How to make working from home more pleasant for your employees

Restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic are tightening and it will be a while until we are able to meet one another the same way we did a year and a half ago. Many people working in administration, business, marketing and other „office“ jobs have been working from home for some time and the situation is unlikely to change in the months to come. Of course, this  has an impact on employees' productivity, motivation and mental health, because only seeing each other on laptop screens is different from meeting face to face. However, as a manager, there are several steps you can take to make the experience of working from home more pleasant for your employees.

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Support informal communication

ICMI.com states that employees soon become demotivated when working remotely if they lack informal contact with their colleagues. Try to support informal meeting between employees. Organize online team breakfasts, parties or game nights. Find a suitable platform for audiovisual communication – such as Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Slack.

Provide flexibility

It is now more important than ever for employees to have flexible working hours. Things have changed significantly in many households – kids do not go to school, weekend activities are restricted, shops and restaurants are closed and people need to cook for themselves. Many people have also lost their jobs or been furloughed. Simply put, the situation in many families is different than it used to be. This is why many people need find a new balance between their work and personal lives, and they need to put together a new schedule from scratch. You should therefore offer flexibility and you should be able to set up the working schedules so that it suits the situation they are facing in their personal life.

Take interest in their mental health 

For many people, the topic of mental health was not important before the pandemic, but  now things are different in many ways. Anxiety, depression, stress and frustration are now more common than ever and many people who have never before faced such issues don't know how to deal with them. Learn to detect signs of deteriorating mental health in your employees, offer them help and encourage them to talk to you if they have any issues. 

 

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Article source International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) - website for customer management professionals
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