The end of our third month of social distancing is coming to close and there’s still no sign of our work lives returning to pre-COVID normal. For many teams, working from home has not been the breath of fresh air they thought it would be—more freedom, more time with family, and less of that one coworker they’d rather not see. Instead, it’s been more like constant distractions, makeshift desks using stacks of books to mimic the ergonomic desk back at the office, and missing those coworkers that made your day.
People’s patience, morale, and overall quality of work is starting to wear thin. Here are some ways you can breath life back into your company and help your team see the light at the end of the tunnel.
1.Bring back natural collaboration.
In a normal office setting, collaboration happens when and where we least expect it to. When you schedule formal meetings, you set an agenda, regulate who is invited, and unintentionally put pressure on your team to perform. This doesn’t allow for a lot of free-flowing creativity or conversation.
Collaboration happens best when we are given a free space to converse with people from other teams, departments, even walks of life. This happens around the water cooler, at an after-hours happy hour, or in a communal lunch space. Pixar Studios, a hub of creativity, was redesigned by Steve Jobs to put animators, executives, editors, and the rest of the team under the same roof to encourage chance encounters.
Through social distancing, we have lost the connectedness of spontaneous interactions with people outside of our daily routines. If we want our team to innovate, we need to bring back natural collaboration in some form other than a forced Zoom meeting.
One way to do this is by providing a free creative hour for your team. Lots of people believe they just weren’t born creative, so the first obstacle is breaking down that barrier for them. Start with a structured class for the first time to give them the basic skills they need to express themselves creatively. Because of quarantine, many art experts are taking to the intern to teach their art skills.
Former Pixar Studio Storyteller and Animator Matthew Luhn created an hour-long art class that teaches the basics of drawing he learned while animating for The Simpsons TV show. This class will help your team get some basics and by the end they’ll even be able to draw themselves as Simpsons characters. Once your team is given the tools, they’ll want to show up to Creative Hour daily.
You can set up a video conference for the last hour of every day, allowing anyone to join, where your team is free to use their creative expression however they please. This offers them a relaxed space to chit-chat, catch up with friends, and explore new friendships within the company, all leading to collaboration.
2.Give them an “Inspiration Session.”
Many people are losing the drive to push through the unforeseeable end to social distancing. It affects their mood, productivity, and quality of work. You reassure them endlessly, with pep talks and hopeful estimates of when they can come back to the office, but there is an overarching feeling that none of us actually know anything about this pandemic. Lucky for you experts in boosting morale are a click away nowadays. Experts in team building, like Robyn Benincasa, an Adventure Racing World Champion, CNN Hero, and full-time firefighter, have responded to COVID-19 by creating new ways to inspire teams. While she used to take the stage as an inspirational keynote speaker, she now visits companies virtually for Inspiration Sessions.
Her years of conquering the toughest eco-racing challenges and building the strongest teams has taught her how to work together to overcome any roadblock. Giving your team an inspiration boost like Benincasa’s will help them recommit to your company’s mission.
3.Make them comfortable.
Do a quick check-in with your team. After three months the janky, piecemealed work stations that were supposed to be temporary will take their toll. Backs will be hurting and wrists will be sore because people assumed their cramped at-home desk would suffice for the “short” period of social distancing.
Make sure to ask your team how they are feeling and what they need to feel 100% in their home office. It may seem like a little thing, but it will mean the world to your people.
You may feel like your team has become numb to their work from home situation and it may show in their productivity, morale, and work quality. That is when it’s time to be proactive and give them a sense of community, motivation, and comfort needed to bring back innovation and determination.
