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Ways to Have Some Fun While in Virtual Meetings

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Ways to Have Fun Virtual Meetings

Virtual meetings have become a weekly or even daily affair for many professionals as firms have transitioned to entirely or partly remote work arrangements in the past several years. These hybrid virtual meetings bother some employees, but you may as well lighten up and have some fun. You can remain professional while you have fun in a virtual meeting.

While virtual meetings are a crucial method to keep communication lines open, they may be difficult for people who are not used to appearing and speaking on video. Furthermore, everything from technical difficulties to the increasing problem of “reading the room” can lead to stiffness and formality in proceedings — making it difficult to inject the personal interactions and “little bit of fun” that make in-person meetings so beneficial for relationship-building.

Remote meetings can be made less formal and more engaging for attendees using the following components. The most essential element of our meetings is not to get to business and not waste time — so keep that fact in mind as you plan to lighten the mood of virtual meetings. Try a few different variations of the themes below and find the best fit for your team.

1. Begin with some one-on-one conversation.

One firm decided to make it a practice to begin each meeting with some personal banter — meaning, nothing work-related. Not having continual work topics at the beginning of the meetings helps employees unwind, share an intriguing anecdote or two, and maybe even chuckle. Casual conversation is stimulating and refreshing and it helps attendees to slip in a few minutes of humanity before getting down to business. Touching base as humans, and not simply coworkers will bring warmth to virtual meetings.

2. Post photographs that are irrelevant to your job.

Request that team members contribute a non-work-related picture. Whether it’s a photo of a pastime, family, or pet, it helps team members to see another side of their colleagues’ personalities. Indeed, it may help each person relate to and understand each other better. Showing a photo will also create a comfortable environment for team members to be open and honest since they choose what to share. Transparency, in turn, aids in the development of connections.

When you first start showing photos you will notice that are bland. With the continual practice of showing photos, your employees will warm up to you and each other, and you will notice a change in the nature of the photos.

3. Show off your pets.

Do you have a lot of pet owners in your workplace? When you host a meeting in the future, start by having everyone introduce their furry companions. It’s a terrific way to bond with your team, and it always results in a grin. We’ve always had the ability to bring our pets to work in the office — and a photo of the furry friends brings back these memories and good times.

4. Pose a virtual meeting “connection inquiry.”

Before the meeting, connect with individuals by asking “connection questions” that bring everyone together. Ask everyone to tell a story around a common theme (give them a time limit). People like talking about themselves and sharing information about themselves.

5. Honor birthdays.

One office manager noted, “We celebrate one other’s birthdays by sending something special (usually food-related) on that day or week of the birthday — and having a sing-a-long song. It is consistently well-received. We spend the remainder of the catch-up time talking about things other than work, which is refreshing and vital.                             

After your sing-along and chat, you can dive into work information and topics.

6. Experiment with different backgrounds.

Getting creative with your video backdrop is one way to add extra fun and boost relationship-building in virtual meetings. A new subject for each meeting, such as a favorite location visited or a bucket list trip destination may help break up the monotony of the day. Indeed, act as a meeting icebreaker, and allow for more in-depth relationships among team members. These change-ups don’t have to take a ton of time.

7. Play around with virtual reality.

Another office manager said, “We experimented with virtual reality, and the results were unexpected. We had meetings, played games, and even attended Virtual Burning Man as a group. The experiences of being in the same place are pretty effective in forming relationships. This is subconscious and highly ancient: but it means we belong to the same tribe.”

8. Hold virtual meetings coffee and lunch get-togethers.

Virtual coffee or lunch meetings with two to four team members may benefit relationship development. Center the plan on connecting rather than addressing work matters. These ties often result in better professional partnerships. Do you allow anyone on your team to do virtual meetings invites? For casual get-togethers — consider allowing others on the team to be the host.

9. Include a ‘human’ aspect.

Adding a “human” factor to virtual meetings is one approach to make them more enjoyable. You can hold video meetings at workers’ homes. Moreover, this is something that is physically left behind while working from the office. Use meetings hosted at individual team member homes to your advantage by asking “about me” questions. Or you could engage in scavenger hunts. Indeed come up with other innovative methods to engage people. It’s the small things that count.

10. Hold competitions and happy hours.

Make meetings more enjoyable by hosting virtual happy hours or competitions, such as “Best Zoom Background” or “Best Home Office.” The distinction between home and workplace has blurred, so have fun with it. During Zoom meetings, we get to meet family members and pets. We’ve moved the office into the houses where we live. Working connections have grown more casual as a result of this new phenomenon. On a personal level, people have reported that they are feeling more connected.

11. Assign various team members to serve as virtual meeting hosts.

Building camaraderie isn’t intricate in theory, but it does need work. Try having various members of your team host. This encourages involvement and introduces fresh ideas to the discussion. Utilize internet games on occasion. Encourage members to give each other informal acknowledgment at the start or finish of each meeting. Most importantly, don’t take anything too seriously. It’s simply a gathering. And sometimes, as a leader — you should let your team have meetings without you.

