We are all still in the worst pandemic, the earth has ever seen. Besides all the tragic, we have one positive outcome which will enhance the life of so many people: the rise of remote work.
The vast majority of office workers are able to work wherever and whenever they what, or to be presice: how it fits best to their personal circumstances. It is real freedom, if you can pick up your kids from school, walk your dog whenever you want and first and foremost live in a city or rural area you like instead of the city where the work was.
But there are a few things that can cause problems however. Many middle managers still have to learn that team members should be measured by outcome and not by working hours or presence. Another thing is mental health which is directly connected to happiness.
It is way to easy in the home office to forget:
- to make breaks
- to exercise
- to maintain a healthy diet
- to stop work after doing enough
- to cheer coworkers
- to miss social contacts
The risk of loniness and burnout is real. To read more see ‘How To Avoid Burnout In The Age Of Remote Work‘ by Shelcy V. Joseph via Forbes.
Even if we don’t look at this extreme, happiness is the key for your mental health and your productivity. So please mind the points above if you are remote working. And at top of that try to make something that fits perfectly to your skills and will have an impact to drive society in the direction you want it to be. There is nothing more encouraging than to make the world a better place.
If you have remote employees, make their hapiness your highest priority. You may know Sir Richard Bransons famous quote ‘Happy employees equals happy customers”. That is true since a long time. But now, as your team members are working remote, this has to be achieved in a different way.
As a remote leader please take serious care of your coworkers:
- Schedule regular 1-on-1 session with audio and video
- Organize retreats if possible
- Fascilitate a written frist work culture to avoid misunderstandings
- Over-communicate, especially work targets and common goals
- Spread information as much and as often as possible
- Embrace off work talk, like in my post ‘Informal communication in remote teams‘
- Make clear that long hours are undesired
You agree on the importance of remote work happiness? Do I have missed a significant point? Please write it as comment!
Picture by Radu Florin via Pexels
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