There’s no doubt that the sudden enforcement of lockdown came as a surprise to businesses across the country. With little time to prepare, many companies found adapting to the work-from-home status quo difficult at first and had to rush to put in place the mechanisms to help workers continue to put in a shift from their couches. In this article, you’ll learn how to reengage with your staff during this period of lockdown, helping them to bring new energy and collaborative spirit to their roles when working at home.
Daily Meeting
While in the workplace, a daily meeting might seem a little over the top, seeing as you’re all sitting in a tight-knit group anyway. However, doing a daily briefing with your team when you’re working from home is a really excellent way to energize your staff. It’s also your opportunity to give staff a morale boost and some direction for their day’s work: give your staff some targets and objectives, as this will help them keep focused and on track.
Games and Events
At the other end of the day, after your morning briefing and your day’s work, it’s a smart idea to organize some weekly events that staff can participate in if they’re in self-isolation and feeling lonely and bored. You can be creative here, choosing to run a quiz, an arts and crafts event, or even a book group: anything that will provide a welcome respite from the difficulties of working from one’s laptop at home. Ask your staff to come up with ideas and keep things casual in order to build team spirit while you’re in lockdown.
Use Surveys
While you’re in lockdown, it’s still important that you get the employee feedback that you need to shape your own managerial approach, and to shape the way in which you delegate work to certain members of staff. Instead of scheduling one-to-one meetings as you might do in the office, you should consider using a software program that sends employees surveys that you’ve set up to complete. You can use an employee survey to measure motivation or job satisfaction, as well as giving your staff an opportunity to air their grievances anonymously so that you’re able to work on making their lives a little easier.
Humor and Care
While you may usually wish to run a tight ship, lockdown isn’t the time for being strict or reverting to any disciplinarian tendencies you might have. You have no idea how difficult your staff is finding working from home, or how their family might have been affected by COVID-19. As such, in your position of responsibility, it’s important that you consider the feelings of your staff and address this difficult situation with good humor and caring words as the world begins to go back to normal in the weeks and months ahead.
Use the tips outlined here to refine your managerial approach in times of lockdown, getting your team onside as they work from home.