Our teams have felt incredibly disjointed this year. With the sudden jump to lockdown and full-time remote work, we feel that the connection to our teams have dropped significantly. So where did it all go wrong?

Well, we stopped checking-in with each other.

Those quick catch ups in the kitchen making a coffee, or walking into the office together, lunch time conversations and just simple small-talk were a severely underrated, yet integral part of the connection we’d foster with our teams and colleagues.

According to research, human connectivity is most natural when done in bursts – involving periods of high activity followed by periods of little to none. Bursts of rapid-fire communication with longer periods of quiet in between and the key to successful teams. It’s in those silent periods that individuals form and develop ideas and generate solutions – allowing autonomous work to flourish, while still feeling connected to the wider team, due to comms bursts.

This means, and further proves, that consistent daily communication isn’t necessary or productive for individuals or teams.

The Solution?

Communication bursts aren’t to be thought of as quick texts or emails, but instead as short periods when everybody can respond rapidly and attentively. Alternatively known as a check-in.

Here at Corporate Edge, at the beginning of lockdown in 2020, we adopted daily check-ins with the team. It was a quick 15-minute meeting that everyone attended to catch up, discuss how they were feeling and share their priority tasks.

It kept everyone in the loop, as we would be in the office, and allowed everyone to catch up on a more personal level.

Implementing a check-in with your team

To implement a daily check-in with your team (even just your immediate team), find 10-15 minutes every day, or every second day and give each person a chance to share. These check-ins are the team’s meeting, so ask questions about:

• How they’re feeling
• What they’re grateful for
• If they need help with anything
• Does anyone need further support
• What’s their priority for the day
• Do they have a weekly focus/goal
• If there’s anything they want to raise

These meetings are a simple, yet highly effective routine that increase communication and allow your team to feel connected and motivated, even when working remote.

We practice what we preach here at Corporate Edge, and our team values and looks forward to our daily check-ins. Our clients have also recently noticed the benefits of checking-in at the beginning of meetings, and being open and personable, before diving into the nitty gritty work details.

At the end of the day, you as a leader, must give your team the opportunity to connect in a new and different way, to foster connection that is separate to the office and physical world.

For more, we have a dedicated online resource that teaches you how to keep your team on track and feeling connected when remote.

For all the details, visit Successfully Leading Remote Teams