How to Engage and Connect Your Employees Virtually
Are you feeling checked out, burned out and Zoomed out?
Does the thought of being on another video meeting or conference call make you feel like you're going to lose it?
If so, you're not alone.
I've facilitated over 200 virtual learning experiences for leaders, teams, all hands meetings, company retreats and association conferences over the past year. I know what it takes to create meaningful engagement in a virtual world, and I'm going to share some of that with you today!
For starters, let's recognize that it's not normal to feel like we are watching Brady Bunch TV all day (including ourselves!) and having that TV watch us back. That's why I always kickoff the workshops I lead with the three tips below. The second one is the biggest "aha" for most people. All of these tips can help YOU feel less fatigued by zoom. Something not mentioned in the video that you can use to reduce mental strain in Microsoft Teams is Together Mode.
Let's dig a bit deeper beyond some of the individual tips and tricks to why we need to figure out how more effectively engage people in a virtual environment.
In the 2021 State of Remote Work, buffer found that nearly 98% of over 2,000 respondents said they would like to work remotely at least some of the time for the rest of their careers.
98%.
When those same people were asked about the greatest challenges they've been facing regarding remote work, two of the top three struggles were around social connection - collaboration, communication and loneliness.
If organizations are going to recruit, engage and retain top talent moving forward, they're going to have to intentionally focus on addressing the challenges their employees are having with remote work AND recognize that employees are struggling with their mental health and need support.
Many organizations were already struggling with engagement, disconnection and burnout prior to the pandemic, but we've learned a lot about creative things we can do to foster meaningful engagement and disconnection among employees in this time of transition.
We know that three factors that contribute MOST to employee engagement are having a sense of cause (feeling relevant and like they are making a contribution), feeling connected to a community, and having opportunities to grow and learn.
Based on what I've learned as a virtual facilitator and presenter, there are three steps every organization can take to elevate employee engagement.
1. Be Curious
In times of change and crisis, staying open and curious is one of the most effective things we can do. In a survey of 350 HR leaders and other employees about the most meaningful actions their organizations had taken during the pandemic, two actions emerged as most valuable to employees:
Frequent communication
Checking in on employees
In the absence of information, we tend to make up stories and catastrophize, so keeping people in the loop is important, even if the update is, "We don't have any new updates." Having a consistent day of the week when updates are given can also create a certain degree of predictability, stability and trust, especially if those messages are conveyed with care and transparency.
At the start of the pandemic, it seemed like a lot of leaders and organizations were intentional about reaching out to people and checking in on them. As we continue into year two and pandemic fatigue sets in, many people have fallen off the grid and stopped doing these check-ins.
When we check IN with people to see how they're doing, we show that we care. When we check ON people to make sure they're "actually working" from home (yes, this is still a concern some employers have), it can come off as micromanaging people and look like distrust.
When you check in with someone, be sincere about it. Reach out with something like:
"Hey, you came to mind the other day and I wanted to see how you were doing. Can we chat sometime in the next few days?"
"Hey, I know this has been a tough time for a lot of people. It's been hard to keep up with kids and work and my sanity, too. Let's find time to catch up because I'd like to hear how you're doing."
"How can I best support you right now?"
When people feel like you genuinely care about them and their wellbeing and that you want to support them, they're more likely to be engaged and less likely to leave.
A lot of the organizations I've worked have also tapped into the power of curiosity by using employee engagement and pulse surveys to give their employees a voice on a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. These tools are also useful for managers to create a communication and feedback channel with the people on their team in real time.
A few of the most popular companies that do this work are 15five, tinypulse, Glint, Quantum Workplace, Culture Amp and Gallup.
If you're going to ASK people for feedback, it is essential that you have a plan for how to ACT on that feedback; otherwise, you might compromise trust and morale. Some companies are so transparent that they share the results of their pulse surveys with the entire company. I would like to see more companies do that to hold themselves accountable and keep themselves honest.
2. Involve People in the Process
One of the quickest ways to crush engagement is to leave participants out of the experience and treat them like passive bystanders, listening to a talking head on a screen.
