To say that life is strange in 2020 is an understatement. The virtual workplace is a struggle! Do you log into Zoom and see Zombies disguised as employees? Those lifeless bodies that stare off into space? Does it feel like your company culture is dead?
Now that we are 8 months into the pandemic, we are starting to hear about concepts like “pandemic fatigue” and “Zoom fatigue”. People are so tired of not getting together in person, not having that daily interaction with others, and staring into a screen is causing our beloved employees to look and act ghostly!
If you look around the virtual Zoom room and see zombies on your staff, it is time to take stock of your current company culture. The pandemic has made relationships so strained, and when your people are looking ghostly, check in on them more often.
Now that some of the daily adjustments to the workplace have been made, take the time to address the humanity of your employees. Start your department meeting with updates from your people, both professionally and personally. Encourage your people to take time off, to log off at a reasonable time at night, and take care of themselves. A virtual happy hour is definitely better than nothing. A little appreciation in these trying times will go a long way toward employee health and well-being. And yours too!
And if that doesn’t work, try chocolate. (the real stuff- not virtual!)