5 Ways to Encourage Your Remote Team Members
Coronavirus is changing the way we do business.
In 2019, there were 7 million Americans working from home, 3.4% of the population. Now, due to Covid19, 46% of American businesses have shifted to remote working. This rapid change, implemented in a number of weeks, carries with it several difficulties to overcome, but also many opportunities. As a manager of teams, you may find yourself having to suddenly adapt your leadership style, whilst homeschooling your children and chairing team meetings from your living room.
Here’s our top 5 tips to encourage remote team members:
1. Regular check-ins
Remote working carries with it several benefits, including saving time on your commute. In 2019, the average US commute was 29 minutes each way. Now you only need to walk 10 paces from your living room. The downside is that the home office contains multiple distractions. Plus, team bonding and trust is formed by social interaction, so that’s why it’s important to check-in regularly with your team.
2. Implement a buddy system
Your team members need support for their work and well-being, but as a manager, you can’t be in all places at all times. So, consider implementing a buddy system for peer-to-peer support and accountability.
Split your team into pairs and create a schedule so that they are meeting either daily or weekly for a check-in. Isolation and loneliness are common complaints for workers at home. By creating a buddy system, you can help alleviate some of that isolation and create a sense of camaraderie.
3. Communication tools
Increase your team’s productivity by using communication tools, like Vistasuite. Technology plays an important role in overcoming the challenges of this pandemic.
With teams spread across countries and time zones, it’s vital to streamline your communication. Vistasuite allows you to streamline image workflow among teams and clients with a visual-first and user-friendly platform.
4. Virtual water cooler
Chatting with team members at the water cooler about your son’s weekend soccer games might seem frivolous, but it’s actually a key part of team bonding.
As research shows, mutual trust in teams leads to better work. But how do we create this via video chat? At Vistasuite each member of the team has a personal space, where they can share photos of their family, their weekend, or their view from quarantine.
Not only does this reinforce a sense of belonging, but spending time getting to know team members can also spark ideas and innovation. Creativity sometimes lies in the seed planted in a random conversation.
5. Bring optimism to your meetings
These are challenging times and many of your workers may be under undue stress. You have an opportunity as a manager to lead with optimism. This may not be easy, as you yourself may be experiencing difficulties due to Covid-19. And it should be noted, that attempting to push happiness may not always be a good approach.
But whatever those difficulties are, it’s important to try to set them aside and lead by example. Bring the qualities to each meeting that you want your team to have.
As a nation, we have experienced many hardships and we have overcome them. This too, we will overcome. Remember to take time for yourself and acknowledge all the hard work you’ve done.
In the wake of COVID-19, our perspective on what’s possible for remote work is expanding on a daily basis. Don’t miss an update! Have every post delivered directly to your inbox.
Vistasuite puts real-time visual communication in your pocket. It's a single hub where internal and external photo sharing joins forces and project management lives in one place, so you can finally collaborate with the right people, at the right time. Learn more.