During a recent weekly team meeting, I was reminded of how different the work world is for the ones who entered it even 5-10 years ago, much less those of us who started decades ago. Coming from a family of journalists who published a weekly newspaper using an offset press and linotype machine, it has been quite the journey for me to see publishing progress through word processing and computerized printing to online-only subscription versions. No more the smell of printer’s ink and semi-permanent stains on fingertips!
It's easy to list off numerous changes in technology, society, and culture during the lifetime of someone like me, who has retirement on the horizon. As far as work goes, though, I remember more recent times when working from home or otherwise remotely was unheard of in industries not typically associated with data-related tasks. Aside from service industries (e.g., auto repair, food service, barbering), direct care for patients and clients, and other fields requiring physical presence, the workplace was, as one manager put it long ago, “butts in seats.” Even as a contractor on software implementation projects across the country (in a road warrior, travel on Sundays and Fridays between home and client locations, type of existence) it was not the norm. Most organizations required me to complete my tasks in a cubicle, even if I didn’t need to engage in any face-to-face meetings or discussions.
Then came COVID, and it was amazing how quickly employers learned about how productive remote workers can be! Now “telecommuting” is more the norm than I could have imagined, and videoconferencing is used on a daily basis in many work environments – and telehealth for many visits with medical providers, including therapy sessions.
In the last few years, I have had the good fortune to experience what it is like to work in a company that has always been virtual: designed and nurtured to operate under a fully remote business model. For us, the workplace roles during the pandemic barely shifted. While we do make sure to get together once or twice a year from all parts of the country for “face time,” and some of us travel together to hold company events, attend conferences, or deliver client presentations, it’s the week-in and week-out remote work that keeps us going. It’s not always easy or intuitive to stay connected in this way. We use online chat solutions, task management systems, and Zoom meetings to collaborate and keep moving forward on our services and products – or even to celebrate someone’s birthday.
What’s missing, then? It’s what is often referred to these days as “water cooler” time: the ongoing opportunity to bond, encourage each other, and get to know one another in a personal way that often eludes teams without access to a place to go for a walk together, go out to lunch, stop to visit and catch up. I’m happy to say that we have found a pretty good solution for this.
Once a week, we have a full team video call where we reserve a block for that personal touch. Here’s what we have done to stay connected:
Meeting planning: Although we use a standing agenda, it is flexible and is developed by a designated owner who asks for input each time to cover topics any member of the team would like to address.
Agenda management: We typically have the same individual each week who handles the agenda and ensures that all the topics are covered and that we don’t run out of time (unless it’s by agreement because of a priority issue).
Personal opening: An icebreaker question opens every one of our regular sessions. The web is full of lists of possible questions to use, although one of our leaders typically offers whatever comes to mind. This time both allows for more personal sharing and humor (e.g., “What did you name your first car, and why?”) and enables the meeting to start on time even if others are running a minute or two late joining from other calls or tasks.
Celebrate first: Before getting into the details of challenges and ongoing work, we celebrate successes and wins from the last work week – and each other! Of course, we enjoy acknowledging completed projects and anticipating upcoming new work, but we don’t stop there. This time is open for anyone who wishes to spontaneously express appreciation for someone who is picking up extra work tasks, improving a process to a new level, offering additional insight, always brings an optimistic perspective, etc. We call this filling up each other’s bucket. It doesn’t take long, but the resulting encouragement is immeasurable.
Calling on the team: While the team is together, we make sure to plan for needed coverage when someone has upcoming time off, or to ask for support with meeting a deadline. This allows us to problem-solve and prioritize as a group to help with work allocation and leverage each person’s talents.
Share the wealth: We make time to share tips and tricks in working with the technology everyone on the call uses. On our team, every one of us has come across something that was not common knowledge – like how to add favorite commands (checkboxes, object alignment) to the title bar in a Microsoft application, or how to quickly format a table, instead of having to follow a ribbon selection path every time.
End with something inspirational: We call this agenda item Kumbaya, and it’s typically led by one of our leaders. The topic can be anything from promising news about upcoming growth for the company to reflecting on how everyone pulled together to get through a recent difficult period, or sharing an uplifting message, book, article, quote, conversation – anything, really – to close out the meeting. This week, one leader shared the story she had read about how otters hold hands when sleeping so no one drifts away, and how it applies to us. It reminded her of how we support each other and handle each other with care – the work we do is hard; it requires having people around you and holding on so we don’t get lost. We “hold hands” to keep us grounded and help us not go down too many “rabbit holes”. For us, like the otters, it’s also “home” – comfort, support, and giving each other grace. Kumbaya leaves us on an “up” note and energizes us as we move forward into the rest of our work week.
Resilience is a term often used around our workplace to describe nature, and we use nature as our inspiration. So much has changed in our world, both at home and at work, but resilience keeps us together, finding ways to change along with it, stay positive, and create our own solutions to challenges. What works to keep your team connected during changing times?