The way we work and where we work is changing for many people this year. The merging of your professional self and personal self have likely caused some pain points for you if working from home has been new to you. Time and time again you’ll see a blog post or social media headline that promises to help you “work smarter, not harder.” But how is that even possible right now? Instead of grasping for something that likely feels unattainable, maybe we should embrace where we’re at, and acknowledge that everyone is working harder right now? We’re working on keeping our emotions in check and distinguishing facts from fiction in almost all forms of media we’re consuming, we’re working on understanding how to prove our value in a remote or hybrid work environment, we’re working on how to redefine fun for ourselves and our families, we’re working on finding a job because we’ve been laid off or furloughed, and we’re working on coming up with strategies that help us feel safe when it can feel like none of our options are comfortable.
While all of this “work” doesn’t fall under the traditional definition of work, the excess management it’s taking a lot of people to simply balance it all can make most days feel like a never-ending slog of tasks, with not a lot to look forward to. Yuck, right? So how can you as a manager or leader help your team feel productive and valued each week?
Know your team’s value of work
Who on your team falls into the Workaholics category? Who falls into the “I’m in at 8am and don’t want to stay past 5:01pm” category? Knowing which of your team members will be irritated at having to work past their normal schedule, and which of your staff want to take a walk over lunch and put in a load of laundry so they don’t mind working past 5:01pm will help you avoid a values mismatch. A new study in the open-access journal, Frontiers in Psychology, explains how these kinds of mismatches put employees at risk of burnout, “Imagine an accountant who is outgoing and seeks closeness in her social relationships, but whose job offers little scope for contact with colleagues or clients. Now imagine a manager, required to take responsibility for a team, but who does not enjoy taking center-stage or being in a leadership role. For both, there is a mismatch between their individual needs and the opportunities and demands at the workplace.” Understanding what your team needs on a micro level will help you help them avoid burnout, or worse.
Who Lacks Confidence?
Building the confidence of your employees is always tricky, made even more complicated when you’re only connecting over video calls or email. However, as Gene Hammet explains in this inc.com article, by putting your team first and personalizing your management style of each person on your team, you can help grow their opinion of themselves. When leaders take a “team first” approach, the positive effects are overwhelming. Hammet cites a quote from a conversation he had with Jeff Knauss, co-founder of Digital Hyve,”I’ve seen so many businesses put their clients first, and what happens is they burn out their people,” Knauss explained. “You create a negative culture, and then ultimately, clients don’t get the best service. Whereas if you create a great culture and you put your people first, what happens? You take care of your people; they take care of your clients.” If you can inspire confidence in your team members, you’ll not only have a great group of employees, but they’ll likely be loyal too.
Check in on the Emotional State of your team
This goes beyond the “how are you” check in question that you might ask at the beginning of your team calls. Forbes.com explains, “A survey by mental health provider Ginger found 69% of employees said the coronavirus is the most stressful time of their career, and 88% said they had experienced moderate to extreme stress over the past four to six weeks.”
The struggle is real. Make sure you know who is struggling to homeschool their kids and get work done. Understand who now has a parent living with them out of fear that their senior living facility is no longer habitable. React with empathy to changing circumstances in your employee’s lives, and support them when you can. Don’t simply assume that their work isn’t as impressive as previous results because they’re on the couch watching Friends re-runs all day.
Give credit where credit is due
Don’t forget to give praise for a job well done, especially when the rest of your team might not be able to see it. Check out these simple ways to “virtually” show your team how much you appreciate them. You can also show your team appreciation by giving them something to look forward to. Remember, a lot of your team has given up a vacation or two this year, and doesn’t have one on the books to look forward to. Have a team tradition coming up but it will have to happen virtually? Come up with a clever way to continue the tradition! It takes a little effort to put some fun into each week for your team, but they will thank you for it!
We’re not suggesting you pull out the pom pom’s for every win your team has, but now is certainly not the time to ignore them. Finding authentic ways to connect with each person on your team and understanding their entire “work” load will help you be a better manager and help each of your employees feel valued. We know it feels like being a leader has never felt more challenging, but hopefully knowing that your leadership is more important than ever will inspire you to continue putting in the time, effort and energy to continue insuring your team knows that you couldn’t do this without them.