Alyssa Birnbaum

On the other hand, if they expand overlap and care in an authentic way, that shows that it's important for their team members to follow as well.

Leaders that have remote team members have an additional responsibility because their employees don't have those casual chats when they walk in the office or lunches where they happen to chit chat with people.

Leaders need to have a better pulse on their team and be more intentional about setting up time for people to connect.

Yes, having video conferences with the camera on is a great first step.

But it's not enough.

You really need to build in time to connect.

That could mean holding a few minutes in the beginning of meetings to chitchat or to ask questions to learn more.

It could mean having virtual lunches with people, either with the leader and other team members or team members amongst themselves.

Employing some kind of employee listening strategy could help you understand what your employees are truly feeling.

Are they burnt out?

Do they feel valued?

Do they feel heard?

Acting on those things that you hear as a leader helps signal that you are truly listening and trying to implement and act on their feedback.

Creating polls and using your chat channels to learn more about their sense of humor, their personalities, their preferences is a great way to use the tools that you have to connect better.

And if possible, having in-person meetings from time to time can help solidify relationships.

There are so many ways that leaders can help their remote team members connect, but the core pieces are to find the time and space to connect, to use some kind of employee listening strategy so that they're gathering and acting on continuous feedback, and to be intentional with your time together.

The average person spends about a third of their life at work, and for so many people, work is a prolonged source of stress and strain.

we can do better.

Let's do our part to connect a little more, engage a little more, and make work truly work for us.

Thank you.