As a member of Gen X, and a mother of three young adult children in the workforce, I worry about this generation's understanding of the importance of building work relationships. Professionally, I am often baffled and left scratching my head in the apparent avoidance of engaging with colleagues in a one on one dialogue. On a personal level, I worry about my own kids understanding the old school importance of networking and building relationships. After all, success is as much, if not more, a product of a person’s interpersonal and communication skills as it is a product of intellectual prowess.

As a HR professional, I have seen this personal hesitancy time and time again and virtual offices and the ease and comfort of text and email not helping. It is a rare thing to pick up the phone and have a conversation or actually ask a colleague to have a cup of coffee and catch up. As a company manager, one of the greatest questions I am left with is how to coach these valuable employees to expand their “people” skills in a changed and constantly changing professional landscape. Technology and the speed of business creates a barrier to this connection but is also an opportunity. The key is to explore and speak “to the listening” of these employees through virtual team building exercises, creating virtual opportunities for fun and connection. 

Enhancing Connectivity in a Remote Work World

For many Millennial and Gen Z employees, remote work is not just a trend but a way of life. Both generations prioritize flexibility, autonomy, and work-life balance, often choosing jobs that allow for remote work or hybrid models. However, the challenge arises when these employees, who may already feel disconnected due to physical distance, also miss the in-person connections that are essential to team dynamics.

Virtual team-building activities provide the perfect solution to this problem by creating opportunities for employees to interact, collaborate, and build relationships beyond the confines of their digital workspaces. Whether through virtual happy hours, trivia games, holiday cookie or gingerbread house decorating or a little of all in one activity can bring teams together and foster a sense of belonging, even in a remote setting. 

Keys to Success

1. Customize with Outside Resources. Work with the service provider to customize the experience to achieve the goals important to your team. Some team building activities are just for laughs and story telling but some can be tailored to incorporate “loftier” objectives like vision, roles and responsibilities, communication styles. One example that was really impactful, and fun, was an exercise that I did with a team during the holidays. We gathered virtually to make gingerbread houses. We asked each company executive to construct and decorate a house that was representative of their vision for the corporation in the new year. Sweetology Team Building was great to work with for customizing the experience.

2. Include EVERYONE. No matter if the employee is in the same city or half way around the world, if it is possible, make sure everyone gets an invite. Choose providers that offer international shipping and facilitation of class resources. With food related activities, it is great to include halal, kosher, vegan, gluten free and dye free options.

3. Set Expectations. Spend some time at the beginning “setting the table” for what is expected by way of group participation. If it is just to chat and be together, give permission for that on the video but be mindful of creating opportunities for people not to hide. 

4. Keep it small. Even if you have 100 people attending the event, be creative in how you can utilize breakout sessions to get to know each other on a personal level.

5. Keep it fun. Spend some time thinking through ways to be prepared for possible silence or shyness. Create icebreakers, incorporate company trivia, or ask people a head of time to present or speak.