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What does Justin Tsatsa recommend for engagement and employee connection in remote teams? Quality over quantity.

When he joined Fetch, one of the globe’s top shopping rewards apps, he had no idea we were mere weeks from a pandemic. Going remote-first and scaling exponentially transformed him from office manager to culture champion practically overnight. Tsatsa dove headfirst into a lot of the virtual team-building stuff you’ve probably tried. Today, he finds that more carefully selected impact events work best for his high-energy team, as well as recognition tools like HeyTaco.

“It just came down to the content that we put out and how impactful and meaningful the event is, not the amount that we're trying to do. It's okay if participation is low. It gives you a place to start.” – Justin Tsatsa

Key Takeaways

• Be wary of issues like Zoom fatigue and personal time when planning team-building events.
• Adding purpose and meaning to in-person and virtual events gives them more impact.
• Growth opportunities add value to teams, even if it empowers some people to move on to new roles.
• Keeping events voluntary is part of showing your team you trust them.
• Experimentation is important for company culture, even if it means circling back to something that didn’t work before.

Timestamps

1:14 Joining Fetch & Going Remote

2:43 The Trial & Error of Remote Team Building

4:32 Virtual Socializing & Events With Impact

6:12 The Team Meetup Playbook

10:37  Communication, Feedback, & Remote Operations

12:37 On Voluntary Activities & Trusting Your People

14:02 Sustaining Culture & Fostering Growth

18:05 Scaling a Remote Team: Justin’s Recipes for Success

25:32 Five Tacos to Share

Key Topics Discussed

Amazing Teams, Una Japundza, Justin Tsatsa, employee connection, remote teams, team building, company culture

Mentions

Website: https://fetch.com/