by Laura Camacho
How are your virtual meetings going? Does your schedule include time to be social? Does everyone in your world feel closer, more connected, than they did before everything shut down because of the pandemic?
We are social beings.
Humans are hard-wired with a need to belong – to one another, to our families and friends, to our communities, and to our country.
When people feel that they belong at work, that they are heard, understood, and valued, they are more productive, motivated, and engaged.
Yet when we don’t see each other in person, when we aren’t meeting for coffee or lunch, when our in-person social interactions are decimated, the natural response is a feeling of isolation.
In other words, those of us who work from home crave engaging conversations, stronger rapport and trust, and empathy, like water for someone in the desert.
Look for small opportunities to check in with the people you work with – colleagues, clients, potential clients, suppliers, mentors, allies. Everyone can use a personal check in these days.
Simply asking “How are you doing?” can go a long way to raising spirits, if you take the time to listen.
If you have regular meetings with a team or group, you can add an ice-breaker as a way of drawing people into the remote gathering.
Think of them as "questions of the day". Even if you have worked together for quite some time, these questions offer interesting insight into each other.
What do you admire about your parents?
What's your favorite book?
As a child, what were you afraid of?
Are you a dog or cat person?
What is something that has surprised you about WFH (working from home)?
Everyone is feeling more stressed these days. You can help others and yourself by structuring social time into your everyday routine. Today, why don’t you reach out to someone you haven’t seen in a while and personally check in?
Laura Camacho, MBA, PhD, PMP, is an executive coach, trainer and speaker who opened Mixonian Institute in 2009 to rid the world of boring business communication. She has created innovative training programs for local and international companies, related to leadership effectiveness, excellent feedback, growth mindset and emotional intelligence. Multilingual, Dr. Camacho’s career highlights include facilitating The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (in Spanish,) being editor of the leading management newsletter in Venezuela. For 10 years she taught communication classes at ECU and College of Charleston. www.mixonian.com
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