How to Keep Remote Employees Engaged
GUIDE
How to Engage Your Employees in a Virtual Setting
Virtual events have become commonplace, from weekly meetings for remote teams to webinars and online conferences.
Knowing how to keep remote employees engaged is a skill.
One our event agency excels at.
Below you’ll get a glimpse into the possibilities of employee engagement for virtual events and how to make employees feel more engaged to create the best employee appreciation event possible.
Celebrating Company Culture –
Know your company’s culture and regularly reinforce those values and beliefs. You’ll connect your group with these shared experiences and create meaningful memories.
Putting your company’s culture at the center of your virtual event ensures that whatever engagement you do get is well invested. What that culture is helps define nearly every aspect of your event, from the platform to the entertainment. (See some of our entertainment ideas for corporate events for more.)Our event planners take the time to get to know your company to help you align your event elements with your culture.
Elements like team building activities help reinforce a collaborative culture. A virtual escape room is a great example of this.
For the elite cultures who want to see change in the world, we can do competition games like Jeopardy for Charity (find 15 more corporate charitable team building activities here).
For the culture that likes to take chances, we have virtual roulette and card games. For the corporate class clowns, we recommend the virtual photo booth and a headliner like a comedian.
For companies with high achievers include epic team building activities that challenge them. You might consider a hackathon, using trivia with teams, or other game with a high value prize to engage them.
Our team building event planners will work with you to find the perfect fit for your team. We get to know you, your company and your team so that we can match you with the best ways to engage and reach your event goals.
Ask and Listen –
To learn how to engage employees remotely, simply ask and listen.
Nothing is more important in ANY relationship than asking for and listening to the feedback of the other party. When communicating through screens and text, it is vital for you to give your employees plenty of opportunities to be heard.
Ask about their week. Ask about their families. Ask about how work life balance is going while remote working. Ask if they need help or resources.
Asking simple questions can help start conversations with your employees and encourage them to share important information.
And, even more important than asking the right questions is LISTENING to their answers.
In a virtual event, such as video conferencing, you can add polls and surveys to improve communication and interaction. You can do this as a separate feature or in a popup window. Adding polls and surveys is a better option to encourage engagement.
Consider choosing a platform with a live Q&A or chat feature where a real person can answer questions in real time. A great host can also help break the text-only conversation with queued questions and group answers through a variety of methods.
This makes conversations more fun and engaging by adding a level of “gamification” to team meetings. We like using white boards or paper and writing tools to get people physically engaged in the conversation.
Production quality is also important to consider when the event goal is engagement. In a virtual setting, using lighting, camera angles, music cues, and posture can create a good first impression.
Captivating Content –
Compelling content captivates, regardless of its setting. In a virtual event, you have total control over how you present content, which is one of the few elements. Higher production allows for better editing and Hollywood worthy storytelling.
If you do not have a budget for a Netflix mini series, consider keeping it spontaneous and off the cuff. Practicing your speech is important, but make sure it doesn’t sound too rehearsed or robotic.
Keeping it casual brings a human element to the content that is charismatic and alluring. Think about a host and platform combination that makes it simple to switch between showing content and showing the speaker.
Add some fun screen animations during the switch to keep viewers engaged and reduce screen fatigue.
Get Casual –
An effective tool in managing a remote workforce is to host events that are not structured to meet company goals during work hours. Instead of that, let remote team members socialize and build relationships with each other to help them feel connected. Effective employee engagement happens when employees get what they want and research shows that they want events on the clock.
Use these virtual social gatherings to promote health and wellness, both physical and mental. So, too, do remote workers need time to connect with one another, to foster camaraderie, like in-person workforces often have.
Give them this time, without expectations, to express themselves, relax, and recharge. The outcome is usually good for the company, leading to increased creativity, productivity, and employee retention.
Gamification –
Don’t underestimate the importance of play. Nearly all animals and humans use play to learn new skills and connect with others. In the event industry, we call it “gamification”. We use games specially designed for the digital setting in virtual events.
We include supplies that are either sent to the homes prior or common every-day items that are re-imagined. We strategically place games during the event to keep employees engaged, give them a mental break, and support the event’s goals.
We believe you build excitement through participation, even if you work from home in different time zones. Our virtual world experts make sure everyone on your team feels included and valued as part of the group.
The Human Element –
The human element in an event is vital, especially that of the guests and attendees. We can add a personal touch to the digital world by working together and sharing our own ideas.
You can send coloring pages, thank you messages, nominations, videos, and photos before the event. During the event, parents can display their children’s artwork and staff can vote for awards to show appreciation. The benefits of employee appreciation events, like more efficient work and higher retention, are just as important for remote teams as in-person ones.
Winners announced with a virtual wall of honorable mentions for arts and crafts. A gratitude tree or a short video can bring people together during virtual events. You can make the tree with words, and you can include clips and photos in the video. Both options help create a feeling of togetherness.
Corporate award ceremonies are one in person event tool that works remotely as well. They give employee recognition for their hard work and encourage others to reach specific goals. Show your remote team employee appreciation at your virtual event in style.
Don’t forget to add some fun award categories. We have a blog on the best award categories for employees for some inspiration. For customized employee engagement ideas for your remote team, contact us or read our blog about award ceremony ideas for work. Your employees work hard, and we want to help you recognize and celebrate that!
It’s the Little Things
Consistent little changes will help engage your remote team. Encourage PTO is one of those things.
When working from home it is easy to assume someone can adjust to work during a variety of situations that would have called them out of the office otherwise.
There is also an expectation that just because they work from home, they should work through those situations (such as a sick kid). Encourage WFH staff to use their PTO to reduce burnout and improve their engagement and productivity.
Another small change you can do is recognition of birthdays and other milestones. Send a Happy Birthday message to show them that you see them. These personalized touches make all the difference over time.
Plan for informal chats. When scheduling video calls or team meetings, plan for 10 minutes of extra chat time that has nothing to do with the meeting objective. People connect through these “watercooler chats” without feeling interrupted because they are scheduled.
Finally, be sure your remote teams have all the resources needed to succeed. Give a small stipend for office supplies including items that need replaced now and again (batteries, ink, paper, etc). Regularly send upgrades for things like mouse pads, headsets and other items that get regular use (and wear).
There are hundreds of ways you can keep in touch without eating away at your own scheduled work. You can schedule emails ahead (see email “happy birthdays”) and with just a little planning, you can make your team feel engaged.
Virtual Event Planning –
Planning according to the attending audience makes virtual events all the more impactful.
Our event planners take the time to get to know you, your audience, and your company to make your event truly shine. Ask for a personalized recommendation for your team. Want more ideas? Check out our 100 ways to boost engagement at work events.
If you need help on how to keep remote employees engaged by using virtual events, contact us at 800.366.0603. We offer video calls for remote workforces so you can meet us as well.
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