12 Tips for Building a Strong Remote Team Culture

Many people love remote work as they can wear their pajamas and shape the day as they feel comfortable. Despite the upsides, a virtual office limits casual contact with colleagues and makes work more solitary. Here’s how to avoid isolation and create a sense of togetherness online.

Why Unite the Team When Everyone Works Remotely?

Setting up remote collaboration isn’t hard. All you need is to assign tasks, set deadlines, and define how results will be evaluated. But if you want a dream team, you have to invest in bonding. People working online still solve shared problems — friendly communication and a sense of unity make work easier and more effective. Here are more reasons to build team spirit in remote teams:

1. Higher motivation: team support inspires new wins and achievements.
2. Reduced isolation: regular group activities help people feel as part of the organization and improve the emotional climate.
3. Smoother communication: open, accessible dialogue prevents misunderstandings and simplifies collaboration.
4. Inspiration and energy: pleasant interactions with colleagues can spark new ideas and approaches.

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How Maintain Warm Everyday Communication

Chatting with colleagues often gets limited to assigning tasks and discussing finished work. To build a friendly, productive atmosphere, add a little variety. These tips will make the team chat livelier and everyday communication more comfortable.

Welcome New Employees Strategically

Make it a tradition to introduce newcomers. First, it helps a new teammate feel more confident. Second, a warm welcome sets a friendly tone that makes collaboration easier for everyone.

We’ve compiled the key points to mention when introducing a new team member in chat.

Praise and Celebrate Success

Don’t just ask for feedback — offer it. Call out small wins and personal achievements so colleagues feel valued and gain extra motivation. Regular, specific praise creates a pleasant atmosphere and makes team communication warmer.

Try to cite concrete achievements, not give vague compliments. The more specific the praise, the nicer it lands. Here are some examples.

Use Jokes and Memes

The internet is full of work memes — there are even niche jokes for marketers, designers, and more. Don’t hesitate to share them and invite colleagues to join in. Good memes ease tension, lift the mood, and might even spark your own creative streak.

Make Holiday and Birthday Greetings a New Tradition

Christmas, birthdays, and other holidays are a perfect reason to exchange warm words with colleagues. Try to avoid boilerplate messages and be sincere. Thank people for working together and note the team’s strengths. Colleagues will gladly return the positivity — and the group’s atmosphere will feel cozy.

Send Reactions to Messages

If you don’t want to clutter the chat or don’t have time to reply, encourage leaving quick reactions. It takes two seconds, but the sender sees that you noticed and appreciated their words.

Exchange Video Messages

Remote work means you don’t see colleagues daily. Short videos (those quick, circular clips in some messengers) are a great way to liven up conversations: give feedback, record a greeting, or address the team with a question.

Celebrate Results and Achievements

To maintain team spirit, share collective results. Often only leadership has access to metrics, so employees may not realize their own wins. Set up transparent reporting and regularly share company news — it strengthens bonds and boosts loyalty.

Schedule Informal Online Meetups

Beyond work calls, schedule virtual meetups just to talk. Do it ahead of holidays or simply at month’s end — often enough to feel regular, not so often it becomes a chore. Informal time helps people get to know each other and builds team cohesion.

The first calls can feel awkward. To help everyone feel at ease, share the topic, timing, and your expectations in advance. That way people can prepare and the meetup won’t add stress.

Five Activities To Unite a Remote Team

Team building is still team building — even online. The options are narrower, but there are plenty of ways to have fun together. Here are five ideas that work.

Secret Santa

Secret Santa gift exchange is a perfect way to celebrate Christmas, Halloween, or to mark a milestone and show appreciation to coworkers. Each participant draws a colleague’s name and buys them a gift secretly. You can send anonymous gifts using a postal service or to order delivery from an online retailer.

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How to Send Your Secret Santa Gift Anonymously?

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For a remote draw, online Secret Santa generators work perfectly. We recommend using the MySanta service — it has lots of helpful features for playing online:

• Quick draw. Enter participant names and send personal result links — even with odd numbers, everyone gets matched.
• Wishlists. See what the recipient dreams of and share your own wishes with your Santa to make picking the perfect gift easier.
• Anonymous chat with Santa. Ask questions and clarify details without revealing identities.
• Gift tracking. Follow the game from start to finish so the chance of anyone being left without a gift is near zero.

Try our MySanta app

You can create wishlists, add exclusions, and communicate with your gifree secretly. Moreover, there is an option to track gifts and ensure that everyone buys a present on time.

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Learning Together

Host webinars or workshops so employees can learn something new side by side — from professional trainings to cooking classes. A shared project is a powerful way to unite people and create extra reasons to interact.

Interest Clubs

It’s hard to know colleagues’ hobbies even in an office; and it's even harder for a remote team. Invite the team to discuss movies, swap book recs, or play a favorite video game together. People will find like-minded friends and feel more at home in the group.

The "Most Likely To" Game

This game helps you get to know each other if you’re new — and tests how well you know teammates if you’ve worked together for years. Before you start, create a list of "most likely to" prompts: most likely to run a marathon, go backpacking, perform at the office party, and so on. Ideally, create as many prompts as players; if you want two rounds, double it. Each person gets a random prompt and picks the colleague who fits it, explaining their choice.

It’s easy to organize and almost guaranteed to leave happy memories.

Themed Quizzes

Bowling, pub trivia, and other games are great for offline team building. For remote teams, use online quiz platforms. Build a quiz with mixed questions — general topics like movies, countries, memes, and company-specific rounds like office traditions or fun facts about colleagues. A dash of competition and unexpected puzzles will delight any group.

Conclusion

Company culture isn’t formed only through task completion; it grows from shared values, atmosphere, and doing things together. That’s harder to build at a distance, but the effort pays off — you’ll create a true dream team.

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