Life is started getting back to normal, but it can’t be same as it was before the coronavirus pandemic. Several things have changed right from school culture to the office culture. The social distancing is being adopted in schools, so is the situation in offices.
It is very essential to keep in mind “social distancing” while planning the sitting arrangement in the office. With the introduction of this concept at the workplace, the way of managing the employees at the workplace has also changed. There are several factors which need to take care of for smooth flow of communication and to manage the work properly in the office. Here are some of the ways which will help you in managing the team even with social distancing:
Proper Communication
Establishing a good communication network is the base for managing the flow of work. So how to establish proper communication while taking care of social distancing is one of the important questions. A handshake, hug, or talking directly is a big no-no at this time. Here the responsibility of the HRs in the organisation increases to maintain a proper channel of communication between the employees. Some of the basic methods of establishing a solid communication network in the organization can be through telephonic calls, video calls, emails, messages, and even communication through social media is helpful in this situation. The organization must provide good internet connection so it may not hinder the the flow of work in an organization.
Always Be Positive
We all understand it is the situation of crisis and there is not much hope that the coronavirus will end soon. Such a critical situation has not only affected our physical health, but there is a major setback to our mental health as well. In fact in this situation, our mental has affected much more than our physical health. When talking about the employees, the manager has to mentally help their employees. The easiest way to solve this problem is remaining positive. The manager should try to impart positivity among his employees rather than stressing them out. Leaders who have a positive attitude and are optimistic will keep their employees motivated, gives positive energy to them, and encourages them to keep up their work performance.
Keep Up the Pace of Learning Processes
Those who work with an aim of learning can never fail. Social distancing should not be treated as a hindrance, and the learning process at the workplace must continue as before. It is important to carry out the continuous learning process in the organization same as before. Instead of taking this situation as a burden, the employees should be trained to make use of this situation and learn new things. Training your employees will not only keep them engaged in work but also keep them energetic and motivated to learn something new, and the feeling of monotony will also vanish. Training can be imparted through video calling apps or a specific classroom where social distancing is maintained.
Don’t Expect Much
It is quite visible that it is the situation of pandemic and everything cannot be same as before. The stress level among the employees has increased which has affected their performance as well. Here, it is the responsibility of the employers or the manager to understand the situation of their employees. You must understand that they cannot work same as before and you have to keep your expectations less from them. Otherwise, it will increase your stress level and you being the employer will pass that stress on your workers. You have to understand that life is not always about making profits; sometimes you have to think another way around.
Keep a Check On Stress Level
The most important factor is to check the stress level of employer and employees as well. In this situation of the pandemic, you cannot be happy and relax. There are a lot of situations which directly or indirectly affect your mental health. In such a scenario, the employer must be aware enough to keep a check on the stress level of their employees. Due to social distancing, it is quite difficult to connect and share thought one on one.
To keep a check on the stress level on employees, the employers or HRs can make a questionnaire which should be in a pdf format or an online form; to avoid any type of physical contact with each other. The questionnaire should contain various questions to check out the stress level of employees. At this time of the pandemic, counselling at the workplace is very important, a regular counselling session must be conducted to check whether your employee is stressed or not. You can even organize group activities by keeping in view the social distancing; to assess the stress level of each employee. If the results shows that the employees are stressed, you can take the help of a professional counsellor who can guide them on how to relieve their stress and feel better.
Make a Flexible Timing
What you can do best for your employees without affecting the work is to allow them to work in flexible time. Don’t fix their work timings; let them work with a free mind. This pandemic situation will not last forever, it will end one day. You can make your company run as before, but until the situation is not normal as before, you have to make some adjustments.
Just like a machine, if the human is overloaded or overstressed it may work for a few weeks or a few months, but it will stop working very soon. You don’t want such a situation in your organization. So, to avoid it and make the work run smoothly, you have to think more for the benefit of the employees as well.
It is quite evident for employers and employees both that nothing can be normal as before until and unless the pandemic is over. It will take time, but until then we have to understand the situation and manage the work accordingly.
So, these were some of the basic factors which can help you to maintain a good working culture even in the situation of social distancing. With the Chromebook keyboard shortcuts you can save your time and speed up your work.