A sense of personal connectedness is important to all employees, but keeping remote workers feeling that way is critical to achieving organizational goals. As more companies embrace the reality and benefits of remote work, they’re also struggling to find ways to build strong connections that retain a team spirit among workers who are scattered around town, the state, the country, or the globe. Here’s what they’re learning.

How Remote Employees Stay Connected 

A sense of personal connectedness is important to all employees, but keeping remote workers feeling that way is critical to achieving organizational goals. As more companies embrace the reality and benefits of remote work, they’re also struggling to find ways to build strong connections that retain a team spirit among workers who are scattered around town, the state, the country, or the globe. Here’s what they’re learning.

Instant Communication Tools

Emails may have their role in the workplace, but they don’t do much for instantaneous communication. What’s needed is an optimized user experience across the internet. Ask workers and they’ll tell you they want simple collaboration tools that offer them instant feedback and communication with their colleagues, both in groups and one-on-one.

Regular Video Meetings

Face-to-face interaction, even if it’s digital, promotes connection and creative interaction. Regular video conferences allow remote workers to get the face time they’re missing by not being on site, which helps them build better trust and relationships with co-workers.

Celebrate the Team

Just because someone isn’t in the physical office doesn’t mean they should be denied the praise and recognition given to onsite workers. If your organization celebrates birthdays, work anniversaries, or has an employee of the month award, it’s important to include remote workers in these events. This goes a long way toward keeping your company’s culture intact.

When you do your best to foster camaraderie and teamwork, remote employees are given the opportunity to socially connect with their coworkers. Another great way to do this is by implementing a digital employee lounge, set up solely for informal banter and chat groups.

The Takeaway 

One of the most important steps you can take to create a positive EX is to ask employees what’s important to them. Fostering engagement and building a workplace where team members want to be matters, but so does the timeless drive for human connection.

Giving employees the opportunities and tools they need to feel connected to one another improves collaboration, productivity, and work quality. A connected remote team, in other words, is a happy remote team. And when your remote workers feel a personal connection with their coworkers and your organization, they’re more likely to stick around for the long haul.