In a bid to control the spread of coronavirus disease, most nations have forced businesses to look for alternative ways to work without meeting in the workplace. Businesses leaders have to continue collaborating with clients, co-workers, and vendors without having to meet face to face to keep their businesses afloat.

Most companies have already implemented a remote work policy to ensure that all activities go on as usual. As a leader, it is your responsibility to look after and care for your team not just as colleagues but human beings.

The transition to working remotely will affect your team’s culture since anxiety around team collaboration and future projects are uncertain. Other factors such as looking after kids at home, taking care of parents and house chores will be part of their workdays. Leaders need to support their teams during these trying times through online communication.

So, how can you maintain team togetherness in times of COVID-19 lockdown? What practices should you implement to show that you care for your team beyond work? Let’s get started!

Tips to maintain Team Togetherness

1.  Be clear

Transparency plays a critical role when leading a remote team. If the team members do not understand the strategy, your priorities or what they are expected to deliver, your business will suffer. Building confidence and trust with your team through clear and honest communication will help your team members feel secure as they work remotely.

You can help your team stay on track by initiating team chats and calls to see the progress. Leaders can guide their team members with clarity and openness using communication apps regardless of the environment.

Encouraging your team to continue following their morning routines which involve getting dressed for the day and working for a specific number of hours before calling it a day. Encourage them to take short breaks during the day to increase their productivity and performance in the long run.

2. Lead by example

Research studies by assignment help show that video communication improves engagement, trust and productivity levels of teams. Your facial expressions, tone, and body language communicate just as much as your words. Therefore, ensure that you’re leading by example before communicating with your team.

There will be days when you won’t fill like getting into your home office or even looking at the paperwork. However, you have to keep on keeping on to strengthen your team and help them improve their productivity and performance. Remember, your team is always looking up to you.

Since your team is going to have questions about what you encouraged them to do while working remotely, it’s important to test everything before answering questions to avoid looking like an amateur or someone who preaches water and drinks wine.

After discussing with your team about work, lead the fun. Encourage them to be themselves and communicate with each other just for the sake of socializing.

3.  Manage your expectations

As a leader, you should help your team figure out what they need to do and create realistic expectations for them. Apart from this, you should also manage your expectations.

According to assignment help, you can greatly increase the chances of your team’s success by clearly stating the tasks that need to get done and the metrics that will be used to measure success. Define the deadlines and what is expected for each project or task. If you don’t do this, you shouldn’t be surprised when you find everyone doing his or her own thing.

4.  Ensure that your team has resources

Since your team will be working remotely for a while, it’s important to ensure that they have everything they need to get the work done. This means that they’ll need technological tools like mobile devices, laptops, high-speed internet, and the right apps.

You should not assume that your team members have everything they need. Be open and provide wherever you can. After all, it’s your business at the end of the day.

5.  Give extra attention to new workers

Veterans may not need as much support and assistance to get on with their work because they already know the drill. If you’ve got new hires in your team, it’s important to give them extra attention and support them wherever you can.

You can call them after consulting with the entire team to see how they are progressing and what you can do to help them. Encourage other team members to check on them and assist them as much as they can.

6.  Avoid micromanaging your team

Although checking in with your team frequently is important, you should avoid micromanaging your team. Your employees need you to believe that they are working just as hard as they would in the office.

If you keep calling them unnecessarily during the day just to see if they are in their home offices, they will lose trust in you. The truth is you can’t figure out whether they are working or not by just calling them. Their results will show you whether they are serious about work or just watching TV at home.

7. Match the right brains with the right jobs

It’s highly likely that you hired your employees based on what they can bring to the table. Knowing your employees’ strengths and weaknesses will help you assign them jobs that tally with their expertise, knowledge, and experience.

This is especially true when it comes to remote teams because you won’t be spending an entire day with them. Mismatching brains with jobs will cost you a lot of time and resources in the long run. Never assign jobs based on your assumptions.

8.  Ask for feedback and ideas

Knowing your team’s concerns and needs will help you make informed decisions that will help improve their productivity and performance. Asking for feedback will help you improve how you communicate, assign tasks and deadlines.

Don’t get mad when some of your team members criticize your efforts. Remember, the aim of feedback is knowing and changing what doesn’t work. By asking for ideas and solutions, you’ll be amazed at what your team is capable of.

9.  Encourage your team to improve their skills

For productivity and performance levels to improve, your team has to improve as well. This means that they have to develop and improve the essential skills needed to perform different kinds of jobs.

Encourage them to read books, watch educational videos and most importantly, practice what they learn. The same applies to you. Sharing great books and videos with your team will help them stay a step ahead of the crowd.

Conclusion

The coronavirus disease has interrupted the majority of sectors across the world. Since medical professionals are unsure when things will return to normal, it’s important to maintain team togetherness. With these tips, you’ll not only promote team togetherness but also improve the productivity and performance of your business.