6 Ways Managers Can Make Remote Employees Feel Connected

In light of the COVID19 pandemic and its multiple waves, employers have noticed a significant decline in employee productivity.

Since employees are working remotely, it has become difficult for them to feel motivated to perform.

Working in isolation takes a toll on employee well-being and makes them feel lonely and depressed.

This leads to employees feeling a lack of connection with the company and reduces their job satisfaction.

Since the situation is not going to change anytime soon and remote work is going to be the norm for at least a few more months, employers and managers need to ensure employees feel connected to enhance their productivity.

Here are 6 ways to achieve this:

Over-communicate:

A great way to ensure employees feel included in the company culture is to develop personal connections with them by constantly communicating with them. This has dual benefits; firstly it will ensure employees are aware of what is happening and what is expected of them.

Secondly, it will ensure them that you are approachable in case they need to reach out to share a concern or seek any kind of help.

Regular communication can help remote employees feel like an important part of the organization.

Actively listen to employee concerns:

Just talking to employees is not enough.

Employers and managers need to have an open ear for their issues as well. It is crucial to practice active listening so employees can feel connected.

It helps employees feel validated and makes them feel supported.

Listening to employee concerns will allow employers and managers to find better ways to make employees feel a part of the company culture.

Help employees learn together:

Providing employees a platform that leverages the power of social learning is a great way to make them feel connected to their peers. Hosting live instructor-led sessions with the help of tools like Academy Of Mine allows employees to learn together with their coworkers.

Learning together brings an element of social interaction and makes employees feel that they are all an important part of the organization.

Not only does this enhance their learning experience, but provides them social engagement through discussions with coworkers and instructors.

Arrange casual virtual meetings:

Apart from the usual virtual meetings that managers schedule to discuss work, hosting casual hangouts virtually to help employees and managers connect helps in building connections. It allows everyone a space to talk about things outside of work and bond with each other.

This can include celebrating employee achievements as well as special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.

You can also organize fun group activities like playing online games together once a month as a way of team bonding.

Include employees in the planning process:

A great way of making employees feel connected is involving them in the project planning process. Knowing that their opinions are being considered important by the manager makes them feel valued and increases their engagement levels.

It also helps in avoiding roadblocks in project workflow as everyone is aware of all the aspects of the project. This leads to clear expectations and helps employees do their job in a better way.

Provide tools for collaboration:

Empowering employees with the right tools can help them feel a part of the organization. For instance, collaboration tools help employees work together and make it easy to exchange important information.

Instant messaging tools can save employees a lot of time as they can quickly get information without making a video or audio call. This fosters better connection with coworkers as well as managers and ensures everyone is on the same page.

Conclusion:

It’s easy to foster a feeling of connection among remote employees with the help of above mentioned strategies. Employers must always keep communication channels open so employees feel connected to the organization.