Team Building for remote teams: Together Remotely©

Nothing is spared… all spheres of our lives are affected: our finances, our work, our personal life, our leisure time and even our health for the less fortunate. Last month, I was on a trip to Japan and I was staying very close to the famous boat "Diamond Princess" cruise. Never would I have thought that the COVID-19 outbreak would have such a big impact on our lives here… in Quebec City. Everything was going well for Hubu… we were booked for the next 6 weeks.

The slap in the face came with the cancellation of a trip to Africa. It was a big contract for us… then followed… social distancing, closed shopping malls, closed nonessential shops and like that, we were pretty much out of business. The slap in the face lasted a few days, and then I started calling people around me. I wanted to see how we could make something beautiful out of this.

The first step was to finish our website and update the company’s administrative paperwork (yes, startup life). Then we went into service mode. We asked ourselves how we could serve local businesses? How can we use our expertise in creating team building activities and meaningful experiences to design a service or a product suitable to their needs?

After a few discussions with business leaders, coaches and a few former colleagues from École d’Entrepreuneurship de Beauce, we realized that the need to unify teams was greater than ever. We identified the needs:

• Connection : How to establish a real human relationship in this remote context?

• Trust : How to maintain trust between employers and employees?

• Motivation : How to keep the motivation and engagement of a remote team?

• Feedback : How to know what you team think and provide efficient feedback in this remote context?

From this, Hubu got to work and brainstormed on how to create a fast and affordable solution for our customers and local businesses in Quebec. During the first week of our brainstorm, it’s as if we were too close to the tree… we were looking into creating a virtual product (kind of a "do it yourself" game), but we realized it’s not what we wanted to do. It was during an outdoor walk that inspiration came to us. We finally stepped back from the tree to have a look at the entire forest. Daniel asked me "How do we have the greatest impact on teams?" My answer was: "When we interact in person, face-to-face with teams, this is also what we like to do best!"

This is where the idea for the Together Remotely© 10 day challenge came from : a 10-day challenge to keep your employees motivated and engaged during the COVID-19 crisis. In a few days, with the help of a few collaborators, we designed a challenge for teams (from 6 to 80 employees) looking to increase engagement and stay connected in a fun way while working remotely. Together remotely© consists of 5 challenges that take between 5 and 15 minutes (maximum) per day to keep your team productive. Each new challenge involves short daily individual and collaborative tasks designated to build team bonds and practice skills needed for remote teams!

Together Remotely© includes :

• 6 Zoom calls with the Hubu team to facilitate and launch each new challenge

• All documents relative to each challenge

• A final report to remember the Together Remotely© experience

• A closing ceremony to celebrate

With major changes in the work environment, more than ever, remote teams need to connect. We are aware that several teams are currently on the ‘’respirator’’ and this is what drives us to innovate. We want to inject a good dose of oxygen and energy within each team. We are launching the challenge today and several entrepreneurs have already mentioned their interest in Together Remotely©.

In order to help and serve small and medium businesses, we are also doing our part by offering the challenge free of charge to 2 teams. If you are interested in participating in the challenge, please click on the red button View the Challenge.

Feel free to share the good news in your network.

Hubu : Because We Are.