Why in-person time is essential for remote employee engagement

In a study conducted in 2020, 73.2% of the survey respondents listed individual employee engagement and motivation as one of the top three challenges in a remote work environment, followed by team-building and morale (54.7%).

Through various approaches, companies have been able to do their best in keeping employees engaged and boosting their morale. 

GitLab is a proponent of informal communication.

“One way to prevent loneliness and burnout are through relationship-building by prioritizing regular social interactions via informal communication throughout the workday, week, and month.”

Other companies host virtual events or Netflix movie nights, like Hannah Keely of Team Keely LLC mentioned in a recent Forbes article. 

However, there is one effective way to tackle the issue of employee engagement: in-person time.  

We often think that because a team is distributed, there’s no way for them to get together. However, through strategies like meet-ups, summits, conferences, all-hands work weeks, or regularly-scheduled coworking days, it’s not as difficult as it might seem. 

If you’re wondering whether your remote team needs in-person time to help address employee engagement issues, here are 5 compelling reasons. 

5 ways in-person time can help improve employee engagement

Building relationships: There’s nothing like in-person interactions to allow your employees the opportunity to build stronger connections with their colleagues and managers. Face-to-face meetings can help build trust, which can then help support collaboration and teamwork. 

Training and professional development: In a recent Flexspace article, Danielle Wiley, CEO of Sway Group, mentioned that she conducts in-person onboarding with her new employees. But any sort of training or professional development will be more immersive and interactive, not to mention more supportive from a knowledge retention standpoint, when it’s hosted in an in-person setting. 

Creative collaboration: As much as you can accomplish on video technology, there are certain projects or tasks that may require brainstorming, problem-solving, or collaborating that are just better facilitated in person. Dynamic discussions, real-time idea generation, and spontaneous exchanges are harder to replicate in a remote setting.

Conflict resolution: While it may not always be possible due to the nature of the conflict and the location of the team members, having face-to-face conversations can foster empathy, active listening, and constructive problem-solving, which can then lead to more effective resolutions. Bringing a team together in person that might be struggling with problem-solving could potentially support long-lasting relationships.

Workplace culture and values: Certainly, a company’s culture and values should be visible wherever their employees work, but when teams get together in person, a company’s culture can really come to life. And when this happens, it allows employees to experience a sense of belonging. 

Many companies are tapping into the convenience and versatility of on-demand coworking spaces at Flexspace to make it easier to balance a team’s remote work flexibility with opportunities for those invaluable in-person interactions. 

While you may already be familiar with membership-based coworking spaces, Flexspace lets you book on-demand coworking spaces for daily or weekly work sessions, meetups, brainstorming conferences, and more. We help companies make offering coworking space benefits a viable, affordable option, by providing them and their employees with a free on-demand workspace booking platform that allows them to seamlessly book spaces, whether it’s for daily or weekly personal use, or for connecting with other team members or clients within a meeting or conference setting. And you’ll receive support in creating and managing your coworking spend budget, to help streamline your costs. 

If you’re considering offering more in-person opportunities for your remote team, let Flexspace take the hassle out of the searching, booking, and managing process so you can do the important work of connecting with your team.

Schedule a demo with our team!