Creating Opportunities For Remote Team Networking

Remote work challenge: How do you build a connected culture when teams are miles apart? At Bunny Studio we’ve discovered that intentional connection is the foundation of our remote culture. This means consistently reinforcing our values while creating spaces where every team member feels seen and valued. Four initiatives that have transformed our remote culture: 🔸 Weekly Town Halls where teams showcase their impact, creating visibility across departments. 🔸 Digital Recognition through our dedicated Slack “kudos” channel, celebrating wins both big and small. 🔸 Random Coffee Connections via Donut, pairing colleagues for 15-minute conversations that break down silos. 🔸 Strategic Bonding Events that pull us away from routines to build genuine connections. Beyond these programs, we’ve learned two critical lessons: 1. Hiring people who thrive in collaborative environments is non-negotiable. 2. Avoiding rigid specialization prevents isolation and encourages cross-functional thinking. The strongest organizational cultures aren’t imposed from above—they’re co-created by everyone. In a remote environment, this co-creation requires deliberate, consistent effort. 🤝 What’s working in your remote culture? I’d love to hear your strategies.

How can we bring dispersed teams back together and build trust? With remote and hybrid work, many leaders are asking this question. The answer isn’t necessarily a full return to the office but something more intentional: offsites. In this Harvard Business Review article, Heidi K. Gardner Madeline Kneeland and Adam Kleinbaum summarize research that shows that gathering employees outside the usual workspace isn’t just a break from routine; it’s a strategic boost to collaboration and performance. Offsites help build relationships that don’t happen naturally in day-to-day virtual work. These events create connections across departments, spark new ideas, and give everyone a chance to learn more about each other’s skills. Their research shows that people who attend offsites are more likely to receive collaboration requests from peers in other departments, creating bridges across silos and expanding their networks. Even those who don’t attend feel the ripple effect, benefiting from an overall lift in collaboration. So, how can you make the most of an offsite? Here is what they suggest. (1) Know Your Team's Needs: Customize sessions based on feedback. It’s about creating interactions that support your team’s unique needs, not just standard team-building activities. (2) Focus on New Hires: Offsites are especially powerful for new team members. Assign them networking goals and pair them with experienced mentors to maximize connections. (3) Prepare Employees: Give employees tools to map their network gaps and set specific goals. A little prep can make their offsite interactions more productive. (4) Track the ROI: Offsites are a big investment, so track the impact. Look for new connections, partnerships, and revenue from these gatherings to assess long-term value. By tailoring sessions, prepping your team, and measuring results, you’ll ensure these events deliver lasting benefits long after everyone returns to their screens. #offsites #collaboration #teamwork #work #connection #leadership #innovation #productivity https://lnkd.in/eFNpw86J

Let’s get real; those chats around the water cooler were never that great. There’s a reason why this photo looks like a generic stock photo—this situation is fictionalized. While people may have shared casual stories about the weather or the latest movies around the water cooler, deep relationships were never built there. Remote and hybrid work is criticized for a perceived inability to build culture. If people aren’t talking about their weekends in the break room, the thinking goes, how can we build a cohesive team? In reality, those surface-level conversations don’t do much to build a strong culture, and they certainly aren’t more important because they happen in person. In fact, Gallup research shows only 20% of fully in-office employees feel connected to their company’s culture, slightly below the rate of hybrid employees. What people need more than serendipitous chit-chat is focused, intentional moments of connection - and you don’t need an office building for those. Instead, managers can adopt a few strategies to create connections in hybrid/remote (or in-person) settings that build cohesiveness, decrease feelings of isolation, and boost morale. Good examples are outlined in @Rising Team’s new Guide to Maximizing Hybrid Work Success, including strategies like: 🛠️Dedicate time to build understanding:  Activities that foster authentic understanding are essential for maintaining connection in hybrid environments. While happy hours may be fun, learning about people’s workplace preferences, like how they like to be appreciated and how they prefer to receive feedback, go a lot further towards building strong relationships. 🔗Create micro-connections:  Quick, intentional check-ins about work and life can do much more than casual conversations. Try asking, “How do you like to be supported on a hard day?” or “What is something you’re proud of outside of work?” instead of small talk about weekend plans. Questions like these enhance trust and understanding. 👥Maximize in-person time:  When your team does meet in person, focus on activities that the research shows benefit from face-to-face interaction, like brainstorming or collaborative projects. These in-person moments should strengthen virtual connections and keep the team aligned on shared goals. Find the full list of examples by downloading our free Guide: https://lnkd.in/g9ditxXA Building a strong team culture isn’t about casual in-office encounters—it’s about fostering intentional connections that have real impact. Whether through meaningful check-ins or focused team activities, managers have the tools to create a cohesive, engaged team in any environment. Hybrid and remote work aren’t obstacles to culture-building—they’re opportunities to redefine it. #HybridWork #RemoteLeadership  — This is the final post in my series on maximizing success in remote work. Check out my LinkedIn channel for past posts on best practices for leading hybrid/remote teams.