CASE Shares Ideas to Keep Staff Engaged During Coronavirus
Smart ways to keep staff healthy, happy and engaged
July 14, 2020
As several departments in the College of Engineering have continued to implement full-time remote work policies due to COVID-19, here are some smart ways to keep staff engaged in their jobs.
In the weeks since COVID-19 began its rapid spread throughout the United States, universities throughout the nation made the decision to protect their employees with an emergency work-from-home policy. For some staff, working from home is business as usual. But not every employee was prepared for the sudden transition to a fully remote workforce.
Having the right tech tools in place for you and your now-remote team of colleagues, is essential, but you also could use a plan for keeping everyone happy, engaged and focused on their work. Most families are now quarantined in their homes together, so staff are now facing more distractions than there might normally be. On top of that, you and your other workmates may be feeling anxious about you’re your own health and safety, so it's important to come up with a beneficial process for us all to maintain morale and productivity.
To help you and your department navigate this "new normal," for the rest of this summer and this upcoming fall semester, here are some expert insights and currently active ideas (from COE staff) on how to maintain engagement and mental health while you're all working from home, or on campus, but away from others.
1. Demonstrate a Collaborative Culture
Employees tend to be more engaged when they feel like they're part of a team. When working from home, or secluded on campus, it can be hard to buy into that mentality. Therefore, it is important to understand that even though you may not be in the office together, you're all working together toward the same common goal.
2. Keep people connected
The key to success as a fully remote team is consistent, transparent communication. This is especially important as the coronavirus situation unfolds and changes. You'll want to ensure that you have multiple ways to reach your colleagues, including chat software and email, and err on the side of overcommunication. Develop a safe space where people can chat about non-work issues.
Idea: Try creating a Google Hangout chat group, and name it something creative, to keep everyone connected and informed. Keep your chat thread history, go back through it, and you will be surprised to discover such a wonderful spontaneous timeline of events that you and your team will have gone through together during this lengthy pandemic. (e.g. baby news, storms, birthday celebrations, funny happenings, etc.). It really will prove that you and your team REALLY are going through this together!
3. Get everyone on video
With video conferencing tools like Zoom and Google Hangouts, it's easy to keep your regular meeting schedule. The trick, however, is encouraging everyone to turn on their cameras so you can get that face-to-face focus and much-needed social interaction.
Video conferences work well for both remote employees and on-site workers practicing social distancing. A video-enabled meeting creates a sense of community and gives teams much needed face-to-face time.
Idea: The best way to increase engagement during video meetings is to start with an agenda for general updates and discussions. Be sure to allow time to go around the room and give everyone a chance to speak.
4. Maintain work/life balance
Remote employees may have difficulty establishing a healthy work/life balance right now. Because there may not be a physical separation between their workspace and their personal space, we sometimes may feel like we need to be available for work 24/7, which can lead to unnecessary stress and, eventually, burnout.
As a result, consider the importance of creating boundaries for yourself. Make sure you try and maintain work during normal hours and then step away from the computer until it's time to start working the next day.
Idea: During lunch time, try and maintain a daily routine exercise to do within your office space, or try taking a walk around campus (for onsite workers) to keep yourself feeling refreshed and energized for the rest of the workday.
5. Maintain friendly social interactions in your new virtual office
Without the in-person social cues in an office, it's easy for the hours to pass by at home without taking a break from work. Try to schedule virtual "coffee chats" with team members in between meetings for some friendly, non-work conversation.
Idea: When you're chatting with colleagues via instant message, get creative and have a little fun with visuals to express yourself. When messaging, remember your colleague can’t see your reactions. If a picture tells a thousand words, then a GIF is a great way to express yourself.
6. Revisit your work goals
Take a look at your current goals, and determine if they still make sense given the changes in some of your responsibilities. Perhaps there is some online training you had been postponing, but would add value to your peers, supervisors, or to the faculty/students. You can also use this time to invest in your career by developing new skills or taking on different projects. Our departments are counting on us to be successful in this time of transition, so proving you can thrive under stress builds your personal brand and leadership’s confidence in your growth.
Idea: See list below for numerous employee opportunities on professional development:
· LinkedIn Learning (a.k.a. Lynda.com)