Five ideas to strengthen team relationships during the Corona Virus outbreak
With many businesses asking their staff to work remotely, along with people feeling generally anxious about the current climate, there is a risk that some teams may become disconnected and fractious. Not only do we need to maintain open communication with our peers to ensure we are helping one another through this challenging time but it is also great opportunity to explore new ways of working together that might transform our workplaces for the better.
Here are just a few ways you can strengthen your team relationships over the weeks ahead:
Introduce random coffees
Encouraging adhoc breaks with colleagues is important for the wellbeing and productivity of your team. This often happens naturally when we are working in close proximity to one another but we need to make explicit effort to socialise in this way when working remotely. Slack apps such as Donut are a great way to co-ordinate random coffees between team members. Using an app like this ensures that people aren’t left out and creates opportunities for people to connect with colleagues that they might not usually get a chance to speak with.
Show gratitude and celebrate success
When we are feeling preoccupied with worry, as well as being physically seperate from our co-workers, it can be easy to forget to give people positive feedback and share our successes. Sending a simple thank you to some one could make all the difference to how they are feeling that day. And sharing ‘good news’ stories can counteract some of the despair that people might be experiencing. Why not ask people to contribute to a weekly round-up with their gratitude and celebrations? Or set up a simple ‘shout-out’ slack channel specifically for celebrating your team’s successes?
Prioritise that team away day you’ve been putting off
When we’re heads down in the day-to-day of work allocating time for strategy development, creative exploration and team-building often gets put on the back burner. With it becoming increasingly challenging for people to continue with their usual routines now is actually a great opportunity to ask your team to take a pause and connect with one another on a deeper level.
It’s also perfectly possible to run a really effective away day remotely (here’s some tips for remote meetings in general). It might even prove to be a more enjoyable experience for some of your team if they are able to participate from the comfort of their own home. Plus being remote makes it easier to spread the sessions across a few days to allow people breathing space in between creative thinking or team building. And if you aren’t spending money on an expensive venue you could make the sessions really engaging by hiring an expert facilitator or keep spirits high by treating your team to a takeaway of their choice.Learn together
In many ways the next few weeks and months are already going to be a huge learning curve for teams. However, choosing to do some more explicit learning as a team through activities like participating in an online course or co-ordinating a virtual book club will not only strengthen you relationships but it will also provide you with an enjoyable distraction. Plus it’s also been proven that humans learn better when they learn together.
Trust, Adaptability and Collaboration are key
In order to get through the coming months we are all going to have to adapt and be flexible. It’s likely there are going to be a lot of interruptions to our flows of work and we’re going to need to learn to communicate much more openly and honestly with one another. If you suddenly need to look after a sick child or grandparent trust that your boss will be understanding and that your colleagues will cover for you. And if a co-worker says they need to take a break for their physical or mental health, don’t question them. Rally around them to ensure they take the time they need and come back when they are ready to be productive again. In order to thrive at times like these we need to maintain our trust of one another.
Let’s keep learning from each other - add your own ideas or questions in the comments below.
If you need more ongoing support for your team during this time then get in touch or set up a 30-minute consultation to discuss how I might be able to help.
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