As more employees have moved towards remote work, it’s become more important than ever for companies to adapt their office culture to working from home. We’re sharing four tips on how to help remote workers stay engaged and satisfied with their jobs.
Once the pandemic hit and we were forced to begin working from home, we quickly realized that a lot of our culture revolved around physically being in the office. We love to go to lunch and happy hour together, get outside for a game of cornhole, have a beer with teammates in those 4 p.m. meetings or take a brain break to visit with whoever brought their dog into the office that day. Culture is super important to us, so that was something we did not want to lose.
As we began to research and ask questions to our team, we came up with the following tips for keeping spirits high as we’re all remote.
Tip #1: Translate Your Office Perks
One of our employees’ most beloved perks is free Uber and Lyft. Once COVID-19 hit, employees were no longer able to take advantage of that. Most people were staying home or avoiding ride-sharing altogether. So we added a monthly UberEats stipend for employees to have dinner or lunch delivered to them. Get creative with new at-home perks!
Tip #2: Use Video Conferencing
While working from home, it’s easy to lose the face-to-face connection by just calling into meetings. What gal doesn’t love not having to put on makeup for work everyday?! However, something we’ve discovered since having to adapt to the new normal is how important it is to use video chats. People start to miss facetime with their coworkers and clients without even realizing it. This can cause employees to become more disconnected from their team and the company.
Tip #3: Schedule Virtual (and Non-Virtual) Events
What makes our team so special is that we genuinely enjoy hanging out with each other. Once we weren’t able to do that everyday, it became easy to disconnect on a personal level. When all you and your coworkers ever talk about is work, you start to lose the personal connection that builds relationships. Virtual happy hours or playing online games like Quiplash can help facilitate fun conversation that isn’t work-related. Other safe options are meeting for outdoor functions like a visiting beer garden or kayaking. Both are great ways to spend time together as a team in the times of social distancing.
Tip #4: Be a Good Listener
And ask questions. With all the uncertainty of this year and everything constantly in flux, it’s important to listen to employees. Sometimes this takes asking direct questions. We recently sent out an anonymous survey to employees asking for feedback on the state of our culture and ways we can improve as a team. Asking the right questions and listening to employees is necessary for making sure the company is still meeting their needs. Perform periodic “gut-checks” and listen well. This is how to become better leaders in these uncharted waters.
This year has taught us that nothing is set in stone and helped us reinforce our core value of Nimbleness. It’s certainly been a year where having a nimble team has helped us adapt, and we hope these four tips help you, too! For more tips on how to be most productive working from home,
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