One of the consequences of this COVID-19 pandemic has been that telecommuting has come to be an obligatory practice for nearly all workers. Overnight, they saw themselves obligated to change their office routine with having to connect from their homes. This mode of work has presented various challenges for both workers and employers who, apart from the economic pressure, have also had to come up with ways to maintain closeness in virtual spaces.
Perhaps you are asking yourself why it is important to achieve this proximity in virtual meetings through platforms like Zoom, Teams or Slack. The answer is simple, because professionals also need to somehow feel that personal touch, the possibility to talk about something outside of work, to have the opportunity to laugh, share some story or simply come to feel they are together supporting each other despite the physical distance.
How can we achieve this?
It's important for the leader to know their team well and to strive to always maintain a positive attitude that allows them to lift their employees through their words.
Some of the options that are being put into practice to bring warmth to telecommuting are:
- Sharing positive stories or anecdotes.
- Celebrating small feats by clapping or with a group toast.
- Celebrating birthdays with some surprise.
- Sharing some coworker's skill like: a yoga class, a song or a joke.
- Reducing the duration of meetings to avoid exhaustion.
- Consulting workers about how they feel doing their activities remotely.
- Always being thankful for their efforts.
These are some ideas that can be implemented to help workers better adapt to this telecommuting model. Let's keep in mind that if they feel motivated, in company and stimulated, they will do their activities better and will generate more positive results for the organization.
