Vincent Benjamin
During the pandemic, telecommuting quickly became the new normal. While working from home can boost productivity, it can also make engagement harder to manage. Company leaders may have difficulty keeping an eye on their teams, making it challenging for them to figure out if and how to intervene.
Additionally, the pandemic has led to rising stress levels. Over time, employees may experience an increasing amount of difficulty staying engaged. This is especially true for those who are juggling other demands, like assisting their children who are going to school remotely.
Luckily, there are things managers can do. If you want to keep your remote employees engaged, here are seven ways to go about it.
1. Create a Virtual Water Cooler
Many communication platforms can support multiple chat rooms as well as direct messaging. Encourage your team to spend time chatting casually – a great way to maintain bonds and create a sense of togetherness – by creating a virtual water cooler.
Dedicate a chatroom to socializing. Additionally, let employees know that they can have casual conversations through the direct message system, giving them ways to stay connected.
2. Laugh Together
Laughter isn’t just great for stress relief; it can also help keep bonds strong. Create opportunities for humor if you want to keep morale and engagement high.
For example, you can create a space for employees to share memes. You could also host a comedy movie night by streaming a film through a screen-sharing platform and having everyone watch together.
3. Improve Home Offices
If your company has room in the budget, help your employees enhance their home offices. Many professionals had to throw together a workspace at the start of the pandemic, so they may not have the best equipment or furniture. Since physical comfort and access to robust tools influence engagement, it could be a way to give your workers a quick boost.
4. Send Fun Surprises
Getting a fun surprise in the mail can be a great way to bolster morale. On occasion, send your employees a small treat without letting them know it’s on the way. It lets them know you think about their well-being and appreciate their effort.
5. Grab a Bite
While you might not be able to get together with your team, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a meal together. All you need to do is order food for delivery and then get on a video call together. If you want to boost the bonding and stress-reducing power of the meal, make work talk completely off-limits.
6. Offer Challenges
Whether your team is working remotely or in the office, tasks can get tedious with time. If you haven’t found opportunities to give your employees a challenge to tackle lately, make that a priority. Skill building and exploration are great for engagement, so find ways to squeeze some in regularly.
7. Make Disconnecting Mandatory
One thing that can lead to more burnout is feeling like work never ends. When your team is working from home, their office is always a few mere steps away. As a result, they may spend more time than they should on work-related tasks, harming their morale.
Combat this by making disconnecting mandatory. Set cutoff times for work activities, letting your employees know that once that time comes, they aren’t expected to do any more that day.
Contact Us Today to See How We Can Help You
If you’d like to learn more about how you can keep your remote employees engaged, the team at VB can help. Contact us today.