Research indicates there are three core concerns that your employees are likely to be addressing while working from home;
1. Feeling disconnected and like they are ‘missing’ vital information
2. Worrying “Am I doing enough?” “Are other’s coping better?”
3. Being unable to switch off out of working hours
From a neurological perspective, if our minds are riddled with fear and uncertainty, it is not possible to perform at our best. Creativity, memory, focus and decision-making capacity are all inhibited. Therefore, supporting the mental fitness of your team is essential to enable them to sustain optimal performance through these uncharted times.
Here are 10 simple tips to enable you to do this;
1. Be a role model by talking openly about how you are adapting to the transition – honesty promotes psychological safety.
2. Avoid emails out of ‘office’ hours. Even if you don’t expect a reply, they might not know that. Time off enhances performance during work hours so be clear about expectations of your team.
3. Use regular one to ones and group calls to not only check in with how they are doing but invite ideas of how to work better and how you can support them better.
4. Be clear with delegation ensuring you give time frames and measurable outcomes.
5. Invite individuals to consider how regularly they want to speak with you, give them the ownership to decide what support they need.
6. Demonstrate trust – micromanagement is the killer of motivation.
7. Start meetings by focusing on what is going well, nominating strengths in others, celebrating learning points.
8. Encourage peer to peer mentoring – you too have finite resources so encouraging the team to support each other is vital.
9. Promote Microsoft Teams and other digital platforms for social conversations. We need to feel connected personally as well as professionally.
10. Look after yourself. Your actions speak louder than anything else so by taking looking after your own mental fitness and wellbeing at this time is powerful.
If you want to explore more about this, here are some more tips.