More people are working remotely than ever these days. In fact, Learning Tree’s employees have recently gone fully remote temporarily to manage current public health concerns. As a remote manager, it can be difficult feel connected to your team when not meeting face to face. As Learning Tree’s Human Resources Director, I recently worked with Learning Tree’s management team to provide a checklist of 5 tips for every newly-remote manager to do every day to keep themselves and their team member engaged virtually.
We are requiring all Learning Tree employees to turn on their webcams during meetings so that everyone can see each other face to face. We’ve found this really improves engagement and keeps discussions going better than just a regular phone call. It’s important to keep that one-on-one interaction going as well.
Teams should also check in twice per week as a group to ensure updates that normally happen face-to-face are still happening, and that everyone is engaged and involved.
We suggest our managers recommend daily or weekly activities (either individual or as a group). Suggestions have included:
It’s important to keep the social aspects of office life going strong when working remotely. Be sure to share pictures, stories and other personal insights so that everyone remembers there’s a human at the other end of the computer connection. Just remember to keep it HR Friendly!
One new thing we’re encouraging all employees to do is to have virtual coffee chats!
As you can see, our Learning Employees are already turning this remote work challenge into an opportunity to connect:
I hope these tips help you stay connected to your team and your organization while working from home.
