The Coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we work, forcing businesses to turn to remote workplaces to keep employees safe. This new change doesn’t have to wreak havoc on your management style or hurt your employee! Here are a few things we’ve instituted to help weather the storm:
Managing a Remote Team
- Ongoing communication: communication is critical during a crisis situation, so it’s important to schedule regular morning stand-up calls during the week. Use this time to check in and see how your team members are doing, how things are at home, and check in on their family. Digital Agent has a daily huddle with the whole company, one-on-one coaching sessions and regular “fun huddles” throughout the week to keep spirits high!
- Maintain your team “working” meeting: schedule a weekly or bi-weekly meeting by department to focus on live projects. Discuss what’s working, what isn’t, who needs help overcoming obstacles, share success stories, and more. Most importantly, the team should leave the meeting feeling supported and aligned on current projects and deliverables.
- Video conference calls: leverage video conferencing tools like Sangoma Video Conferencing or others to maintain some level of face to face contact. For those who are not accustomed to working remotely, this is critical to their success. Otherwise you risk them withdrawing and losing that contact with others.
- Virtual Lunch: just because you and your team are working remotely, doesn’t mean you can’t do lunch. Put an optional lunch time physically on the calendar and catch up with everyone casually. We’ve found this to be a great way to get to put the human element back into what some might take as a very stressful situation.
- Virtual Fun: working remotely can be challenging, so it’s important to find some time to let loose and have some fun. We’ve chosen from a variety of online games, trivia, and even a good, old fashioned happy hour. Scheduling “fun” regularly will do wonders for team building and morale. Here’s a screenshot of our Wednesday afternoon “Fun Huddle!”
Here’s a bonus tip for you, always remember to ask your team members “How are YOU doing”? It’s not always about work or checking on the status of a project, but asking sincerely how the person is doing during this difficult time. How is their family? How is their pet? What did they do this weekend? Do they need emotional support? Remember, it’s important your team knows you are there for them, always.
To learn more best practices about WFH, check out our recent blogs. Our blogs discuss how to stay secure while remote working and what you can do as a leader to maintain efficiency and productivity.
