If you have already taken the big step and have managed to adapt your company to the virtual world, you are probably wondering now, is it possible to have empathy working from home? How can I strengthen ties with my telecommuting colleagues?
If you have a company or you are a leader or a digital producer and you want to bring empathy to your team in times of teleworking, home office, remote work or whatever you want to call it, this post is for you!
You will discover how empathy in teleworking can benefit your entire narrowing the distances. Read on to learn how to apply it!
We already know that working from home requires more organization, flexibility and discipline, but can empathy be exercised in teleworking?
First of all we must understand that most people feel social and need to be connected as part of a group. But to achieve this greater rapprochement within a distancing scenario, we must certainly adapt so that the virtual hug is really capable of crossing the screens.
With much love and without further ado, I share with you 8 ways to apply empathy in teleworking, so that you can motivate and strengthen your work team by shortening distances even more!
1- Communicate
One of the great problems that telework faces is misinformation regarding the directions that the company can take and this can often cause anguish.
And the best way to prevent this from happening is to open or further strengthen those that were already established. For example, if your company does not have an internal instant messaging channel via chat, it is time for you to hire one of the many options offered by the market, so that all employees have better and faster access to the exchange of information.
A good practice is to leave those chat rooms open and encourage everyone to start their tasks to give that affectionate “good day” and thus receive the affection of their colleagues to start off well. You can also create rooms with topics of personal interest, such as music, movies, video games, pets, and surely everyone will want to give their opinion, thus increasing interaction.
Another idea that you can implement that is very simple and very efficient is that the founder of the company or the leaders of each sector send an email weekly, placing the most relevant in the agenda, always emphasizing positive news.
2 – Make Videoconferences
And it is here where the It has a fundamental role, since it is the format with the best acceptance. But like any tool we must always consider the good practices of use, since this is going to be one of the most used formats during teleworking and from which we can and bring a lot of empathy to the members of the meeting.
It is recommended that a video call last less than an hour and that this space be used to generate value through trust and credibility. Try to get all the participants to have the camera on so they can see each other’s faces, which generates harmony and greater approximation.
And another important detail is to avoid distractions so you can make the most of this listening and dialogue space. Then don’t forget to mute the chat and other devices that can distract you.
3- A virtual relaxation
Communicating with a screen in between is already part of our daily lives in teleworking, but what about using the screen to interact with things that are not work? Having moments of relaxation helps a lot to reactivate energies.
Recommended practices to strengthen ties even more is to have a virtual coffee with co-workers, and if it is Friday, why not before the end of the day, have a beer or a good wine, certainly the talk will be more entertaining and fun.
A interesting is to set up games, such as placing your camera in the direction of your open window and in real time your classmates can learn more about your neighborhood or your city, and if your window has a view of the sea, a mountain, a historical monument towards a simple tree that is all in bloom, great! why not share this with your work team and give them the opportunity to become tourists for 5 minutes.
And so that everyone can have a good time and feel predisposed, you must always respect each other’s times and schedule these meetings in advance and always organize them within working hours.
4- Encourage recognition
Faced with challenging situations, the recognition of achievements and conquests is one of the measures that not only leaders must apply but must also be exercised among peers, since it improves self-esteem, motivation and .
The way to thank them can be through email, chat, internal communication channel, or why not through a video.
This is a very important point, since many may think that since they are working from home, their work is not seen, so daily or weekly use all the means you have at your disposal to affectionately convey your recognition and pleasure.
5- Encourage self-care
We know that having your work team physically and mentally fit is the fuel that will allow you to achieve . But being in telework your team can fall into sedentary routines, poor diet, inappropriate postures such as working from the sofa or bed.
And that is why here as a company or You must bring love and care to your team, motivating them to carry out physical activities or chores that help ease the mind.
If your business already has programs that support these situations, encourage them to sign up. Let them know the importance of taking snack breaks, show them methods of organizing time, such as which can help them to take a more active attitude.
6- Comfort
Working from home many times it happens that the working conditions are quite far from what we can have in the office. And this is where you can bring empathy into the home to your co-workers, bringing them everything they need to feel comfortable and be able to work comfortably.
And I’m not talking about bringing them their computer and files, but for example making available a comfortable work chair or, if possible, a desk, and in this way you will be helping their body and avoiding possible fatigue. And if you want to give relief to your work team’s pocket, you can offer them a bonus or aid of electrical energy every month, since now their consumption has surely increased.
7- Proposals for decontraction
If there is something that we all always try to escape from, it is routine, and in times of teleworking, it can happen that the home and work environment become confused, since we are in the same space and that leads us to feel tired, since we don’t know how to organize ourselves to start our work without having to think about housework.
A good alternative for this is to provide relaxation activities, you can offer physical activity at work, relaxation, yoga courses always with qualified teachers, you can place them at the beginning of the morning so that everyone already feels motivated before starting work or also at the end of the day, to bring them an experience of harmony and gratitude for the dedication given throughout the day.
The variety of activities you can offer them is endless, from planning programs, good nutrition, music, dance, poetry,even everything that you can imagine as necessary for your .
8- Put yourself in the place of the other
Working from home, the resources and working conditions are very different, since many times the person is within their family environment with all the demands and assistance that children or older people entail. That is why it is very important to maintain flexibility, show empathy in these organizational situations, relax control and pressure, thus helping to avoid possible emotional stress.
Another resource is to provide support through with guest specialists, for example, talking about child care during teleworking, giving tips and practices to have a quick adaptation.
If possible, make psychological support available, many of your officials may need it and having that support will give your leadership more authority.
And never forget, bringing words of encouragement and reassurance are ways to promote empathy in telecommuting.
conclusion
These are some of the most practical and useful ways to bring empathy, at an important time, since in recent years the trend of It has been increasing more and more due to the search for work flexibility or social situations.
Your company, your leaders and all the people who are related to your business environment will thank you very much and you will be increasing your delivery of value and authority.
If you know of any other ways to bring empathy to remote work, share it with us on the Sparkle app!
Now that you know how to convey affection through the screen, here is a guide with .
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