Virtually Motivated: Maintaining Team Engagement When Working From Home
Day 369: Still here. Trying to contact someone. Thought I made a connection, but the reaction was hard to read. Are they listening? Do they care?
Here we are, over one year after the world shut down. Despite continued progress on nearly all fronts, leaders are still finding themselves alone on a virtual island, realizing that remote working may not be as temporary as once thought. Some have adapted, recasting the direction of their business, restructuring teams and developing ways to continue. Others find themselves treading in stagnant waters, lacking direction and motivation.
The highly effective leaders have evolved perhaps even more efficiently than their counterparts during this pandemic. In working with several of these leaders over the last 12 months, we have identified five conditions to create motivated teams in a virtual world.
Sustain empathy. It’s easy to feel empathetic for a day or two, toward one situation. It’s much more difficult to sustain empathy over the course of the pandemic. Good leaders are designing approaches around their team as individuals and employees are more likely to be motivated when they feel acknowledged. In recognizing the younger demographics of her team, one CEO made the decision to open the office. She knew her 20 to 30-somethings needed to see each other, and her team created a schedule to maintain social distance while still providing that face-to-face, peer interaction that was missing. She also provided onsite COVID testing every Monday, so employees could get tested and feel safe in whatever environment they chose to work.
Put your mask on first. Never before have we experienced this type of intense need for executive leaders to practice self-care. As humans, we are not designed to sit in front of a screen for 9-10 hours a day, and expect to be motivated and engaged throughout the day. If our organization’s success relies on our employees’ interest and motivation, we must emulate that same excitement and interest, starting from the inside. CEOs are taking up meditation in between meetings, using their normal commute time to exercise or replacing the standing lunch meeting with a walk outside. This type of self-care is imperative, as an engaging organizational culture is designed and led by example.
Show your appreciation. In this world of virtual interactions, sharing appreciation is at times challenging. After months of Zoom calls, one leader acknowledged that this was the most difficult year of his life, as he normally built his energy from others – walking the halls and talking to employees. To show his appreciation, while creating a renewed sense of energy, he began recording weekly CEO videos, sharing messages of hope while staying grounded in reality. Each week, employees got to know their leader in a bit of a different, more personified, light. His brightly colored Hawaiian shirt was a message to his team: I’m still here, with you. Let’s make the best of this together. With each video introduction, he shares how much he appreciates all that his team is doing, and reinforces that THEY are the basis of the organization’s success.
Stay connected in a meaningful way. There are two ways successful leaders are sustaining team connections. One is in the most literal way – using the virtual tools available to make the experience of strategic planning sessions, leadership development exercise and virtual meetings much more fun and productive through fostered collaboration.
The second way for leaders to maintain motivation through connections points to a deeper level of listening. When did you last ask your team about what is important to them? Are they clear on how their contributions are making a difference to your organization’s success? Defining a meaningful purpose for each team member provides the direction and grounding necessary for them to grow as individuals, and collectively as a team.
Create a culture of caring through conversation. Good leaders are elevating the quality of their conversations in order to produce intended outcomes. They are having intentional conversations focused on the future while redefining their culture. Braving the most difficult conversations in a virtual world provides points of growth, and develops a culture of caring, respect and inclusivity.
Equally important is the unspoken dialogue occurring in the background, often times not as apparent as the conversations. Leaders must design a culture that embraces sharing THOSE conversations in a respectful and productive way. We can turn the “we can’t do this because…” conversation to “here’s what we CAN do…” shifting the focus to what might be possible to move forward and stay motivated.
COVID-19 has transformed every organizations’ culture, from its frontline workers to its executive team, and everyone in between. The way in which these organizations thrive and grow will be highly dependent on how their leaders engage and maintain motivation, especially in a virtual environment.