How do you get your remote team aligned and committed?

For remote team sessions, i usually send a message to all people related to the subject about what we are going to discuss. For daily team meetings, the ideia is to be as quick as possible, with an management software tool to understand the workflow, to visualize bottlenecks and to guarantee we see all the work in progress.

My perspective is remote team facilitation presents a new norm to what traditionally was derived from face to face through and by paying more attention to the words used in the exchanges that in the norm translate or trigger human sense and/or emotion. Therefore, it is critical that in team facilitation, intra team communication, special attention and choice of words be designed to create a desired mood and sense in order to rally the team towards the desired objective.

In addition to being clear about the intent of the meeting, it is important to stay on point and not run over. Keep the meetings concise and productive based on the agenda.

The team members were divided into smaller groups and had to work together to solve puzzles and riddles within a set time frame. They communicated through video conferencing and a shared virtual whiteboard. This interactive activity not only encouraged teamwork, but also promoted problem solving, communication, and critical thinking skills. Relied on each other's strengths and collaborate effectively to succeed. Team members discussed the challenges they faced, the strategies they used, and what they learned from the experience. This allowed for reflection and insights into how they could improve their teamwork going forward. Helped break the ice, foster connections, and build trust among team members who had never met in person.

One thing that is helpful to addressing team engagement and attention is to ensure the assigned task is at the highest level of mental and intelligence stimulation or challenge to the team members, first individually and as a team.

I am not a fan of games and such so I do not use them in my meetings. However, I am clear that I expect everything to participate so I usually go round-robin on each topic to see if anyone has additional thoughts, suggestions, improvements, or other input. I may not do this to every topic but by the time the meeting is over, everyone has been engaged.

I agree that achieving a balance between synchronous and asynchronous communication is going to be one of the biggest challenges in team facilitation. However, it helps to ensure the appropriate communication is used for a specific outcome and to bring in a perspective as if it was communicated in a face to face setting helps

Early on, as people were adjusting to the transition to work from home and away from proximity and interaction, I noticed that quite a few folks were struggling with isolation and the withdrawal from people. One approach to help offset this was to plan a group lunch, where we would all decide to order the same food or from the same restaurant and then hang out on Zoom to socialize while we enjoyed our lunch “together”. The spontaneity, jokes, sharing of personal stories and the like are key for team building.

One thing that helps is to prioritize the culture aspect within the team. A lot of things taken for granted in one culture might not be in another. Observance and respect of different cultures within the team setting goes a long way in building trust. Small but important aspects such as standardising backgrounds avoidance of display of any non related corporate backgrounds during virtual meetings is huge to strengthen rapport.

I hold one-on-one meetings with all team members at least once every few weeks primarily to get input on how things are going for them. The meetings are a combination of business/professional and personal. I also include in my agendas (if appropriate) some interaction/social time at the beginning of the meeting just so the team can engage on a personal level. If I have different cultures represented, we have been known to have a "word of the week" so we all gain some language skills too!

One thing helpful is to always challenge and provide space for the team to follow up and to follow through on themselves on issues covered. Once the sense and aspect of that leadership on team activities are not the preserve of the facilitator, team members will find it an issue on themselves to follow up and follow through more often than when prodded

At the close of my meetings, I do a recap of what was decided and an itemization/confirmation of who is taking away assignments and what the due dates are on those tasks. This is one of the first things discussed at any follow-up meetings. I also check on the activities well before the next meeting to ensure we don't need reassignment or roadblocks cleared.

Engage. Participate. You cannot be silent nor can the team be silent. As a leader, you have a responsibility to draw your team out by name if necessary. As a team member, you need to be fully 'in the moment'. Do not be engaged in other tasks unless you would also be doing so during the same meeting on-site.

There is need to be sensitive to perculiar work ethic, as it may, for different generational category i.e Generation X, Millennials, Z . This will include a generational mix in the team and in particular the team facilitator