can schedule a get-together on Zoom, but that’s basically what your colleagues are sitting through every day. Instead, choose a platform like Meero or FigJam, where colleagues can participate in collaborative fun activities.

These are online whiteboards where you can meet up with your team, create virtual birthday cards, design e-cards, or even just leave a heartfelt message. If you need more ideas on how to make e-cards for colleagues, you can browse through this catalog from Punchbowl.

Come up with a fun activity

Since this isn’t going to be a regular birthday celebration where you get together, sing happy birthday, cut a cake and disperse – you’ll need to put some thought into coming up with a fun activity that the others can participate in.

Alternatively, you can create an activity for the person celebrating their birthday along with the rest of the team, and have them solve the activity on their birthday over a call. This way, everyone feels included.

The activity could involve a puzzle, answering a list of rapid fire questions, pictionary, or even just having a chat about what’s been going on in life lately. The trick is in creating a visually appealing space where you can catch up virtually. You can have a look at these whiteboard ideas to understand how you can increase visual appeal using nothing but fun gifs, images, videos, and text.

Concluding thoughts

Just because a team is widespread and remote doesn’t mean that you can’t build the team spirit between your colleagues. It’s all about the time and effort you put into getting to know them and connecting with them, just as you would if you met physically. Happy creating!