Staying Positive: The Importance of Maintaining Team Morale from Afar
When we’re together in the office, the ability to have genuine, tangible impacts on each other’s days is so much easier. It’s a lot simpler to look after the person sitting before you than to guess how they’re feeling through a video call. As we move forward into more digital workspaces, we can’t let this important aspect of cohesion and caring slip. We simply must get more creative with the ways we engage with our team.
The easiest and most important way to maintain adequate morale is to keep up the communication. In fact, you should probably double it. We all crave to be heard as employees, so when it feels like we’re going unnoticed, our performance and happiness suffers. Establish consistent check-ins throughout the day and week to engage with your employees on a human level above all. Just because you can’t see them physically doesn’t mean they don’t need the same type of connection. Remember that back in the days of the office, check-ins happened frequently throughout the day in a natural way, so try to replicate that as best as possible when taking things online.
Another important practice you can have is to not take the above too far. Trust your remote work employees like you would in the office. We can get down when it feels like we’re being watched in this new space like never before, when the fact is that your employees may actually be more productive and relaxed than ever in this new setup. Know that you’ll be well-aware if there’s any dip in performance and that for the most part, the general employee will be doing great in their new way of performing this job.
Be sure to celebrate and honor your employees like you would back in the office. Without things like all-office meetings to set the stage for celebrations, replicate this as best as possible in a virtual space to ensure that those deserving are getting the recognition they crave. On top of this, don’t lose focus on collaboration. Though it’s easier to grab your team and huddle up at the office in some cases, there are still plenty of ways to keep the group work going online. Keep everyone in the loop so it never feels like you’re out there alone in your own solo work bubble.
Take things even further by emphasizing the importance of one-on-one conversations and communication. It can be easy to feel like we’ve got a good pulse on the team after a group video call, but that might not be enough for some employees. Take the time to speak with everyone directly throughout the week so that you can get a sense of how they are doing. Close this out by giving your employees more freedom for their lives. You have a great opportunity to give them moments throughout the week to work on themselves. To take some time to engage in something they love outside of work. Not only will they be happier for it, but they will likely return to work more energized and ready than before.
It doesn’t seem like remote work is going anywhere for the time being, so it’s important to make the experience as great as possible while we can. There are plenty of ways to make sure your team is feeling great and productive at the same time. With action and purpose, you can keep team morale high and reach even further without ever physically interacting with one another.
