Working from home can have its perks, you can spend less money on take-out lunches, dwindle your commute time to under 1 minute, and can even potentially work in sweat pants- what more could you want?!
This virtual world that we have now all been thrown into can have its downsides. Oftentimes employees feel less engaged and connected to their organizations and coworkers, and do not feel invigorated by the work they are doing.
Now why is that? Is it pandemic fatigue? Is it because they lack social interactions? Or because employees cannot see their own work come to fruition, because it is always seen through a zoom call?
As an extrovert, I admit I find it challenging to feel like virtual anything is as fulfilling as doing something in person. At the end of the day humans need human interaction- and no matter how good your camera is on your computer, it does not make it feel like the real thing.
In these times it is so important that organizations continue to work on employee engagement during these times, because inevitably they will wind up with a unhappy team.
What are some ways organizations can achieve this?
- Leaders need to check in with their team. Read that again- really I mean it. The check-in can be just a few moments on the phone or zoom etc, but leaders need to have real conversations with their employees about how they are, what support they need, and potentially what challenges they are facing. It is so important to build rapport and maintain it during these times.
- Plan something fun for the team.
I know this is challenging, but having a light hearted activity that your team wants to participate in will be so helpful. If you do not know what your team would like to do ask! Send a survey out! This could be a zoom happy hour, maybe a holiday gift exchange, or even a virtual game like HeadsUp. It doesn’t need to be a long event, maybe it is just 30 minutes, or and ice breaker before a meeting- but this will help your employees still feel connected to each other. Remember there is no water cooler or coffee machine to chat by.
I have some other ideas, so if you are struggling with connecting in a virtual world reach out!
Career & Goal Setting Coach 