Communications

MS Teams: Build Channels on Teams to allow for focused communications within your team.

Incorporate Stand-Up meetings (as many as required per week, depending on the needs of your team) - Using AgilePolly (subscription required) or set a channel for this action. (NOTE - Interface in English only, however questions can be asked in French)

• Roller-coaster check-in at the beginning of your meetings to open a space to talk about where team members are at in their work and in their personal lives.

Example of key questions you can ask:

• How are you doing (managing work/life)?
• Is there anything you need to bring forward to your Manager / Director?
• What obstacles or challenges are you dealing with?

This will give you, as a manager, insight into everyone's day. As this would be visible by your whole team, managers should communicate to their teams that if they don't feel comfortable sharing their obstacles or struggles in a group setting, this can be done privately, thus the importance of one-on-one meetings as well.

To celebrate a team member's milestone event (i.e., birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, promotions, etc.) use the record option in MS Teams Meetings to capture a special message Tip: try adding a fun background in the video message!

Host weekly team meetings. Consider incorporating a theme that can be decided by the team at the end of each meeting if all are comfortable in doing so. These are a nice way to break the ice at the beginning of your meetings. Some possible themes could be:

• Show your Canadian Pride - Wear the Flag, your hockey jersey, have a full Canadian Tuxedo.
• Pick your favorite movie
• General theme (e.g. 80's, 90s)
• Puppets - Have you ever wished you were on Fraggle Rock? Here's your chance - Check out what a team at TC did here!
• Celebrity dress up - Channel your inner Celeb
• Crazy hair/hat day
• Bring your pet or kid "to work" day - where your new co-worker(s) joins in on the meeting.
• Celebrate culture and diversity - have team members show their culture pride.

* Remember you can hide or change your background in Teams to match your themes.

TC Transformation backgrounds can be found here. *

If approved by your team members, don't forget to take a team picture and share on MS Teams and social media!

Looking for some training on MS Teams: (NOTE - Interface in English only, however you can register for the French sessions on this same page)

https://wiki.gccollab.ca/GCcollaboration/Home/Training?utm_campaign=covid-tc&utm_medium=tcthisweek&utm_source=tctw-ongoing&utm_content=register-for-ms-teams

Mentimeter: Help start the conversation using Mentimeter to encourage discussion by providing an anonymous way to answer questions during a meeting. (NOTE: Mentimeter is free for anyone trying out the application; however there is a cost associated with upgrading to Basic and Pro features) (NOTE - Interface in English only, however both English and French can be used)

Sli.do or Lean Coffee Table: Put your meetings back in the hands of participants by using one of these platforms to crowdsource meeting topics at the beginning of your meeting or to open up roundtable/Q&A discussions. (NOTE - Interface in English only, however both English and French can be used) (Note: Sli.do and Lean Coffee Table requires a paid subscription.)

Miro or Google Jamboard: Boost your team's engagement and creativity by using one of these free virtual whiteboard platforms to ideate & problem solve. (NOTE - Interface in English only, however both English and French can be used)

Create a Watercooler: Every team should have a watercooler, and a distributed team is no exception. As a team, be clear about where this space is (e.g. Teams, Slack, etc.) and help to create an active conversation there.