As we persevere the last 2 months of 2020 and look forward to 2021 with guarded optimism, we are experiencing new “normals” in our relationships, individual lives, global relationships, and our workplaces. Is this true of you? We all are trying to adapt to these new normals at least in one of these aspects of life. For the first 3-4 months of this pandemic, we had this thought that it would only last a couple of more months. Now, we are looking at possibly another 1-2 years according to several health experts (CDC, WHO, John Hopkins). Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok have been flooded with incredible ideas on how to cope with the changes in our personal lives due to the pandemic. The one area that is functioning and just simply “working” but needs permanent and improved development options is the workplace.
Many individuals that I have spoken to has shared about how their companies had communicated that these work-from-home situations would not last long. We are going into our 8th month of what was supposed to be temporary. Other consultants and I believe that the virtual workplace is here to stay and will become more popular than we expected, exactly how online university learning took the education industry by storm 15-20 years ago. So, if you are working at home, the team and how it functions is just as important as if you were working in person, especially for production, efficiency, and communication.
Reflect on the following questions to gauge how well your team is doing in a virtual workplace:
Are you communicating by phone at least once a day?
Are you communicating by video chat at least two-three times per week?
Do you have guidelines established for the frequency of communication, follow-up, meeting formats, response time, etc.?
Do you feel as if you relate to the team as if you were meeting in person?
Does your team leader or supervisor give you feedback regarding your virtual work performance?
Did your company provide you with training on how to use the technology needed to work from home?
Does working from home stress you out completely?
If you answered “no” to any of these questions, then your company needs consulting, training, and development. If a company does not capitalize on this now, it will lose profits, its ability to adapt, and most importantly all: the confidence of its employees. If you are in an influential position or people tend to look to you (no matter your position), it only takes 1-2 committed people to change a culture. Your virtual workplace is going to become more commonplace.
We are offering discounted consulting to help teams launch into a healthy virtual workplace. But in the meantime, try to find some refreshing activities to lighten the mood in these virtual meetings.
-Brian