Building Connection and Culture in Distributed Teams

Distributed and remote teams are becoming increasingly common in today's workforce. Building remote team culture and fostering team cohesion can be challenging when people are geographically dispersed. In my exclusive Software Spotlight interview with Oleg Danylenko, CEO and Co-Founder of Teemyco, he shares valuable insights on strategies to unite distributed teams.

The Origin Story of Teemyco

Teemyco was founded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic caused a dramatic shift to remote work. Teemyco makes it easy to build high-performing remote teams by providing a safe online space for team members to collaborate, support each other, and connect. As Danylenko explains:

“It started from a lunch me and Co-Founder Charlotte had with the CEO of one of the companies in Stockholm. It's a startup that was at that point growing, recruiting a lot of people, and at some point they realized they need to recruit globally, so they decided to become a remote first company.”

However, this CEO faced difficulties building an inclusive, unified culture across headquarters and individual remote employees:

“People who are individuals working maybe from South America or from another country in Europe, they felt that, okay, headquarters is where people meet, it's where things happen. And… they didn't really feel included in the same way.”

Solving these communication and culture challenges inspired Teemyco's virtual office platform. Teemyco aims to foster virtual team culture by making distributed team members feel closer to one another and giving leaders tools to drive engagement. Teemyco boosts distributed team engagement through features like polls, games, flying emojis, and digital spaces tailored to enhance communication.

Critical Challenges of Distributed Teams

Danylenko outlines several obstacles distributed teams face in fostering connection among team members:

Onboarding

New hires may feel disconnected from the organization and team.

Communication

People communicate less frequently, and interactions become more transactional. Nuances get lost across different mediums.

Collaboration

There is less awareness of what others are working on, making it difficult to identify opportunities to help each other or work together.

Innovation

Fewer creative collisions happen when people don't interact informally.

Tips for Fostering Connection

However, Danylenko offers practical tips for distributed teams to facilitate human connection:

Kick Off Projects With Team Building

Teemyco facilitates online team-building activities to strengthen connections and trust between distributed colleagues.

“Use virtual team building activities to set the stage for psychological safety and cohesion:

• Icebreakers and get-to-know-you questions
• Personality assessments and discussion on working styles
• Team charter creation outlining values, goals, and guidelines”

Encourage Informal Social Interactions

Don't limit conversations to structured meetings. Provide channels for casual socializing:

• Have a virtual watercooler channel for fun conversations
• Start video calls 5 minutes early for casual chat
• Share photos from company events across locations”

Clarify Roles and Responsibilities

Ensure everyone understands how work crosses over between team members:

• Document responsibilities for each role
• Discuss which tasks require cross-collaboration
• Share org charts and key contacts
• Cross-train team members where possible

Set Up Mentorship Programs

“Pair newer employees with more tenured team members to transfer institutional knowledge and make personal connections:”

• Tailor mentor selection based on skills, interests, location
• Provide guides for suggested mentorship activities/questions
• Check-in regularly on progress and challenges

Send Team Recognition

Public recognition makes people feel valued and builds camaraderie:

• Recognize contributions to key results
• Celebrate wins and milestones
• Show appreciation for collaboration

Meet Periodically In-Person

If possible, gather the distributed team together at least once a year. In-person events enable deeper connections through informal interactions.

Measuring Progress

It's essential to quantify engagement and connection over time. As Danylenko explains:

“We launched a survey that where after a few weeks of using Teemyco, people responded to a number of questions and rated how much certain aspects changed since they started using Teemyco. And there we actually got really exciting results. So 91% of people reported that they feel more connected to their team.”

Teemyco's Virtual Office Platform

Teemyco provides the technology infrastructure for distributed teams to communicate and collaborate effectively. Some key features highlighted by Danylenko include:

• Visualize team member availability and status. – Enables spontaneous conversations when appropriate.
• Integrations with existing tools like Slack and Google Calendar – No need to switch platforms, seamless workflows.
• Customizable virtual office spaces – Mirror company brand, culture, and working methods.
• Analytics on engagement and interactions – Quantify progress on building connections.

Building Remote Team Culture Conclusion

With purposeful strategies centered on human moments, clear direction, visible data, and spaces optimized for distributed teams, leaders can cultivate an inclusive “one team” culture even with remote employees dispersed globally. As Danylenko summarizes:

“Distributed teams perform best when people trust each other, understand how their work fits together, and feel comfortable being themselves.”

The insights from Teemyco provide a blueprint for managers striving to unite distributed teams.

Listen to the Software Spotlight Podcast with Teemyco:  In this episode, host Michael Bernzweig interviews Co-founder Oleg Danylenko. The virtual office platform Teemyco aims to facilitate spontaneous interactions and relationship-building between distributed colleagues. Integrations with popular business tools allow users to collaborate in customized workspaces with visibility into team members' availability and status. Over 90% of survey respondents said Teemyco makes them feel more connected to colleagues. With simple per-user pricing, the platform helps unite hybrid and remote teams.