Top 15 Remote Engagement Tips from HR Experts

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The shift from hybrid to fully place-based work has created new challenges for employee engagement. Building meaningful connections between remote and in-person team members requires intentional effort and fresh approaches.

In partnership with HR.com, we hosted an event focused on reimagining employee engagement in remote environments. Experts from Headspace Health, Guru, and Bonusly shared practical strategies for fostering belonging in remote and hybrid teams.

The discussion covered topics ranging from remote onboarding to meeting audits. Below, we’ve compiled the top 15 tips from our panelists for easy reference.

Top 15 Remote Engagement Tips From HR Experts

Tips to Combat Burnout and Meeting Fatigue

1. Conduct Meeting Audits

Encourage managers to regularly review team meetings. The goal is to ensure meetings drive collaboration rather than frustration. Consider these key questions:

• Are all attendees essential, or could some receive an email update instead?
• Is the meeting truly necessary, or could it be handled asynchronously?
• Could the meeting be recorded for those unable to attend live?

2. Introduce No-Meeting Days

Designate specific days without meetings to give employees focused time for deep work and personal tasks. This simple practice supports mental health and boosts overall morale.

3. Set Clear Camera Expectations

Define clear guidelines on when cameras should be on during virtual meetings and when participation can remain flexible.

4. Try Walking Meetings

For discussions that don’t require screen sharing, suggest walking meetings to encourage movement and fresh perspectives.

5. Assign Remote Advocates

In mixed-location meetings, designate a remote advocate to ensure remote participants have opportunities to contribute. Additional roles such as facilitator, note-taker, and timekeeper can also improve meeting effectiveness.

6. Require Meeting Agendas

Make agendas mandatory for every meeting—no exceptions.

7. Support Multiple Participation Modes

Allow attendees to engage through chat, voice, or features like Zoom’s “raise hand” function so everyone can contribute comfortably.

8. Create Onboarding Checklists

Develop a clear onboarding checklist for all new hires—remote or in-person—that outlines required tasks, timelines, and tool access instructions.

9. Establish Collaboration Agreements

Share team working norms with new hires through collaboration agreements. Use this template if your team doesn’t have one yet.

10. Build a Video Update Library

Create a centralized system for internal video updates. A single source of truth for training materials gives new employees greater autonomy and reduces repetitive training sessions.

11. Promote Mindfulness Practices

Encourage employees to incorporate short mindfulness breaks into their day. Tools like Headspace can help, and Slack integrations can send gentle reminders to move or hydrate.

12. Address Performance Review Biases

Educate managers and teams about common biases that can affect performance evaluations, such as recency bias or overemphasizing certain traits while overlooking the bigger picture.

13. Use Performance Tracking Tools

Leverage tools to document performance continuously, providing concrete examples during reviews and reducing the impact of recency bias.

14. Train Managers on Performance Reviews

Identify managers who have never led performance reviews and provide them with the training and resources needed to conduct effective evaluations.

15. Clarify Review Expectations

Remove uncertainty from the review process by clearly outlining expectations in advance. Store this information in a knowledge base such as Guru for easy access.

Also read: Meta in Talks to Hire AI Investors Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross to Lead AI Development

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