‘Remote working’ or ‘working from home’ has become commonplace in the last couple of years and it looks like it might just be here to stay for a large percentage of professionals.
Reduced commute times, savings in terms of commercial rents and in many instances improved productivity means that it remains an attractive proposition for a large percentage of the workforce.
Despite the many potential benefits, it does provide a number of challenges for those in leadership positions and organisations as a whole as they look to maintain or indeed redesign a healthy workplace culture.
With this in mind, I have provided three suggestions below which I hope you find useful.
Shared no meeting days
Having to spend everyday logging in and out of online meetings is exhausting. It often results in employees not having the time to carry out deep, focused, valuable work. It can also be a relief for many to have one or two shared ‘no meeting days’ each week where they don’t have to put on their shirt and tie, put on their make up, straighten their hair etc.
Virtual Coffee Shop
Creating a virtual space where employees can drop in and chat to colleagues can assist in building morale and cohesion. ‘Work talk’ can be off limits here as people catch up on life away from the workplace as well as get to know one another.
Private team podcast
Building on this idea of cohesion and rapport in that of the private team podcast. An informal interview with each member of a team to find out about their background and interests, what motivates them and what aspects of work saps their energy. The whole team can listen in and as a result accelerate the building of relationships and discover how best to support one another going forward.
Joe McDonald is an experienced and registered professional coach and trainer. Working with individuals in both business and sport through his business create10, he provides one to one coaching, high performance team workshops and flexible online courses. See www.create10.ie for further information or email info@create10.ie for details.