{"id":1050,"date":"2021-11-08T17:47:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T17:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/?p=1050"},"modified":"2026-06-29T14:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:09:17","slug":"how-to-connect-in-remote-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cogitateandpercolate.com\/?p=1050","title":{"rendered":"How to Connect in Remote Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo by R\u00e9mi Walle on Unsplash<\/span><\/p>\n

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In a remote job interview, I was asked, “How do you stay connected within remote teams?” I thought “How do I? Just watch me.<\/b>“<\/span><\/p>\n

I
\n shared two ideas in the interview*, but immediately I realized that
\nI’ve kept this good info inside, waiting to give it to a new remote
\nemployer. Silly me. I’ve got to give this good stuff away. I’m like the
\nGrinch whose heart grew three sizes that day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why should I keep reading this?<\/b><\/p>\n

First,
\n my credentials, because adults want to know why they should keep
\nreading this. What do I know about this remote online stuff anyway? I
\nhave 15 years experience working full time online which means I was
\nworking full time online 3 years before the iPhone existed. I’ve built
\nand rebuilt fully online virtual teams. I have two advanced degrees in
\nonline work. I feel passionately about the positive future of working
\nremotely. Within this amazing digital nether, how do we stay connected, as humans<\/i>?<\/span><\/p>\n

As Mario says, here we go!<\/span><\/p>\n

General ideas<\/u><\/b><\/h3>\n

Group doodle<\/b> –aka<\/i> Incomplete Figures<\/a> (and an idea I had from Erik Wahl<\/a>):
\n 5 minutes before a meeting starts, I open a whiteboard to share. I draw
\n just part of basic shape (i.e. half a star, half a circle, 2\/3 of a
\ntriangle) and then invite everyone to add to the doodle while we just
\nchatted. I took care of scientists so invariably, every doodle ended up
\nwith the Starship Enterprise in it somewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

MadLibs<\/b>
\n – these are easy to make and most folks know the premise. Ask them for a
\n series of nouns, adjectives, verbs, exclamations, etc. and fill those
\nwords into a pre-made short story<\/a>. Giggles and hilarity will ensue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Get a running joke and keep it running<\/b>
\n – My team decided that at every point when we wondered whose “fault”
\nsomething was, we’d blame the San Andreas Fault. We had geologists, so
\nthat joke always worked. Other jokes: I used to play Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al<\/a>”
\n every time our network went down because it was the one song I had on
\nmy hard drive. Secretly, I always wanted to incorporate a llama or volcano<\/a> into project specs. Just to see what my team would do. <\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Add a llama to your next project<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


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Crazy hat day<\/b> – which is really any hat. This one is good in a pinch because everyone can find a hat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Within Reach <\/b>– Pick up an object within arms reach (being on webcam keeps this honest) and explain what it means to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Favorite superhero or villain and why?<\/b>
\n Mine is The Rhino from Spiderman 1960. So what that it’s basically a
\nman in gray snuggie? When he is mad, he runs into things. I love the<\/i> simplicity<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Old English Day.<\/b>
\n Everyone who makes an appropriate comment using Old English can leave
\nthe meeting 10 minutes early. It can be interesting to go 40 minutes
\ninto an online meeting when your quiet team member appropriately uses
\n“thither” and you think “Wow, how long have you been holding that in?<\/i>” The comments must work in context <\/i>like “Let us parlay by the glowing embers of thou’st certain demise.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Bizarro World<\/b><\/a> Project.<\/b>
\n When assigned a project that you know is truly ridiculous (and no one
\nelse is checking), do the opposite project. My team was assigned some
\ntraining on customer service. We were spectacular at customer service.
\nSo I had them do the opposite: create fake recordings on giving the
\nworst customer service possible. The recordings became the best training
\n videos because they showed what not to do, and why!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Calendar ideas<\/u><\/h3>\n

September 19: Talk Like A Pirate Day.<\/b> Everyone signs into a meeting with their pirate name<\/a> instead of their real name and we have to figure out who is who.<\/span><\/p>\n

October:<\/b> Since the theme of October is Halloween, play up “scary.”<\/b>
\n Make a “most scary question” matching game having your team submit
\ntheir scariest work question and create a matching game. Whose scary
\nquestion is that? Add on: Photoshop their standard work photo into a
\nscary photo.<\/span><\/p>\n

November: The Thanksgiving table.<\/b> Remotely, this one is brilliant because the virtual table expands<\/i>
\n to fit everyone. Invite everyone to share something for which they are
\nthankful. This works well synchronously or asynchronously.<\/span><\/p>\n

December: <\/b>Obviously, ugly sweater contests<\/b> completely work online.<\/span><\/p>\n

January: Haiku time. <\/b>Deep
\n quiet winter. Contemplation. Minimum words for minimum temperatures.
\nRun a Haiku contest but downplay ‘contest’. Instead, just make it about
\nsingular voices piercing the cold.<\/span><\/p>\n

March: Limericks.<\/b>
\n Run a limerick contest. Set a theme (mine were always science
\nlimericks). Keep it clean! Have a Guest Judge’s Award and a People’s
\nChoice Award.<\/span><\/p>\n

March 14th, Pi Day.<\/b> Get your numbers-can-be-lines…err…pies groove going. At the very least, everyone picks their favorite pie.<\/span><\/p>\n

April: Earth Month! Working remotely is a very green action!!<\/b>
\n Do you know how many mayors of major cities would love to take 50,000
\ncommuters off their highways everyday to ease congestion? That’s already you, remote worker!<\/i>
\n But don’t stop there. Share one new green commitment you are going to
\nmake this year. You could also host a panel of contributors. I used to
\nhost a “State of the Earth” presentation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Point<\/u><\/h3>\n

The
\n point is to use the strengths of working online to your advantage to
\nconnect. If it is important to you to have more connected workers for
\nbetter communication and productivity (Zappala, 2007<\/a>), it only makes sense to go for your strengths when working remotely. Strengths I’ve included:<\/span><\/p>\n