Employee Engagement Tips and Tricks for Working Remotely

What can managers do?

• Have regular 1 on 1s with employees and be sure to ask them what they need to be successful while working from home.
  • Including what conditions they work best in, their concerns about their workflow, and their emotional response to the current situation.
  • Open ended questions give employees the opportunity to express how they are feeling
• Encourage employees to embrace technology and try out new time management/organizational apps/website, such as Asana, Slack, or Google Suite
  • Alternatively, set clear guidelines for which communication platforms will be used by you and your team
• Determine where structure is needed and where there can be flexibility, such as hours worked or breaks between meetings to check on children
  • Focus on outcomes and be clear with expectations
• Ensure employees are adapting to working from home and establishing boundaries:
  • Are they being productive?
  • Are they able to set boundaries with their family members/roommates for when they are working?
  • Are they able to manage their time? Including “ending their day” where they no longer focus on work and de-stress.
• Giving meaningful feedback to employees at least a few times a week can lead to at least half of workforce being engaged
• Don’t let celebrations fall by the wayside. For example, if you would normally celebrate an employee’s birthday, get creative and find a way to still recognize that event.

What can employees do?

• Create “water coolers” online
  • Places where employees can engage with one another online, outside of work, by:
    • Sharing pictures of their pets
    • Talking about non-work related things
    • Favorite recipes
    • Ideas/Resources for how to distress or entertain yourself during downtime
  • Platforms to use could include:
    • Facebook Groups
    • Slack Channels
    • Zoom Rooms
• Highly recommended employees turn camera on in meetings because some people need that “face to face” interaction
• The time between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. has been noted as the time of greatest risk for isolation and loneliness
  • • Recommended that meetings take place during 2-4pm to help with this. If you have team meetings in the morning, reschedule to the afternoon.
• Remember to stay active now that you spend most of your day inside
  • • Create a regular exercise routine
    • Complete household chores to get active