9 Simple “Do’s” to Keep Your WFH Employee Relationships Thriving
One of the questions we hear most frequently from people managers is, “How can I build and maintain relationships with the people on my team when everyone is working remotely?”
Genuine, individual connections help us:
· Work through interpersonal tensions
· Assume the best of others, and
· Give one another the benefit of the doubt
The personal connections that used to form naturally when we ran into someone in the office kitchen, or shared a coffee break in the afternoon, have all but disappeared. And many managers are struggling to connect with their people in a way that feels authentic, isn’t overly forced - and doesn’t revolve around work!
To help keep your all-important WFH employee connections thriving, we’ve compiled our personal list of 9 people manager “Do’s”.
Since we understand that all relationships are contextual, not every suggestion will be relevant to you or your situation. But feel free to take whatever resonates with you, and run with it!
1. Do host open office hours
Try setting aside the same time each week to spend an hour in a virtual room where people can drop in and say hi, ask questions, or even bounce ideas off you (ideally, the highest leaders in your organization will set this precedent). Although it may take a while for people to start showing up, continued commitment to your virtual office hours will eventually give them the confidence to make good use of the time.
2. Do focus on being available
If the team chat tools you use have a status button, keep a close eye on how much time each week your open/free signal is on. Not only is it important to let your employees know they can ping you any time, it’s equally important to answer promptly when you’re available.
3. Do start meetings with a personal check-in
Try pinning some personal sharing time to the start of your weekly team meetings. On our team, everyone is welcome to share as much or as little as they wish – as long as it isn’t about work! Sometimes we talk about our pets, our kids, or what we made for dinner last night. Sometimes people share deeper news. The point is to create a space at least once a week where everyone can take a moment to share what’s happening in their lives.
(If you’d like to give this a try, we recommend using a method whereby each person takes a turn sharing, then figuratively tosses their turn over to the next person when they’re done. This ensures everyone gets a chance to take a turn each week.)
4. Do be prepared to share first
Remember that as a people manager, your team is always going to take their cues from you. If you immediately jump into work-related topics at the start of your 1:1’s or team meetings, those around you will do likewise. Make sure you take time out during your regularly scheduled meetings to share a small snippet about your personal life. This will encourage the people you work with to do the same.
5. Do book team micro-events
Many of our clients have mentioned how exhausting the idea of doing team building on an online platform can be. After spending all day online, most people are extremely reluctant to log in again for any reason - even if it’s for the purpose of team building. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t sneak in some 15 to 30-minute micro-events, where people are more likely to pop in.
For example, while not for everyone, all the members of our small team really enjoy a great workout. So once a month we have a Pilates instructor come and teach us a short class online. Not only do micro-events get us out of our usual working routine, we typically stick around afterwards just to chat.
6. Do connect based on Strengths
If you’re one of our clients who knows their CliftonStrengths, and you or one of your employees has Relator, connecting for a purpose will likely be more comfortable and meaningful to you or your team member. Try creating opportunities to work alongside your employee on something you might not normally work on. Or ask them to provide input on something you’re working on as a bona fide way to connect over something purposeful that doesn’t just involve their own work.
7. Do encourage online working sessions
Like many teams, we sometimes feel a little lonely or isolated. When that happens, one of us will open a Zoom meeting and invite anyone who’s interested to drop by and work together. While we mostly focus on our own work, chatter also happens naturally along the way - much like it would were our desks near one another in a shared physical workspace.
8. Do pair up your teammates
Now and then, try assigning a pair of team members to work on something together that doesn’t necessarily require two people. While this may run counter to a maximum productivity mindset, giving teammates the opportunity (and an excuse) to collaborate will increase their feelings of connection - and may lead to creative outputs you hadn’t expected.
9. Do be proactive about reaching out
Finally, don’t be afraid to just reach out and see how your team members are doing, whether by phone, over Slack, or through messaging. We highly recommend a good old-fashioned phone call just to check in. But since we know being interrupted by your manager doesn’t always make for great productivity, first ask your people what their most productive times during the day are - then give them space during those hours.
Have you found it easier to stay connected using suggestions like these or techniques of your own? Please contact us. We’d love to hear about it!