8 Powerful Online Team Building Strategies for Workplace Training

Teams that operate effectively together are more powerful, focused, and productive. Team training is one of the most effective techniques to aid in forming that bond. But, especially with the rise of remote work, bringing an entire team together for learning isn’t always straightforward. Employees may feel alienated by the concept of virtual team training. They participate from their place rather than gathering in the same room, missing opportunities to engage with and learn from one another. However, online teaching does not have to be a one-person show. Virtual team training can be as efficient as in-person or face-to-face group learning if you plan and strategize well. This post will look at why team training is essential, especially while working in an online environment. We’ll also go over specific tried-and-tested team building and team training strategies that can help you foster virtual teamwork.

Virtual team training has a lot of advantages

You might be wondering why, in an online environment, you should bother with team training. After all, technology allows people to learn from anywhere, at any time, and at their own pace.

Even if you’re working remotely, your team might benefit significantly from learning together. So, let’s define what we mean when we say “team training.” We’re not talking about putting a group of people through online or offline courses simultaneously. Team training does not include sitting through the annual compliance presentation together.

Instead, we’re talking about a group of people learning together. Intentional connection and engagement are elements of team training, which encourages more participation and group practice. You may think of it as employee teamwork training.

There are several advantages to having employees learn together, including:

• Deeper connections
• Improved interaction
• An increased level of interest in the content
• Enhanced knowledge retention and learning

When people don’t see or engage with each other regularly, this type of team building is critical. Collaboration and reciprocal learning are incredibly beneficial in an online training setting. Let’s look at some strategies to make your training more enjoyable and productive by utilizing online teamwork.

8 virtual team building strategies to maximize the effectiveness of your corporate training program

A team training strategy can help your employees feel like they’re part of a cohesive team. Take a look at the eight suggestions below for bringing your team’s learning together.

Identify the needs of team training

When organizing team training, the first and most crucial step is determining your team’s strengths and shortcomings. To find the source of any issues, start by asking the following questions:

• Are there any interpersonal disputes that are causing divides within the team?
• Is it necessary for team members to get to know one another better?
• Do some members place too much emphasis on their own achievement, causing the group to suffer as a result?
• Is the group’s success being hampered by a lack of communication?
• Is it necessary for people to learn to collaborate instead of working alone?
• Do certain members’ opposition to change have an impact on the group’s capacity to move forward?
• Is there a need for a morale boost in the group?

You can select specific activities to assist your team in addressing any issues that the questions uncover.

Make team building a culture and not a mere activity

While set-piece team-building exercises are one approach to enhance your team’s bonds, they are not a quick fix for success. Instead, make team development a priority in your group’s thinking. First, consider the team-building potential of everyday office tasks. Then, daily, employ the four tactics below to improve your team’s strength, cohesiveness, and effectiveness:

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Learn each detail about your team

Your team comprises people with various needs, aims, and personas. Understanding them and helping them start to know one another can result in a friendly, trusting group. For example, hosting a pre-holiday drinks event or even a low-cost team dinner are simple methods to get your team members to mingle.

Attending social events is a terrific opportunity to meet new people and form new friendships. People are more prone to open up and disclose more of their personalities in a casual situation. Furthermore, research has shown that revealing personal details about yourself improve your likability by demonstrating to people that you can be an empathic, sensitive, and sincere leader.

Have one goal

You may bring your team together by encouraging them to work toward a common purpose or vision. Having an identified destination can prevent individuals from pulling in different directions, which is frustrating and ineffective. Creating a Team Charter can provide a written statement of the team’s purpose and aims.

Work on team skills

Your team must develop the necessary skills and competencies to fulfill its objectives. For this, a skills matrix is an excellent place to start. Use the matrix to assess your team’s competencies and training requirements and match their skills to specific jobs. Developing more robust skill sets and matching people to ideal roles can result in a more capable and motivated team.

Take special care to meet the training demands of your team members in the most effective way possible. People learn best through everyday hands-on experience, according to research. The 70:20:10 Framework suggests that the best ratio for training people is 70% practical everyday experience, 20% exposure, and 10% formal learning.

Consider the virtual paradigm

As more and more individuals work from home, you may find yourself in charge of a virtual team. It might not be easy to establish rapport between team members who never or never meet face to face. Time zones and cultural variations might provide additional hurdles regarding team-building strategies, exercises, or techniques for remote workers.

Your remote team members may feel alienated from their coworkers, so they will likely welcome opportunities to socialize “online,” improve their abilities, and have fun. Given the extensive range of online technologies available, it is possible to maintain regular and productive communication with virtual team members. However, the key to forming an efficient team is how its members communicate rather than the technology they employ.

