So like it or not, the crisis continues. In all likelihood your business operations continue to be disrupted by the realities of, and the reactions to the COVID-19 virus. Things that you thought would be temporary are now part of the long term, including, of course, remote working for many office workers.
Many workers have settled into routines of working remotely, and in fact many are quite happy about it. However something is missing for most, something that is important to your businesses performance, and that is a sense of being part of a team, having relationships with your co-workers. We are growing more distant from those we work with in many ways.
Are the people in your business being led or administered? Are they being inspired with a sense of shared purpose? Are they forming powerful connections with others? Are they engaged or are they simply doing their job?
So what can you do? Well there are no easy solutions, but here are some things to think about:
Over-communicate. Communicate with your employees or your co-workers often. You should aim for daily communication with your immediate team (not just individuals, but the whole team) and a minimum of weekly communication with the larger organization.
No one in the history of work has ever left a company because leadership over-communicated.
Make it social. Find “channels” that give your people opportunities to connect about something other than work. Social chat rooms can be a virtual water cooler that let people join in on their own schedule. Anything goes (as long as it is appropriate and not harassing). Encourage everyone to talk about their day, their weekend, their vacation. Share photos, favorite new music, whatever.
Meet MORE frequently, not less. Lots of meetings have died as a result of COVID, and that is probably a good thing in most cases! But stop putting off important meetings, and find reasons to have MORE meetings, albeit very brief and targeted ones, to give your team members a chance to interact in real time. Give space at the start of the meeting for the normal social interaction that might happen in the office, then get down to the subject at hand, keep it efficient, and send people on their way. A daily or weekly catch up can happen in 15 minutes.
That is a start. We’ll continue to talk about ways to respond to the challenges ahead. What challenges are you facing? What actions have you taken to keep people engaged? Let us know in the comments.
Deilen Development 