As companies have abruptly shifted most or all of its employees to working from home, new challenges emerge. Employees are anxious, even fearful. We all are. These are uncertain times, creating unfamiliar territory. In such conditions, people are inclined to want to talk and gain solace in knowing that others feel the same. After the 9/11 attacks, employees were able to talk through their experiences while at work. The work community enabled a kind of group healing.
Today, unfortunately, most of us do not have the physical presence of colleagues to help us through the current pandemic and its fallout. Working at home isolates us and our coworkers. Many people are experiencing working remotely for the first time, and thus are relatively inexperienced at it.
In addition to the need to share feelings, concerns, thoughts and experiences about the world health crisis, there are other relational aspects that need to be addressed. It pays to take a few extra steps to make sure communications with colleagues and customers are respectful and civil. Healthy relationships are the gel that holds us together, instead of breaking us apart. It’s the stuff that makes the difference in our daily outlook and the level of motivation.
Small Talk is Big
When employees connect for meetings, small talk is important, at least to most Americans. But when working remotely, there are far fewer opportunities for it to happen spontaneously. Typically, there’s a tendency when connecting remotely, to get right to the point. Encourage employees, especially those running meetings, to encourage some personal conversation prior to leaping right in to talk/write about work. Let employees recognize each other as people. Ask each other how they’re doing. That said, not everyone may want to partake, and individuals should respect that.
Civility Training
Accelerate or elevate plans for civility training for all employees. Leading companies have recognized the value and need for civility training. Others have not yet reached this point. Some have focused their civility training exclusively on executives or top-level managers. It’s clear that all employee relationships can benefit from civility training to enhance and protect interactions among employees and between employees, partners and customers. The value and need intensify when all or most of the workforce is on the job remotely.
Take a Breath
Help employees develop greater tolerance and patience. This does not replace the need for civility training, but it provides a greater cushion for when incivility occurs. For instance, If an employee bristles at something a coworker has said, done, or written, the employee can be encouraged to take a diaphragmatic breath (when their belly sticks out when inhaling). It’s an easy skill for most people to learn. This physical act actually will fake out the employee’s brain to make him or her feel relaxed.
Ask Questions
Another coaching and development suggestion is to prompt employees that if an offense sticks with them, ask the person what they meant. For instance, one productive response could be, “So when you said I needed to do more on the project, were you implying that what I had done wasn’t good enough? That’s what it sounded like to me, but I wanted to check before assuming. If I’m right, we need to figure out the disconnect between what I did and what you were expecting.”
When Using Video Communication
With more remote working, the use of video-based communications has skyrocketed. While most are familiar with such communication, the trying conditions of today’s world, plus the isolation of being at home, necessitate some additional training or suggested practices. Those “leading” a meeting should use agendas, distributed in advance, to make sure what needs to get discussed is discussed.
Take extra time to think about who needs to attend a given meeting and who doesn’t. Maybe a meeting needs to be more inclusive? Maybe it needs a smaller working group? Given the isolation of working at home, the criteria for inclusion may need to change. Additionally, reconsider how meetings are structured and run. How much of the meeting should be simply to connect with each other? The person running the meeting should set expectations for participation at the beginning. Try to set up the meeting for full participation so each person knows why they’re there and how they can contribute.
That said, decide how much time should be spent with small talk. Answer: at least some, unless you are all in frequent contact with each other during the day.
When Using Text-based Communication
Of course, text-based communications also need to be approached differently when everyone is working remotely. People can make mistakes and read unintended emotions into words. At least with video calls, participants get non-verbal cues to help understand what other people’s words mean. With text-based communication, people are deprived of that information. Also, words can be vague. Even when a person thinks they are being clear with this or her writing, it may not necessarily be so.
Another coaching point: Don’t make assumptions about what someone meant. ASK! Help employees to speak up. A helpful response might be “I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at, what ______ means. Can you say more?” “Am I correct that your words intend to convey impatience or _______?”
Organizations that have suddenly shifted to a remote employee base are struggling with plenty of problems. HR leaders have their hands full. At the same time, some coaching, development and training can avoid a host of downstream issues and protect employees, partners and customers in very difficult circumstances.
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