Crafting a hybrid workspace that feels inclusive for traditional employees and remote team members can be difficult. Here, we discuss the seven best ways to make your team members feel included in a virtual workspace, including celebrating accomplishments, prompting social conversations, crafting engaging game events that work for remote and in-person employees, and more. Without further ado, let’s dive into the topic at hand.

1. Call Out Employee Accomplishments

Everyone appreciates when someone acknowledges their hard work, which goes doubly for hybrid workspaces. Remembering to include your remote employees in office-wide callout posts can be difficult, so setting up a Slack-based employee acknowledgment system can go a long way toward building an inclusive hybrid workplace. That way, all team members, whether in-person or remote, can commend fellow employees for a job well done in a way that everyone can see.

By taking the time to acknowledge your employees who go above and beyond, you create connections in the workplace and help them feel more engaged in their jobs.

2. Keep Slack Channels Active

While in-office employees can easily approach one another for conversation, hybrid, and remote employees rely heavily on workspace apps like Slack to communicate. If your Slack channels keep falling silent, it makes it difficult to connect with these employees, leading to a feeling of exclusion.

Instead, working with a social prompt app like CultureBot’s watercooler feature lets you keep the conversation moving automatically. Adding this feature to your social channels prompts team members to connect and helps keep hybrid and remote employees from feeling isolated throughout the day.

Make sure to communicate team updates with your remote employees, as you may forget to update them on project status or in-office changes due to their location. Pairing good communication on a workplace and social level can help your team members feel connected and craft a hybrid workspace that works for in-person and remote employees.

3. Prioritize Team Wellness

Virtual employees are just as prone to burnout as their in-office counterparts. Remote employees may be more susceptible to burnout as they have fewer incentives to take a break while working from home. Crafting a wellness initiative program for your virtual workspace can be a game-changer.

Not only does a wellness program help keep your employees engaged, but it also connects all team members through shared exercise incentives, crafting a healthy level of competition and engagement across the office. By encouraging remote team members to take a break and care for their physical and emotional well-being, you show that you value them as employees and encourage them to invest in themselves, leading to better productivity and engagement in the long run.

4. Host Fun Virtual Events

Workplace games don’t have to be confined to the physical office. Whether you’re scheduling a fun post-lunch game session or want to transform a virtual meeting into a gameshow, Slack-integrated games are a great way to keep your hybrid team members engaged and included.

These games encourage cooperation across departments, allowing remote, hybrid, and in-office team members to work together to accomplish goals, all for the sake of having fun. This teamwork helps keep your employees connected and more invested in the workspace, making it a perfect way to include all team members in your hybrid workspace.

5. Celebrate Birthdays and Anniversaries

Just because your team members are online doesn’t mean you have to skip out on birthday celebrations! By throwing a virtual birthday party for your team members, you make them feel like part of the team and show you value them as individuals. Virtual celebrations can include video calls, virtual gift cards, and more, all aimed at connecting with and celebrating your remote and hybrid employees.

You can automate birthday messages and workplace anniversary reminders through a Slack app like CultureBot so that you can spend less time stressing over missing birthdays and more time celebrating your employees. From work anniversaries to birthdays and even important office milestones, taking the time to celebrate with your team members can craft an inclusive hybrid workspace that your team members feel proud to be a part of.

6. Introduce New Team Members

While it can feel awkward to introduce new team members, making sure that your remote and hybrid employees know your in-office team members can help with group cohesion. Not only does it help streamline the onboarding process, but pairing hybrid team members with in-office mentors can be a great way to connect both sides of your hybrid office.

Make sure to take the time to introduce new team members to your office culture and your workflow, as this makes the onboarding process that much easier. You should also have a virtual onboarding process to introduce employees to the virtual workspace so they can get a feel for how your company operates. Remember, the time you take introducing new team members reflects on how quickly they become effective, productive, and engaged team members.

7. Collect Team Feedback

Finally, an actionable way to encourage inclusivity in your hybrid workspace is by conducting workplace surveys. While some offices roll their eyes at the idea of a survey, getting honest employee feedback is a great way to identify potential issues before they become serious. Surveys can also provide insight into new and efficient ways of conducting business and crucial areas where you can streamline your productivity.

Thankfully, Slack apps like CultureBot have built-in survey features, so you can spend less time crafting and conducting your survey and more time working to implement the results in your workspace. Remember, team members who feel listened to are more engaged in their workspace, leading to higher inclusivity and greater workplace satisfaction.

If you’re looking for a great way to include hybrid and remote team members in your virtual workspace, CultureBot is here to help. Our multipurpose Slack integration helps offload some of the most frustrating parts of HR and team management, allowing you to spend more time connecting with your team and less time conducting surveys and monitoring dead Slack channels. To find out more or to get started, contact our team today.

~ Amy