Remote teams can be just as effective as teams working together in one place. As a company with teams in five states and three countries, we know a distributed model works.
At the same time, meeting in person can strengthen team bonds. The benefits of a remote team meetup last long after everyone goes home.
For a recent Meetup in Portland, some of our team members and their families got together for another activity we like to share—a Trash Talk.
Trash Talks—A Fun Way to Give Back
What is a Trash Talk, you ask? In this case, it’s not about psyching out your opponent on the basketball court. For us, a Trash Talk is a way to combine two things—socializing and giving back to the community.
For AnswerConnect, Trash Talks grew out of a desire to stay active and healthy at work. We all know that too much sitting is bad for you. So, we started taking some of our meetings outside—especially one-on-ones or small groups.
A walking meeting works even if the participants are in different places. Get on a group call on your mobile phone, plug in your headphones, and head off down the sidewalk.
For some meetings (when you don’t need visual aides like an on-screen presentation), being on the move just works. You get a breath of fresh air and some exercise. Many times, we’ve found, talking while walking helps give people a new perspective on the problem or issue at hand. By the time we get back to our desks, not only have we changed the scenery, we’ve changed our understanding of what we’re talking about.
From Walking Meeting to Trash Talk
Once we started doing more walking meetings, we noticed something: trash. Litter lay all along the streets we walked while talking things out. Maybe it was the extra energy we got from getting up and walking around, but we decided to do something about it.
So our walking meetings became Trash Talks. We got some trash pickers (a claw on a long handle) and buckets. As we walked and talked, we picked up trash, too.
Trash Talk Meetup on the Portland Waterfront
Recently, some of our Portland-area team members met up for a Trash Talk at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. This time it wasn’t a meeting to talk about work. Instead, team members brought friends and family along to join in the fun and help out.
For remote teams like ours, occasional meetups give an opportunity to strengthen connections. “First of all,” says Christina, a Quality Assurance Analyst at AnswerConnect, “it was great to see coworkers. Even though we were picking up trash, I had a good time. It didn’t really feel like doing chores at all.”
Katie, who leads one of our remote Customer Experience Associate teams, was there too. “It made me feel great knowing I was helping people and doing something good for our city by picking up the trash,” she says. “I even had a few people thank me. We ended our day with a delicious Bunk sandwich!” Nothing wrong with that!
For Nichole, from our HR department, the day was an opportunity to spend time with both family and coworkers. She brought her husband and their two kids along. “We had a wonderful time working together with other team members to clean up the waterfront,” she says. “It was a great to get the opportunity to help improve our community while getting to know my coworkers better.” For her son and daughter, meeting the mounted Portland Police officers on the waterfront was a bonus!
Meetups are great like that—you never know what might happen. Christina enjoyed stopping, on the way to lunch, to listen to some high school kids practicing a play outside. “It felt good to stop and give them support,” she says. “Our group was big enough to be an instant audience for them. Can’t wait until the next meetup!”
