Does this sound familiar?

You call a team meeting. Your hybrid team of 15 employees consists of 10 in-person employees with 5 working remotely. The 10 in-person employees trickle into the conference room, exchanging greetings and having side conversations. Then, you start the Zoom call, bringing in the remote workers.

The in-person employees bring in one laptop, perhaps with a large TV broadcasting the remote employees, with one camera. There's a whiteboard setup for in-person employees to brainstorm ideas on. You also have one laptop microphone broadcasting the sound to remote workers.

But are your remote employees truly having the same experience as their in-person counterparts?

The 2023 ONE SHRM Georgia State Conference and Expo was an experience like no other. Over 380 attendees pursued the three elements of a Cohesion Culture™: Belonging, Value, and Mutual Commitment.

Attendees received a crash course on Infusing Cohesion to Attract and Retain Top Talent by Cohesion Culture™ Crew: Troy Hall, Ph.D. I-CUDE, Retention Expert, Karmen Zabron, HR Gamification Strategist, and myself, Ben-Jamin Toy , Team Builder.

The participants utilized interactive directives facilitated through gaming tablets to complete tasks. They took part in lighthearted activities, encountering what some considered their inaugural "Un-Scavenger Hunt".

All leaders are readers but all readers are not leaders. That is a key distinct difference that was shared with me early in my professional career.

I was a student who prided myself on not reading the assigned books in high school. I read the SparkNotes, listened to group discussions, and knew enough to get by. The knowledge, themes, and lessons from these stories didn't permeate my mind.

Early in my career a business mentor gave me books that changed my life. Now 500+ reads later, books have played a pivotal role in shaping my leadership journey.

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

It's unclear who coined those words first. Lots of different proverbs say something similar. But to go far and go together requires collaboration.

86% of employees and executives cite lack of collaboration or ineffective communication for workplace failures. (Fierce Inc, 2011)

Who plans company events? In our experience, while HR, People Managers, and small business owners certainly plan their fair share of events, the assistant is often the first employee contact. About 10% of our sales calls begin with executive or regular assistants.

When it comes to organizing company events, assistants often find themselves at the forefront of planning, and many times they have no experience in this field of work. While virtual team building and company happy hours have become commonplace, orchestrating a successful company or team offsite is a different ballgame.

In this week's blog, discover the key elements to maximize the value of offsites.

Gamification expert and change maker, Karmen Zabron, is an excellent member of our #YellowCamoCrew team!

Simply put, Karmen Zabron has a "Big L" Love for people, workplace cultures, and all things nerdy and fun. She has over 20 years of experience in the people business, having served in HR, Leadership, Sales, and Coaching & Development roles during her career, and has been instrumental in developing and implementing strategies to create positive, productive (and fun!) work environments over several different industries. She's not just passionate about People & Culture, she's an absolute geek about it (who can still be fun at parties). She's a non-traditional HR Thought Leader with experience working in a variety of HR disciplines, including talent acquisition and development, performance management, engagement, retention, and global employee relations.

Cheat code: Play How You Work: If you have remote-only or hybrid teams, don't wait for in-person opportunities to have fun.

"For most people, creativity is a serious business. They forget the telling phrase 'the play of ideas' and think that they need to knuckle down and work more. Often, the reverse is true. They need to play." – Julia Cameron

Welcome to the latest edition of the Leading On Purpose newsletter. This week we will explore the transformative power of play in the workplace. Discover how incorporating play into your work culture can lead to innovation, stronger teams, enhanced personal connections, and improved well-being.

Troy Hall, Ph.D. needs no introduction but allow me to try. Readers of my Leading On Purpose newsletter will be familiar with him from the Cohesion Corner™ with Dr. Troy blurb included at the bottom of each of my newsletters.

Dr. Troy and On Purpose Adventures have a strategic alliance focused on ensuring leaders can take their teams from knowing what needs to be done to retraining leadership styles and building cultures of cohesion.

We have created hands-on, experiential activities from the proven principles in Dr. Troy’s bestselling book, Cohesion Culture: Proven Principles to Retain Your Top Talent.

Dr. Troy travels the globe speaking to organizations, training leaders and promoting his three books that you can learn more about on his website.

We asked and Dr. Troy answered some questions below to help our readers get to know more about Troy through his experiences, adventures, and purpose.