Keeping Teams Engaged in the Middle of a Crisis

The stress and anxiety brought about by the current health crisis can be very distracting to workers everywhere. Add to that the challenges of working while sheltering 24/7 at home with children, spouses, parents, and pets. And on top of all that, you still have to collaborate remotely with team members who are experiencing various distractions at the moment. As a team leader, how do you keep the team rapport and engagement in the middle of a crisis?

Make video calls fun again

It used to be a novelty that involved a lot of asking whether the other party can see or hear you. We still have a lot of technical difficulties now, but seeing the unshowered faces of your co-workers everyday has stopped being refreshing or a delight.

It’s time to make video calls fun again!

Some companies have taken video calls to the next level. Customer service company Help Scout hosts themed team calls where joiners share their favorite recipes, apps, or a guided tour of their respective houses. Software firm Clevertech gets teams to play complex video games so they can bond and collectively hone their problem-solving skills. DevOps platform company Gitlab, with a remote team located in 65 countries, uses a bot on Slack to randomly pair people up for virtual coffee breaks. They also have a Google Hangouts chat room where anyone can just drop in.

Creativity therapy

Consulting network PwC initiated the Quarantine Days project that got together employees around the world working on and sharing doodles in a virtual chatroom. After the project, the company reviewed the effect of the creative process on its participants. Many appreciated the distraction and being able to use their right brains for a change. To some, making people laugh through drawings was therapeutic. Overall, different individuals were able to connect remotely but more deeply through art.

Communicate clearly and often

Lift some of the anxiety of the unknown by being transparent with your employees as regards the state of the company and what it means for their jobs. It would also help to make information about health and safety available at all times.You may be working remotely and potentially at different hours, but being able to respond to an inquiry about your healthcare even during wee hours could really impact your team’s peace of mind.

Chatbots like Pez.ai’s Expert can provide this service even when your HR team has their hands full implementing new policies and strengthening your business continuity plan. Team members can simply log in to Slack to have a conversation with Expert regarding safety protocols, work schedules, payroll processes, and more. More complicated inquiries get routed to a human HR support, but Expert will keep learning answers and eventually handle more complicated questions. A specialized Expert for Remote Work on the other hand will keep your remote team members synched when it comes to work hours and deadlines.

By automating the release of transparent information to the team, individuals can shift their focus on collaborating with colleagues in a more relaxed, engaged manner.

Worried about your team’s productivity and well-being at this time? Start with improving communications. You can try Expert for Remote Work for free here.

We’re a little ways down the road but we’d appreciate your feedback and comments. Let us know what you think or give us a clap. 👏

Pez.AI is a purveyor of data-driven transformation. Our chatbot solutions are built to combat inefficiencies and foster sustainable AI partnerships in the workplace. Automating knowledge-sharing and streamlining business processes eliminates transactional interactions giving time for more enriching activities that empower your workforce. Learn how our bots can increase your workplace productivity at www.pez.ai 🤖