- Conduct frequent, shorter virtual meetings – it is no longer enough to have a weekly team meeting when everyone is working from home. Hold team huddles, touchpoints or daily check-ins. Have a 10-minute morning check-in and 10-minute afternoon check-out to align everyone. Have a weekly one-on-one with your direct reports spending some time discussing routines, working from home with kids, etc.
- Assign virtual buddies and mini-teams for collaboration, brainstorming and keeping individuals productive.
- Establish a time you are available each week (Wednesdays from 2-4 on Zoom) and your team can work alongside you or ask questions.
- Share your preferred method of communication when working remotely and listen to what other team members prefer. When should you email vs. call vs. use internal chat?
- Think DiSC®. Tailor your conversations for all styles. Have both relationship AND task conversations.
- Use multiple platforms to reduce strain on your company platforms such as Zoom, Google hangouts, or slack for informal conversations or google docs to collaborate ideas.
- Before every meeting, pose a question. Take a few minutes and ask a question to get everyone involved.
- ‘what is something humorous that happened this week at home?’
- ‘what’s your best tip to deal with teenagers now’
- ‘what’s your biggest struggle working from home’
- Go beyond “let me know if you need anything” Suggest a weekly ½ hour meeting with a team member that is struggling or volunteer to help
- Reset expectations. Think what needs to get done but does it matter when or how? Be flexible and don’t micromanage.
- Be crystal clear when you can’t explain in person.
- Share your expertise with others. ‘I can help you set up breakouts on Zoom.’ Or ‘I’ve worked with that customer before. I can join you on call and help you brainstorm with them.’
- Talk routines with others. What is working for other team members and what are they doing to stay motivated.
- Be a good role model. You can be real but be positive as much as you can.
- Allow yourself to take breaks. Be kind to yourself. Don’t feel guilty about having your lunch break watching Netflix, taking a walk, calling a friend or putting in a load of laundry. Without those informal conversations at work, you need to find your own breaks at home.
- Have social virtual events. Have coffee/lunch breaks or happy hour with team members. Set as a rule to not talk about work. Have meetings where you share your pet, family, favorites, etc. Organize a book club with colleagues. Take trivia or jeopardy breaks using calendars with one each day.