Globally, many organizations have asked their employees to work remotely in an effort to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and to protect the health and safety of the workforce. This change has created a new set of challenges for managers to support and stay connected with their new remote workforce.
In this article, let’s understand how remote leaders can support those working from home.
Check-in often
Check-in with every employee with the help of video conferencing software. If the HR leaders have any questions or require an update, an instant message works well. Doing a video conversation is also the best way to know how the team is doing and how individuals may be feeling. Body language, tone of voice, and energy levels are apparent while speaking face to face and this will give a clear understanding of where the employees might be struggling or succeeding. Normally, these calls should be 1-1, but team calls to discuss collaborative work must also be scheduled at a regular time and with a set agenda. Keep these calls once a week, perhaps on a Monday or Friday so that there will be no pending tasks.
Use different communication options
Every employee works in a different manner, and that extends to the communication preferences. Following different forms of information can help listeners to stay safe, cope mentally, and connect to a deeper sense of purpose and stability. The remote leaders should offer to instruct information to encourage calm. Using email alone will increase the sense of isolation. Visual cues increase the mutual knowledge of co-workers’ actions and inclinations, and video conferencing is very useful for sensitive or complex conversations. Simple and concise information will prevent overwhelm in the employees.
The messaging tools will offer a sense of working together, and they are great for simple requests and immediate responses. When communicating clear and simple messaging, frequency and framing must be considered. So consistent messaging from the leaders will be crucial. Hearing a heartfelt, simple message from the organization’s leadership will strengthen the workplace connection. In the latter stages of working from home, it is good to shift messaging to the big picture and firm outlook. By focusing on individual contributions, where the firm is going from here, and how you will be supporting staff in the coming months.
Encourage social interaction
An office is a place where co-workers will have the chance to interact with each other for at least 15 minutes in the morning, discussing sports, TV, and catching up with each other. The HR leaders should understand that this is something the employees miss the conversations with their colleagues, many of them usually miss the buzz of an office, the freedom to stop by somebody’s desk, and socialize. Human interaction is something that has been sorely missed overdue to working from home. Encouraging virtual social interaction is a vital factor in enhancing engagement and morale. To help maintain these bonds as well as to tackle the stress, make space for non-accounting conversations, whether it’s creating a good communicating channel for sharing jokes or encouraging virtual lunches over video calls. Experiment with different socializing options and engage the team for ideas and feedback.
Physical and emotional support
A sense of isolation and other life challenges can affect the employee. It is important to listen to their anxiety issues and to acknowledge their stress. The remote leaders must make sure that the focus is on their concerns and should listen to them carefully. The employees must feel that they are being heard. Provide encouragement, support, and empathy to them. Virtual social activities, such as lunch and learns, coffee breaks, online exercise classes, and happy hours, were also frequently mentioned as ways organizations can help employees overcome social isolation. Employees also valued corporate initiatives explicitly developed to help them manage stress and maintain mental well-being.
Help to stay productive and engaged
Remote work can boost productivity, particularly on stand-alone tasks that need minimal coordination with colleagues. Allowing employees to work from home increased the productivity of patent examiners by 4 percent, for example, and call center employees by 13 percent. When employees need to collaborate with other teams, however, working from home may reduce productivity. One effective short-term step, according to the survey results, is for leaders to acknowledge that productivity may dip during the lockdown and to let employees know that it is acceptable.
Organize online “Down-time”
There are so many ways the HR leaders can set up entertainment for the entire team online. From VR escape rooms to classical online games and puzzles, there are a lot of options. These activities help the employees to stay sane, especially if they are stuck at home. And, like with any team, trust, and team bonding only forms when they spend time together and have shared experiences, both work-related and fun!
Conclusion
The pandemic has changed the culture of the workplace, the distribution of work, and the deployment of the workforce. The leaders must follow different strategies to make the employees stay engaged. This will be a wonderful opportunity to be an organization, which creates a wholesome culture that looks after its employees.
