5 Keys to Developing Meaningful ConnectionS and Powerful Cultures Remotely
This pandemic has exposed many aspects of our workplace that we have taken for granted, and it has given us an opportunity to build our capacity for better leadership.
We realized how meaningful it was to recreate a daily standing Zoom call that is a space to drop in and catch up with each other.
This month marks a year since the COVID pandemic upended our everyday lives and transformed work as we know it. In the early days, that meant responding to the crisis, leveraging new tools to keep business going. But many companies have adopted new tools to do business the same old way, leading over time to burnout and lower productivity.
Remote work is here to stay, even in the post COVID world. Now that we’re proficient with the tools, how do we maintain meaningful connections in our online workspaces? We had a chance to catch up with three business leaders to discuss our experiences with the shift to remote work. Here are five ways we’ve been working to keep our distributed teams healthy, productive, and connected.
1. Create Intentional “Water Cooler” Spaces:
At the beginning of the pandemic, many of us were excited to use the time we normally spend in transition to get more work done. But with meetings stacked on meetings and no space in between, workers become burnt out and disconnected. To help your teams stay connected, you need to create intentional “water cooler” spaces. This is where they can get to know each other on a human level, building relationships of trust and understanding.
Image Credit: NBC The Office
Mike Ritz from Leadership Rhode Island recalled daily casual conversations around the office manager’s desk, a small thing his team took for granted. Realizing how meaningful it was, they’ve recreated it with a daily standing Zoom call, a space to drop in and catch up with each other. In a similar way, Nick Rock, an assistant design professor at Boston University, now hosts family meals for his students where the only rule is they can’t talk about anything school or work-related. “You have to use these tools [like Zoom] in ways that aren’t just for work,” says Nick. “They can easily become negative if the only thing you’re using them for is a very specific [work-related] thing.”
“The more you experience and the more you practice something that seems very daunting, the more natural it becomes.”
Karina Wood, Executive Director, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Rhode Island
2. Adapt Your Methods to Fit the Setting
No matter how productive your in-person approaches are, you can’t expect them to work exactly the same in an online format. Instead, it’s important to stay open-minded about your methods, discern the best online tools for you, figure out what those tools do well, and creatively adapt your method to fit their strengths. This may mean shorter meetings to reduce Zoom fatigue, or incorporating asynchronous communication tools like Slack into your workflow.
Karina Wood, Executive Director at 10,000 Small Businesses Rhode Island, was skeptical of online education at first. At the start of COVID, she had to quickly pivot the hours she spent teaching her small business training program to fit an online format. The mindset shift came when she realized her methods needed to adapt. Asking questions, fostering honest communication, and staying open to trying new things helped her approach the experience not as a setback to endure but as a challenge to be innovated. “The more you experience and the more you practice something that seems very daunting,” she says, “the more natural it becomes.” The key is staying curious instead of resisting or resenting the changes.
Leadership means showing your people where to go so everyone can go together.
3. Develop Your Remote Work Vision
Leadership means showing your people where to go so everyone can go together. Leaders have to acknowledge the shift to digital workspaces and recognize that even though their goal hasn’t changed, their perspective and path has. And when you set a clear objective, your team is free to try on-brand experiments that further the goal and adapt to challenges that come their way.
“It’s a mindset,” Mike says, and “this will probably forever change the workforce anyway.” Realizing they couldn’t just wait for the virus to go away, Mike sent his staff to learn best practices for online facilitation. With this training, they are now able to share their knowledge and explore how to create the best possible online experience, a skill that will continue to serve them in the future.
We have borrowed some of our workshops tools into our regular meetings to help attendees get to know each other more deeply.
If you and your team are burnt out on video calls, try adding some new tools to the mix.
4. Meet People Where They Are
Everyone needs a change of location sometimes to take a mental break. This is why we go to coffee shops to get work done or plan important meetings away from the office. In the world of remote work, you have to meet people where they are to help them do their best work. Remember that tools and process are two different things. Though your objective never changes, sometimes your tools should.
If you and your team are burnt out on video calls, try adding some new tools to the mix. As a teacher, Nick has observed that informal written notes with Slack and text chatting are helpful, especially for students who aren’t comfortable talking on video. And, as Karina points out, don’t forget the benefits of an old-fashioned phone call. “Zoom and video are so associated with work that a phone call feels more relaxed and intimate. It gives your eyes a break.” When you expand your communication toolkit, you can build a more productive, inclusive environment for everyone.
“What am I doing as a leader to build trust, compassion, stability, and hope in every single aspect of every single thing I do? That’s my north in a time of crisis.”
Mike Ritz, Leadership Rhode Island
5. Build Your Capacity for Empathy
When you go through a seismic shift like COVID, it’s easy to get stuck in a constant crisis reaction mode. It forces you to manage ambiguities all the time, and you may feel like you’re constantly losing control. Factor in the learning curves and complications of virtual platforms and it’s enough to try anyone’s patience. “Virtual is a two-way experience, and both sides have to engage in it to make it work, just like a conversation,” says Mike. “That’s human.”
Still, people look to leaders for trust, compassion, stability, and hope. Consider these crisis points an opportunity to double down on your efforts to lead well. Acknowledge the struggles your team members are facing, and ask how you can support them. Stay flexible for your team, recognizing the added challenges and commitments they face. And always pay attention to where you can grow.
“What am I doing as a leader to build trust, compassion, stability, and hope in every single aspect of every single thing I do?,” Mike asks himself regularly. “That’s my north in a time of crisis.” This is a question that can help you become the sort of leader your team will be glad to follow.
Remote Work Lessons for the In-Person Future
This pandemic has highlighted many aspects of our workplace that we have taken for granted, and it has given us an opportunity to build our capacity for better leadership. Rather than just finding the tools to get by during the pandemic, we can use this time to gain a deeper understanding of what makes us human and adapt to serve those around us. We are finding out that the lessons we are learning apply today, during the pandemic, and when we can work together in-person again.
As a branding consultancy, we believe in the power of a strong leadership brand to help you leverage your credibility and lead well into the future. Please reach out if you would like to learn more about how we can help.
