This article is contributed by Sehrish Ahmad, and is a continuation of the previous article.

·      Come up with a theme

When conducting team meetings, think of a theme. For example, prior to COVID-19 people were able to travel to a particular location to have face to face meetings as a whole team, so virtually one could organise a “tour” of a particular country. The facilitator could wear the national dress of that country, share history and tourist facts prior to the Meeting and create some virtual boarding passes too which you could send to your “passengers” before the meeting (just to make it interesting).

·      Bring people together with a fun activity

Keeping people engaged during the pandemic has definitely been a challenge; why not find a way to bring everyone together that doesn’t involve work – a fun team activity maybe? How about cooking classes? People can volunteer to cook a dish! Send out your ingredients beforehand and make sure you schedule the meeting via camera on. And together step by step cook a dish together, it is fun and engaging. Once done, the team can all eat together by seeing each other on camera. Pick up your glass, do a cheers and have a happy hour virtually too!

·      Engage your team with Zoom yoga

Ever done a virtual yoga/mindfulness/exercise class together with your team members? Energisers prior to a meeting can help get your energy up and bring a smile to your face! Sitting on your laptop all day is tedious and achy. Spend a few times before a meeting to do some stretches. People can take turns to lead such energiser sessions. Everyone on their mat, child’s pose and upward dog!

·      Host walking meetings

Choose a meeting in your calendar where you don’t need your laptop as such. You can use your phone to dial in and walk and talk. Sharing your views from wherever you are, having a laugh, grabbing a coffee and walking can make such a huge difference. It is amazing how these small things increase your teammates’ engagement!

·        Build a culture of appreciation

Leaders should appreciate and acknowledge how challenging and difficult Covid-19 has been on employees working from home, especially those who may be living in smaller spaces, have kids at home, or those who are all alone locked in. Sending out a virtual thank you e-card or a small monetary token of appreciation to your teams to encourage them to use that money to buy some hand sanitisers or enrol in a mindfulness class goes a long way. How people feel significantly impacts how they perform. Remember people appreciate it when they feel cared for by their organisation and leaders.

·      Foster camaraderie with chat apps

Making Whatsapp groups of your colleagues/team members and sharing some memes, jokes, perhaps even some interesting games and challenging each other keeps the feeling of “togetherness”.

There is so much more we can do, but here are some starting pointers around ways to engage, stay connected, and keep your team happy, healthy, and productive all year long.

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Paul Keijzer is the CEO and Founder of Engage Consulting and the co-Founder of The Talent Games, which aims to transform HR by digitising talent processes and creating more engaging and productive workplaces through gamification and mobile technology. As a global HR and Leadership Management expert, Paul knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.