Remote teams depend daily on internet-based communication tools but need face-to-face conversations and bonding, too.
So each year, typically in December, TOA Global hosts our clients for TOAconnect—one week when they spend time with their offshore teams in our offices in Cebu, Clark, Manila, or Tarlac in the Philippines.
One reason is to address what researchers are calling “the internal communications paradox”.
When professors Andrea Caputo, Ferdinando Toscano, and Marco de Angelis of the Universities of Turin and Bologna reviewed 1,707 studies about leadership in face-to-face and virtual work teams in 2024, they confirmed: “Digital channels offer convenience and efficiency, yet face-to-face interactions provide greater satisfaction.”
Employee engagement and trust flourish when workplace leaders reinforce the convenience of digital communications (emails, instant messaging, and video calls) with face-to-face conversations.
Team building for remote teams
Team building can take place virtually, of course. There’s a great variety of platforms that remote teams can use for icebreakers, games, and problem-solving challenges.
But something special happens when teams spend time together, communicating face-to-face with all the rich nonverbal cues that signal attention and interest.
During TOAconnect, our clients visit their offshore accounting teams and spend time:
- Leading strategic planning sessions.
- Training and coaching in person.
- Sharing a team lunch or exploring their team’s home city.
- Volunteering in a community organization.
- Celebrating in the Year-End Party.
“Aside from task clarity, fostering a sense of team belonging is crucial, and relationship-oriented behaviors are appreciated. Leaders should promote social events or meetings to allow team members to spend time together, socialize, and build shared values,” the researchers said.
Informing Science Journal, July 2024
Dedicated support for offshore accounting teams
TOA Global’s clients choose whether to have their teams work in-office, on a flexible work arrangement that lets them work from home two or three days a week, or fully remote. It depends on what they need.
Whatever option they choose, each accounting practice leader who builds their outsourced accounting team with TOA Global receives:
- Dedicated support for themselves, their onshore staff, and their teams.
- Sustained training support throughout their team’s careers at TOA.
- An employee engagement program that puts their team’s wellbeing first.
Since 2013, we’ve helped more than 1,200 accounting practice leaders hire and train 3,700+ accountants, bookkeepers, and other professionals in the Philippines—giving them the experienced accounting talent to execute their biggest goals.
If you’ve been meaning to ask about strategic accounting outsourcing, we’d love to help you find answers. Let’s talk.