12. Allow everyone a turn in the spotlight.

When there are a lot of workers in the virtual meetings, strive to close the sessions with activities that give each employee a chance to shine. One amusing example is ending meetings with newborn images of staff. Indeed, asking everyone to vote on who that baby grew up to be.

Image Credit: Ivan Samkov; Pexels; Thank you!

Ways to Have Some Fun While in Virtual Meetings was originally published on Calendar by Hunter Meine.

4 Recommendations for Teams in 2022

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Recommendations Teams 2022

The mixed work model will likely be commonplace throughout 2022 and well into the future, so we may as well get used to it and learn to do it well. Consider these suggestions to help you create a great mixed-team work approach.

COVID brought on the full-hybrid work model, and as long as it continues to work well, it will likely be the work model forever. Teams will experience growing pains until hybrid work can work out the kinks and become the norm. While no one technique works for all individuals, positions, or projects — consider these suggestions. Creating a productivity schedule is crucial.

Develop the hybrid work model with your company.

There is no one-size-fits-all hybrid work paradigm; it must match your organization’s culture and personnel. The key to success is co-creating that model with your team and providing communication avenues and expectations.

Avoid making top-down judgments with your hybrid worker without consulting a few team members. All decisions, no matter how small, immediately affect your employees. Ask about employee preferences and attempt to fulfill them. Take time to listen to individual needs so that discontent and anger don’t erode your culture and morale.

1. Agree on the office’s role in the hybrid environment.

Consider which structures work best for your team. Take care of your workers, and they will care for your consumers. Popular hybrid work arrangements include remote-first with office days or office-first with remote days. Some firms only meet in person once a month — but your very individual business needs will have to dictate many of your decisions.

Agree on the office’s role in the hybrid environment. Is it to encourage cooperation or relationships? Collect everyone’s ideas and don’t simply go back to work because that’s what you used to do. Alternatives to your enormous, unoccupied workplace may also benefit your yearly budget.

2. Trust your staff

Let people work in ways that make them happy and productive.

Set goals and deadlines for your team instead of time monitoring. It’s challenging to be productive and present when working remotely. However, measures should not be considered a punishment but a tool to help personnel achieve their objectives.

Most employees don’t work the eight hours they’re at the office because they have spontaneous meetings and strong connections with coworkers. Consider: managers should ignore time as a productivity indicator and trust staff to accomplish their jobs well. Time as an indicator is a sign that the objectives are too simple and that the workers are distant since they don’t need to cooperate as much or “look busy.”

Otherwise, you risk the “watermelon effect” — excellent “green” performance, but a significant chunk of red underneath the surface, representing an awful employee experience. Employees may address issues with coworkers rather than management at the (virtual) water cooler.

3. Meetings: rethink

Don’t be a victim of your success.

We need to discover new working methods to not spend all our time in meetings and our weekends and nights on “serious work.” So we need more asynchronous work.

Adopt a facilitator’s approach to developing new working ways — concentrate on understanding human interactions and structuring work to fit them best.

Asking check-in and check-out questions helps to keep meetings sociable. Having off-topic talks and connecting with people is vital.

4. Foster connections and interactions

Consider alternatives like walk & talks, virtual coworking, music quizzes, open office hours, and buddy systems.

During their initial weeks or months at the organization, a “work buddy” meets with new workers one-on-one to facilitate a seamless transition.

This allows for knowledge exchange and learning even while working remotely. Younger workers who rely on senior staff for information appreciate this exchange.

Encourage your staff to plan walking meetings or catch-ups with one other. Walk & Talks help you exercise and interact with others. Plus, they help alleviate our collective Zoom fatigue.

Leaders and workers may add open (virtual) office hours to their calendars or status bars to encourage more spontaneous talks. During specific time windows, anybody may phone that individual to bounce ideas off, discuss a problem, or check in.

Virtual coworking allows people to work together yet on their projects. A group video conference is great for collaborating on separate tasks. People feel more accountable and productive when cameras and microphones are on.

Having the appropriate tools helps to facilitate teamwork.

There will be an issue with your team when you introduce information or tools that:

a) team doesn’t grasp the purpose of and

b) tool doesn’t enhance the team workflows or productivity.

Also, the tools must easily integrate synchronous and asynchronous operations. Tools and admin for their own sake are harmful, so giving people the correct tools and listening to their comments goes a long way. If tools aren’t helpful after a long test period, destroy them. Don’t utilize them because it’s tradition.

Teams in hybrid mode

Balance is essential since individuals have varying amounts of energy while socializing. You don’t want your staff exhausted or lonely. Using these suggestions might assist your employees in shifting to the hybrid model in a manner that seems so natural you’ll soon be calling it work.

Image Credit: Fauxels; Pexels; Thank you!

Most Significant Hybrid Work Model Errors to Avoid

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hybrid work model

The hybrid work paradigm has become a popular subject in business. Nine out of ten firms expect to implement a hybrid work model in 2022.

Productivity is the watchword for 2022. Based on McKinsey’s research, nine out of ten firms expect to implement a hybrid work model combining remote and in-office hours. So it’s no surprise that many company executives are considering employing a hybrid strategy to bring their staff back to work.

