Back in March, most of us thought COVID-19 would last two to three months, after which we’d bounce back to normal. As we enter our sixth month with no real end in sight — how many of us still believe we’re going back to normal?
The Ultimate Experiment
We all know the downsides of working from home: kitchens turned into conference rooms, people working, teaching, and parenting full-time, and managers inventing new ways to keep their teams engaged and productive. This is a challenging time for all of us.
Traditional thinking said distributed workforces are less productive, less accountable, and harder to manage — or at least that was the assumption. The pandemic forced companies that were reluctant to allow remote work to try the experiment in real-time.
Many are realizing their remote employees are just as productive as they were in an office. At the same time, many employees are realizing how much time they wasted commuting — time away from family and friends. From cost savings on office space to time savings on multiple levels, this experiment is starting to look like a really good idea for many sectors.
It’s time to embrace a hard reality … We’re never going back to normal.
Company Culture
The most notable downside to working remotely is the challenge it presents to maintaining healthy, connected company cultures. Humans are social creatures. Remote work can diminish an organization’s culture because it isn’t conducive to building meaningful relationships.
Interactions between co-workers, teams, and management now take place via email, chat, or video conference. We all know a digital connection is not a viable, lasting replacement for an in-person one. This lack of face-to-face engagement can result in feelings of isolation and anxiety — affecting working relationships, productivity, and overall culture.
Employees of successful companies tend to have meaningful associations with each other. They work together with a common vision and identify with the company’s values.
According to one study:
“Employees are more engaged when their work experiences resonate with their values, interests, and aspirations. Poor employee engagement can cripple an organization. The domino effect hurts talent retention, innovation, productivity, revenue, customer retention, and the entire workplace culture. But engagement can be improved significantly and relatively quickly by focusing on creating great everyday employee experiences.”
So how can companies create great everyday employee experiences when they can’t meet face to face? What about new employees who have never met their co-workers in real life? How do businesses create social connections to boost collaboration and productivity?
Team Connecting
Going above and beyond traditional team building through professionally-hosted, virtual shared experiences is one way to bring people together in a fun and lighthearted way. We call this Team Connecting™. Think of it as the evolution of team building — or Team Building 2.0. After all, you’ve already built your team. Now it’s time to connect them.
Boosting employee morale is the best investment you can make right now. We found virtual Team Connecting™ brings teams together in a fun, low-pressure way. It reminds employees that their leadership supports them and increases trust in managers — leading to a vibrant company culture where businesses thrive.
Let’s face it — video calls are here to stay. Redefining how we use technology to truly connect our distributed workforces is the key to success in our new norm.
Game On!
