mental health concerns<\/a>, like stress and loneliness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nManagers need to find ways to encourage their team members to be open and honest about what they\u2019re feeling – this is where video calls can really help.<\/span><\/p>\nKeep people engaged.<\/b><\/h3>\n For managers now finding themselves managing virtual teams, there are several crucial things they can do to keep individuals engaged and motivated.<\/span><\/p>\n\nOver-communicate and use a mixture of communication methods. Emails, instant messaging, 1-to-1 video calls, team Google Hangouts, company-wide webinars (in various time zones if needed) – provide a wide array of ways that people can continue to find out what\u2019s happening and contribute to the team.<\/span><\/li>\nBe consistent in the tools you use. Rather than changing what tool you use to contact each person, have a company standard. For example, always use Zoom for meetings – this way, everyone knows what tool to use for which activity.<\/span><\/li>\nKeep a friendly and empathetic tone. Technology can be quite distancing at times. People write something in an email, and the reader may easily misinterpret it. Try and keep the same kind of caring environment as you do in the office.<\/span><\/li>\nBe accessible and vulnerable. The Social Element has a regular Hangout where Tamara (our CEO) joins a call with anyone who wants to chat in the company. It\u2019s a general discussion, and while we give the team some conversation starters, it\u2019s an opportunity for people to connect. It\u2019s a good reminder that everyone you\u2019re dealing with on email and IM is a real person, and it reminds the team to care for themselves and their teammates.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nFor individuals, the biggest challenge is often getting used to working in isolation or surrounded by unfamiliar distractions. But for the company, the challenge can be maintaining connections between team members.<\/p>\n
Technology can help, but empathy and understanding also go a long way to replicating the office environment in a digital space.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the month, more businesses and their teams have been working from home. For businesses like The Social Element, which are built on a distributed working structure, working from home is as natural for most of its team members as going into the office is for other organisations. But virtual working doesn\u2019t suit everybody, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":14089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,2],"tags":[287,288],"yoast_head":"\n
Working from home: Stay happy and productive - The Social Element USA<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n