The COVID Remote Work Hangover

Happy February my friends... I've noticed after coming back from the holidays that my clients are talking a lot about how hard it is to be remote, or more accurately how hard it is to get energy from working from home, or how hard it is to create meaningful connections and relationships with people they don’t see face to face very often or at all.?

Of course, we have evolved over the last 2 million years to be an in-person kind of species. And it has only been for the last few years that we imagined that teams could be dispersed and entirely remote. We made it to this place and time because we were flexible and problem solvers… why would this remote work problem be any different? Yet I see leaders give into the “it's just how it is… you can’t create that kind of connection, trust, etc. in this remote setting.” I think so many leaders are still just hungover from the stress of COVID to really see the truth of what it is now. Remote is here to stay in some form -- and we need to create that connection and trust with our people either way.

I've seen things that works for leaders who have tackled this problem. You may have to sacrifice short-term “productivity” for long-term gain in getting stuff done.? This means potentially leaning more into connection in your remote meetings, checking in, talking about the “how” of working together.?

Try the above and see how it increases the connection and the psychological safety of your team!!