Loneliness, longer hours, and communication difficulties can affect remote workers’ mood at the best of times – and these are not the best of times.
Here are four ways you can boost your remote employees’ mental health and morale:
- Have virtual 1:1s
Have a regular video call with each team member to check how they’re doing. Remember they won’t necessarily tell you if they’re struggling, so if you notice any drop in their mood or performance, be proactive about asking if they’re okay and offering support. Ask them what they’re finding hard and work together to make a positive action plan, which could include breaking tasks down smaller, setting goals, and tracking accomplishments. Also make sure they know about any wellbeing support they can access in-house (as it were) or elsewhere. - Create new routines
It’s horrible for your team’s morale to let them exist in a constant state of vague workyness. Encourage them to designate a time and space for working and stick to it. Make sure they take regular breaks and downtime – that means communicating clearly about when they’re not expected to be reachable. - Communicate effectively
Communicating effectively doesn’t mean overcommunicating. Zoom fatigue is a real thing; people find it harder to process visual cues on screen than in person. Sometimes an email round-up is better. When you do have Zoom meetings, keep them to just 30 minutes or allow a half-time break. - Acknowledge success
Make the effort to recognise team and individual successes. Praise and appreciation go a long way to boost motivation in the absence of normal team-building activities. An ecard or just a simple email is fine, but recognition is even more effective when it’s shared with the whole team, so check out social recognition platforms like Perkbox and Xexec to reinforce positive behaviour throughout your organisation.