10 ways to feel good in bad times

Understand what motivates you

We are all emotionally challenged right now. So we need our EQ to help us manage our own emotions. But if you’re the boss, be mindful of the need to empathise, motivate and support your folks. 

Phone a friend

Suddenly people are calling each other again. Until this week my phone wasn’t ringing as often as it used to in the old days. And it your people are a self-isolating they’ll be lonely. So resist the easy electronic option and make sure you communicate using voice (and even face if tech makes it possible)

Play that funky music

When you don’t share space with your people, you don’t easily pick up on what’s happening in their lives. So work hard to understand their individual circumstances and be curious. Encourage your people to share more and be interested in each other. Be more open about yourself and they’ll do the same.

Work it out

Not everyone has an office environment at home. It goes without saying, so I’ll say it anyway…people working remotely need a really decent laptop (with camera) and broadband connection. A smartphone is not enough. They also need a set of wireless headphones, ideally with noise cancelling for the conference calling we’ll all be doing. They actually need a desk too.

Have a good book going

There’s some new tech designed for times like these. If you’re not a great fan of tech and haven’t used Zoom, Adobe Connect, WebEx, etc. a lot, now’s the time to bite the bullet and catch up. They’re great ways to reach out to a team. You can see each other on video, share slideshows and documents, use whiteboards and written ‘chat’ functions. All at no cost other than your company’s subscription to the service.  

Eat healthily

One of the great things about office life is we can chat anytime we like. Slack, WhatsApp, etc. enable people to have continuous conversations – across the ether. But it can easily go out of control. Important material can be drowned out in the sheer volume of communication. So you need to skill up your people in using individual ‘channels’ to segregate projects etc. from general points.

Play games

Lonely people feel happier together. Yes, I know team meetings are awkward on-line, but you’ve got to do them. Use the right tech as mentioned above and it won’t be a problem. Prepare a short PowerPoint presentation that includes the agenda and key data. Encourage the team to use the Chat functions so everyone can make their voices heard. 

Set times of the day when the team can be online together to share gossip, jokes and maybe even some work stuff too. This may well be an improvement on what you were doing in the office….

Socialise online

Successes in the office will tend to be public and recognised by the team. But when we are separated from each other, there isn’t that opportunity for sharing. So make sure you encourage team members to alert you of victories. Find a way to then publicise them to everyone – so they can add their best wishes. We all need buoying up by success stories. 

Don’t become a couch potato – grow them instead

You don’t want to nag the team on progress with work. So make sure you agree check-in dates and times – so the team expect and prepare for contact. Encourage them to make the running. The more communication the better.

Keep working

Hopefully you’re already ringing your boss/colleagues/subordinates more than you normally would. Use the calls in a positive ‘coaching’ style. So your job is to help them with problems and challenges, encourage their creativity and sense of personal responsibility. Now’s not the time to be coolly task focused and just bottom line obsessed. Money may be tight right now, but it’s not the biggest problem we face in managing our people.