What do you do when one of your team has to self isolate just before Christmas and is unable to join the pre Christmas celebration? Put the celebrations on hold, go on with the show without them, or make them centre stage of your event?
The team at Bees Homes chose the latter and having dusted down a few of my “Managing Virtual Teams” notes, we asked our Team Executive, Gemma who was self isolating, to come up with an online quiz to accompany our hastily (re) arranged pre Christmas gathering.
It proved to be a success with much laughter. Why?
- Snacks (and wine) were shared as we had passed by her home on the way to the office and left food – Gemma had what we had.
- Gemma was the host so drove the pace of the event which lasted a couple of hours.
- Drawing on some great ideas on this Team Building site, she came up with a “Spin the wheel” quiz and added questions such as “What is your favourite Christmas Song?”
- The whole team were visible throughout – see Gemma’s view from my laptop.
- We have spent time in f2f team meetings developing a collaborative and supportive culture.
- Gemma is someone who responds well to adversity and takes responsibility.
It reinforced many of the tips I’ve given clients over the last couple of decades about managing virtual teams.
Happy New Year!