Use social media

Make use of social media to recreate and better enhance interactions. In-person training can be enjoyable, but it can also be restrictive. In the time provided, you can only hear from so many people. People will contribute during their training and beyond if you set up an internal Slack channel or online forum. People can ask and answer questions about specific abilities or procedures by creating multiple channels for relevant topics.

Showing employees that you encourage them to ask questions will help foster a culture of open communication. Then watch them achieve as they assist one another in learning and putting what they’ve learned into practice.

Embed live sessions

One of the most appealing aspects of eLearning is the ability to check-in whenever convenient and complete classes quickly and efficiently. However, blended learning allows you to use the benefits of teamwork. To put it another way, it’s a hybrid of self-paced and live group training.

Organize live sessions in which all participants log in at the same time. Putting faces to names and having real-time dialogues will strengthen the team. It will also enable you to arrange activities that encourage people to interact with the information and with one another.

Introduce home assignments and peer reviews

The advantage of online training is that it allows you to stretch out the content over time. Breaking it up also allows you some skill development in between sessions. Between courses, assign projects or set challenges for learners to complete, such as honing a specific skill on the job.

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Employees giving feedback on each other’s work can help you get more out of tasks. After trainees submit their projects, assign them to review a certain number of their peers’ efforts. This approach will allow employees to practice their skills by encouraging them. It will also enable learners to better understand other people’s perspectives on those talents by allowing them to evaluate them.

What about content reviews?

Sessions of content review help to reinforce what has been learned. They also continue the collaborative spirit that you established during the training. Engage learners in engaging post-training reviews for the best results in your team-building activities.

Bring in some friendly rivalry with a Jeopardy-style quiz, for example. Alternatively, have students write down their questions and then let others try to answer those they are comfortable with. These types of exercises will excite employees and help them remember what they’ve studied.

Teach to learn better

Teaching others is one of the most effective methods to learn something. Utilize this approach by providing learners with a new role during team building and training. As a review activity, assign staff to prepare a presentation on a portion of the training subject. Not only will your staff members learn better, but their coworkers will also benefit from a fresh perspective on the material.

How can you ensure employee engagement in team training?

Once you’ve devised a strategy for effective online team building and training, there’s one more aspect to consider: motivation. Team training is only practical if the entire team participates. For various reasons, this may be outside some employees’ comfort zones. Consider the following scenario:

• Employees are accustomed to training being merely a checkbox that must be checked, and they do not want to devote any time or attention to the process.
• Those who are not naturally gregarious may find group activities overwhelming or unpleasant.
• When employees have to participate in real-time during their virtual team training, online learning fatigue makes live online training feel like a nuisance rather than an opportunity to learn.

Here are some strategies for motivating everyone to engage, assisting employees in getting the most out of team training, and achieving the desired results:

Make the importance of the information clear

People are motivated to do team-building activities that are beneficial to them. Ensure the benefits to your staff when you advertise the training session. Will it enable them to work more efficiently? Are you preparing them for new responsibilities? Is this an investment for their professional development? Tell them what they’ll get out of it. Employees will turn up and participate if they understand the reasons.

Make employees feel like they’re a valuable part of the initiative

People will not feel invested if they believe they are only a number to be crossed off a list. By asking for feedback, you may show learners that their voices are being heard and that their contributions are appreciated. Before and after the session, ask for feedback. Employees will pay attention and participate in preparing their feedback if they know their voices will be heard.

Remove monotony

By incorporating gamification into your virtual team training, you may boost engagement. With a competitive element, you can pique people’s curiosity. Add a leaderboard to keep track of your progress or quiz results. As they compare their ranking to that of other departments in the organization, persuade the team to work together. Alternatively, provide badges and certificates for completing specific tasks. Setting a measurable objective will keep your staff motivated to complete their training and truly understand the material.

Conclusion

There are numerous approaches to making virtual team training a success for your organization. All you have to do now is jump in and be ready to change your ideas if necessary. Try some of the team-building activities recommended in this article, for example, and observe the most successful ones. Alternatively, try your training plan with a few departments before deciding which ones to implement on a larger scale. Whatever method you use, investing in your teams will result in a better training experience. Employees will be happy, and results will improve.

Ad: PlayAblo’s Enterprise-Grade Micro-Learning platform is built for millennial learners. Micro-Learning, along with assessments and gamification features, ensures learning outcome measurement along with sustained engagement.
Find out more and request a custom demo!