After more than six months of at least partial remote work for roughly a third of U.S. workers, managers have largely implemented the basic best practices for overseeing their remote workforces.
Give Your Remote Team Unstructured Time for Collaboration
Six months into the coronavirus pandemic, many employees are still working remotely. While online social activities — from coffee breaks to happy hours — can help reduce social isolation, we’re still craving ways to recreate those informal office interactions that stimulate our creativity and encourage collaboration. Mark Stassman, who has managed remote teams for more than 20 years, offers three techniques to connect and collaborate with colleagues: 1) Virtual co-working, or hopping on a video call to work quietly together; 2) Using “hotwalls” or video screens to connect remote workers to the office; and 3) Weekly open office hours, with no agenda. These techniques, which aren’t hard to implement, can allow for the spontaneous and unstructured conversations that many of us are missing these days.