As a business owner or manager, one of your main responsibilities is looking after your team – and this is more important than ever during these unprecedented times. Your team will need your help to stay productive and motivated, but that isn’t all; they will also need support if they are feeling more stressed or anxious than usual.
Thankfully it is still possible to provide your team with proper support, even if everyone is working from home. Here are five ways to bring your team together in 2021.
1. How To Bring Your Team Together: Relax Fixed Schedules And Tough Deadlines
The pandemic has significantly changed the way businesses are running, so you may want to rethink certain schedules and deadlines. For instance, if staff frequently worked overtime before but no longer can (perhaps due to parenting duties), you may want to extend deadlines accordingly. This will show your employees that you care about their mental health, and it also allows your employees to do their best possible work on every project.
You may also want to offer flexible working hours for remote employees. This is especially helpful for parents who have to help their children homeschool.
2. Make Their Well-Being A Priority
It doesn’t matter if you have employees coming into work or a remote team; either way, you should make their well-being a priority. Research has found that more British adults are struggling with anxiety than ever before, and mental health services are currently less accessible due to huge increased demand. So do everything you can to make your employees feel comfortable and safe; ensure employees that are still working have proper PPE and safety measure in place, and provide mental health support for any employee who needs it.
3. Improve Communication
One easy way to offer mental health support is with improved communication. If you are working with a virtual team it is likely you already have a selection of communication channels set up (such as email, Zoom or telephone), but you may also want to consider setting an informal chat area where employees can relax and bond with each other. WhatsApp is a good option for this, and you can also use it to check in privately with employees who seem to be struggling.
4. Get Creative For Special Events
It can be very difficult to celebrate special events during the pandemic, but it isn’t impossible – you just need to get creative! For instance, you could post a thoughtful gift to an employee for their birthday, or you could arrange a virtual office party so employees can relax and have fun together. You can even make this extra special by posting a party hat, a bottle of wine and some snacks to each employee beforehand!
5. Cover The Costs
Are your employees now working from home? If so, you may want to consider offering a little extra financial support. Research has found that many employees have increased expenses now that they work from home; for example, electric bills, gas bills and internet bills can add up, and this can create extra stress for your team. So if there is money to spare, consider adding a small sum of money to each payment to help cover costs (and if you can’t afford to do this, consider sending your employees useful support links to help them claim the money back at a later point). This will show your employees that you still care about them, even if you’re not currently seeing them in person.