Employees are unwilling to give up the convenience of working from home, so employers must compromise to keep them. A hybrid work paradigm may increase employee productivity and flexibility while diversifying the business.

But it may also lead to complications that create severe potholes in the road. Therefore, to realize the advantages of a hybrid work paradigm, a business must be aware of the pitfalls to avoid.

Why hybrid workplaces fail

Finding a new but familiar normal isn’t something that happens spontaneously. As a result, many companies seek to utilize a hybrid work paradigm that combines on-site and off-site operations.

Many of them are treading uncharted territory, and any organization bears the danger of constructing a paradigm based only on popular demand. This may reduce inclusiveness and reduce the long-term efficacy of the hybrid work paradigm. Of course, you have all the time in the world; but it’s a small world.

Here are some common errors to avoid.

Don’t forget your roots.

Keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all hybrid work model. Every business and its personnel will have unique post-pandemic dynamics. The most critical component is not losing the company’s essence since your personnel is global. Too many companies are at a loss to maintain coherence. They boondoggle. Business leaders must prioritize their mission statements and engage with people to find a balance between flexibility, productivity, and goal achievement.

Companies pursuing a hybrid model must consider their personnel’s diverse personalities and conditions. For example, some younger employees and recent college grads may return to the workplace to build relationships with coworkers and take advantage of possibilities exclusively available on-site.

However, a senior employee with children or elderly parents may desire a flexible work schedule.

Organizations must identify common ground and assure workers that the business is dedicated to finding a solution. For example, most businesses have staff that is either introverts or extroverts. Therefore, businesses must consider these personality traits when establishing a hybrid model.

Some of your introverted workers may be very productive but overwhelmed by water cooler conversations. But, on the other hand, some of these folks grew acclimated to working from home and loved it.

Non-hybrid leadership

Hybrid work models cannot function without direct leadership engagement. To guarantee the hybrid model’s success in their firm, business executives must engage. A blended workforce doesn’t imply only leaders should be in the office every day.

The leadership team must be aware of on-site vs. off-site time. A mixed working environment requires active participation from all employees. Two things may happen if key stakeholders don’t fully embrace a hybrid working paradigm.

To develop their careers, employees on the B team will be urged to come on-site to spend more time with their superiors. As a result, employees may begin to doubt the organization’s commitment to the mixed work paradigm.

The timetable is rigid.

Flexible work from home or in the office. This might backfire if the company does not enable workers to work when they choose. Even if management has set aside days for workers to work from home or in the office, employees still need the flexibility to cope with the pandemic’s effects on their everyday lives.

Some workers may need to care for aged parents, children, or personal medical issues. Schedules that are not flexible are nothing but chains.

Instead of the usual 9-to-5 schedule, try scheduling periods for in-person meetings using Zoom. It may be used for personal work at the employee’s leisure. Find out when everyone’s schedules intersect to allow for the best teamwork.

Ignoring communication of hybrid workers

For many firms, the hybrid work paradigm will be a departure from the pre-COVID19 workplace. As a result, many businesses have chosen to implement a first-time work-from-home configuration. This is a big adjustment for a corporation, mainly because  there are no specific guidelines.

Adding the everyday problems of combining in-person and remote personnel would create stress, trust concerns, and other management issues. Employers could consider offering hybrid work model training to reduce tensions and sustain productivity in the early stages of this circumstance.

Training is critical to successfully integrating a hybrid work paradigm, especially when bringing staff back into the office. Managers must also establish clear expectations for remote work and productivity targets.

Communication must be maintained after the company enters a hybrid environment. Companies must find strategies to keep staff interested without scaring or overwhelming them.

Managers should encourage staff to interact through email, video conferencing, and team gatherings. However, managers must be honest when such discussions occur and allow employees to provide input on the hybrid approach.

Micromanagers of hybrid teams

If workers are not trusted, establishing a hybrid workforce might be difficult. Micromanaging will generate a breach among the workers and a loss of confidence. When company executives are apprehensive about team members not always being present in the workplace, this might happen. Managers must trust people to make the best decisions while also considering the organization’s interests. Micromanagement is inefficient, particularly in a hybrid approach.

Breaking pledges with hybrid teams

Last year, when the pandemic made most organizations remote, some companies adapted quickly and adopted the work-from-anywhere model. However, to cope with the effects of these developments, many businesses had to adjust their working practices.

Taxes have become a significant concern, and corporations must thoroughly investigate the tax consequences before introducing any plans. During these investigations, many companies may learn that some workers have relocated far from their workplace since the epidemic began, often without informing their employers.

If the firm does not take this seriously, it may violate payroll tax withholding requirements. Organizations might create a permission and monitoring mechanism for remote staff to avoid breaching their pledges. It should mention suitable sites, such as the organization’s offices. Thus time will work for you, not against you.

Image Credit: Tim Gouw; Pexels; Thank you! 

Most Significant Hybrid Work Model Errors to Avoid was originally published on Calendar by Abby Miller.

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