Creating Belonging in a Remote Working Environment
As COVID-19 continues to impact our daily lives, many employees find themselves working from home. Days once spent trading news at the water cooler or visiting with a colleague for advice on a new project are now filled with video conferences and electronic report submissions, often while monitoring children who are home from school indefinitely and muting barking dogs. With workers spread out in their various home environments and likely feeling anxious about their health and job security, maintaining a strong office culture built on belonging may prove difficult. Here are five tips to strengthen your employees’ sense of belonging until they can return to their desks.
1. Check in with your team…
Employees who aren’t accustomed to working from home may experience feelings of isolation, trouble learning teleworking technology, or a lack of direction without in-person supervision. Regularly communicate with your team and work to discover not only how they are progressing on assignments but also how they are feeling about their new situation. Whether speaking by phone, video conference, or email, listen attentively to your employees and their concerns, displaying genuine empathy and offering solutions when appropriate.
2. …but don’t micromanage.
Despite advances in technology, you cannot be everywhere at once, nor should you try. Instead, trust your employees to fulfill their duties at home just as they do in the office. Give clear parameters and deadlines for all work assignments, then allow your employees the freedom to schedule and complete their work without asking for constant updates on their activity and progress. Further, remember that working from home entails challenges that may not be present in the workplace, such as lagging internet connections and interruptions from family members. Consider this when one of your team members doesn’t get back to you immediately and offer support whenever you can.
3. Pair employees with team members they may not have worked with before.
We often fall into familiar work routines, taking breaks at the same time each day and collaborating with the same coworkers on major projects. We have our work “families.” Remote working disrupts these routines and sometimes brings about feelings of monotony as employees find themselves in the same space each day without the camaraderie of their colleagues. Yet teleworking can also provide opportunities to connect team members that may not otherwise work together. Foster new relationships and cross-functional teamwork by partnering colleagues who haven’t worked together before—besides gaining fresh perspectives, you may also create new work friendships.
4. Be respectful of your employees’ unique circumstances.
While one of your employees may enjoy a quite home office space and the ability to join a conference call at any time, another employee may be in a different time zone than the rest of the team or juggling the care and education of their children with work duties—and we all know that children aren’t always patient with working parents. Rather than penalizing employees when life at home happens, relax the formalities for remote meetings and offer options for workers who may not be able to meet with everyone else, such as multiple meeting times or emailed responses to important news.
5. Encourage virtual social events.
Finally, not all of your teleconferences have to focus on business, especially with the constant reminders of COVID-19 and its devastation of several communities. To ease tension and boost morale, host virtual coffee hours and lunch breaks, providing your team with optional opportunities to enjoy each other’s company and discuss everything from the pets that walk across their keyboards to the T.V. shows they’re binging. In addition to learning more about your team outside of work, you’ll show your employees that you truly care about them and how they’re faring at this time.
Companies committed to the welfare of their employees don’t let belonging disappear once everyone leaves the office. Now more than ever, employers must demonstrate a focus on belonging regardless of where and how their teams operate. After all, once business as usual resumes, the work of belonging should continue and not be forced to begin again.
As millions of us continue to work remotely, The Eastledge Group hopes everyone is taking the necessary steps to remain safe and healthy, both for ourselves and for those we love and care about.