Well, welcome to 2020! Many of us have talked about how we would love to work from home and now our wish has come true. Companies, teams and individuals are involved in this instant remote experiment. We are all discovering the pluses and minuses of working from our couch. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a webinar with 4 researchers from Cornell University discussing best practices for working remotely. One of the challenges with remote work they kept discussing is the challenge of staying connected as humans.
Just think for a minute about what goes on when you have an in-person meeting at work. People begin to gather 5 minutes or so before the meeting. Often there is a lot of chit-chat – “How was your weekend?” “How did your girl’s soccer game go?” etc. The meeting begins and the agenda is covered. After the meeting often there are continued conversation in smaller groups. Either business conversations or personal. Connection at an interpersonal level happens naturally.
Now picture your last remote meeting. Normally everyone comes into the meeting and we jump right into the content. So often we do not take the time to catch up with each other and connect at that personal level. Soon we begin to feel disconnected from each other. The more disconnected we feel the easier it is to have conflict and to react to disagreements harshly. It is easier to forget there is a person with feelings, stresses and life drama on the other side of that camera.
So as a leader or member of a remote team it is important to make space for a quick connection. You will have to be more purposeful about it then if you were in person. It can be as simple as going around the room Monday morning and sharing one thing you did this weekend. You might ask people to bring a picture to share which demonstrates the activity they were involved in. You can keep it short. It’ s just about connecting on a personal level and reminding each other of our oneness.
The results? Research shows when you take steps to connect your remote team there is less conflict, more engagement and collaboration inside and outside of the meeting which leads to higher productivity.
Have an Amazing Monday (and everyday!)
Leanna Fredrich, Leadership, Career and Stress-Management Consultant
Leanna@amazingmondays.com