We've all been there, secretly (or not so secretly) responding to emails or doing work instead of being present for the event. Your employees have been there, too.
As Margaret Wheatley once said,
"People support what they create."
In other words, when people are INVOLVED in the creation of something, they're more INVESTED in the outcome and more engaged overall.
That's why I always create opportunities for interaction, participation and contributions from any group I'm with. People are craving that. They want to feel like they're a part of something, that they are needed and that they are co-creators of the experience.
In The Truth about Employee Engagement by Patrick Lencioni, two of the top three factors that drive disengagement at work are anonymity and irrelevance.
When we feel anonymous, we don't feel seen, heard or valued by our manager or team members. When we feel irrelevant, we struggle to answer the question:
"Who am I helping and why does it matter?"
One of the main reasons organizations bring me in is to help them create more meaningful interactions and conversations among their employees as a way to elevate morale and camaraderie.
When people come into a virtual room, greet them by name. Thank them for being there with you. Have music playing in the background to set the tone. These seemingly little things contribute to people feeling seen.
In a typical 90-minute workshop, I move employees in and out of two highly choreographed breakout room interactions, inviting them to contribute their stories and experiences in response to prompts like:
Share a story about a memorable moment of meaning, purpose or connection at work, one that stands out from others in a positive way
What's one way you've adapted in the past year that makes you most proud?
What's worked better than anything else for you when it comes to work/home separation? Focus? Self-care? Remote learning?
What’s a big or small win or appreciation you’re celebrating right now?
When we invite people into guided conversations that focus on when they've felt purposeful or been most proud or at their best, we activate their sense of possibility and appreciation, which puts them into a more open and empowered mental state.
When we structure the breakout rooms instead of throwing people into rooms with little direction like Zoom roulette, we reduce the ambiguity, which reduces anxiety. Everyone appreciates that.
I work with a lot of companies in technical professions like accounting, engineering, finance, research, consulting, marketing and healthcare and even in those industries, people are open and willing to share and connect as humans, beyond their titles and roles.
These are the kinds of words people use to describe what those guided small group experiences are like:
People walk away from these workshops feeling more connected and less alone. I've witnessed them as they've shared stories of purpose that bring them to tears, as they open up about what they're struggling with and as they express relief to "talk about something that isn't heavy" with each other.
Virtual experiences don't have to be boring, soul-sucking or energy-draining.
Most are just poorly planned out (if they're planned at all) or are not well executed.
By being more intentional about how you design virtual experiences or by partnering with a facilitator who knows how to do that, you can bring value to your people instead of wasting their time.
3. Use Tech to Elevate Connection + Collaboration
Even though being so glued to our technology has been disruptive for many of us, there are tools beyond the basic polling option in Zoom and Teams and other video platforms that we can incorporate to enhance attendees' experience.
A few virtual tools that I like or that clients use include Mentimeter, sli.do, MURAL, Miro, REMO, kahoot, and Lean Coffee Table.
I'm also a fan of Tribute, which is a collaborative video montage platform that lets you celebrate or appreciate special people in your life. We created a Tribute video for my dad's 70th birthday, which happened during COVID, and for my in-laws' 40th wedding anniversary.
Companies can use the tool as a way to celebrate employee milestones, birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, or someone's retirement. It doesn't cost nearly as much as a lot of high ticket gift items, but it is something that the recipient will treasure. It's a way to use the power of video to foster meaningful human connection and appreciation.
Remember how important it is to make employees feel like they matter? This is one way to show them.
Now that I've shared my experiences about elevating virtual engagement, I would love to hear from you!
Your Thoughts
Which of these ideas resonates most with you?
What have YOU found to be effective when it comes to engaging employees virtually?
Where are you feeling stuck or hitting a roadblock?
Leave a comment below and I'll reply!
Next Steps
Want to learn more about how to support your organization, association or leaders and teams to be more engaged, connected, resilient and hopeful...virtually?
I can help! I've facilitated over 200 virtual events since March 2020 and reached thousands of people globally across a wide range of industries.
Email me rachel@unmutedlife.com, check out my list of topics here, and check out the quick video below!
