Work closely with your team to ensure continued engagement and that the team feels connected to each other, you and the mission of the department.
This is an opportunity to talk with your employee to help them feel comfortable during this unique time. Below are a few items you may want to consider during this initial meeting.
Keep it short and sweet! A touch base can be as simple as a quick Skype message, text or email. It does not need to be formal. People will appreciate the quick touch base.
It is important to continue the standing one-on-one meetings you have with your team members. Consistency is important during this time as it provides a sense of normalcy during these challenging times
These are quick high-level meetings to gather the team
Maintaining your normal weekly or bi-weekly meetings will be important in helping things feel as normal as possible for your team. Things to consider discussing:
Schedule time to just have fun! When things are stressful, having something fun to do as a team will be a nice escape from stress
To prevent remote anxiety, clarify how and when information will be communicated. You might be asking yourself, “When do we use instant messaging? Why do we write emails? At what point do we pick up the phone?”
E-mails are good for sending information,but not for collaboration.
Text/Instant Messaging is for immediate action.
Call directly if the topic requires clarity and sensitivity, or benefits from an energetic exchange of ideas.
Video conferencing is used to help people stay connected; there is no replacement for face-to-face interaction. This will help your team feel more connected to colleagues in a more intentional, human way.
Use a check-in or reporting template to keep consistency across the team.
When you are communicating digitally, provide enough context to make sure your message is known. When only responding “Yes” to a question or giving little information, the lack of elaborating might make the person feel you do not care about the issue or lead them to not care about the issue you brought up.
So, I was thinking that maybe, we could try meeting at twelve noon instead of 5:00pm for our weekly meetings. I plan on working from home in the afternoon and I was thinking that might be easier. What do you think?
I'd like to begin working from home in the afternoon from now on. Are you okay with changing our weekly meeting time from 5pm to 12pm?
If you normally catch up with colleagues in person before a big meeting, do the same before dialing in to a group conference call when everyone is remote. If you normally chat with your admin assistant first thing in the morning, do the same remotely by instant messaging. Even when at home, you should confirm receipt of messages and check in with people when you start your day and end your day. Try to follow the same rituals and habits to maintain relationships and a sense of normalcy.
Remind the team that everyone’s situation is different. Encourage each person to take a minute to show the team his or her home workspace and share some personal context (e.g., barking dogs, children running around, sharing a workspace with a roommate, being isolated and alone, etc.). This context can help others be more sensitive to each other’s constraints and lessen the ambiguity about what it means to work in a remote team, as well as break down biases and assumptions.
Avoid | Use Instead |
---|---|
Must | Needs to |
Required | Strongly recommend |
I’m forced to | I choose to |
That will never work | Let’s look at our alternatives |
We will not be able to… | We will be able to once… |
That’s not my problem | I think you should talk to … instead |
There’s nothing I can do about that | I’m a bit stuck, can you help me find other options? |
You should have... | That didn’t work - here is what I recommend for next time... |
I haven’t had time | I will be able to get this to you by... |
I assumed that... | Could you clarify for me please? |
Stuck at home | Safe at home |