With two thirds of the Australian workforce working from home*, online meetings, online social events, and balancing family time with work is the new norm.
COVID-19 has certainly created a lot of uncertainty and worry for many of us. This stress has then been compounded by being confined to our homes and not having our usual social and sporting outlets.
With no clear end date in sight, we thought we’d put together a couple of ideas which might help you and your team while you’re working from home.
- Regular exercise is key when you’re working from home and sitting in front of your computer all day. Many of us are missing our gyms and team sports, and it’s important to continue to release those endorphins, even when we’re stuck at home. Whether you head outside for a walk or find an online class, all movement is positive for your wellbeing. At NEOS, we have virtual Pilates and HIIT classes available for our team and adviser community. They’ve been very popular, with many taking up the offer to get moving with NEOS. If you’re an adviser and you’re interested in joining us for these classes, you can find more information here.
- Monitor the team vibe regularly using a collaboration space. At NEOS, we use Heelix, and our leaders frequently review the available reports on how the team is feeling. A collaboration space is also a good way to provide virtual kudos to those who’ve achieved something awesome or have a birthday or anniversary celebration to celebrate.
- Use Zoom/Teams/Skype with video instead of a regular call, it’s amazing the difference seeing a friendly face can make! Whether it’s a work or social call, video will help provide that social connection we’re all missing.
- Introduce regular all-in Zoom meetings: it’s important that your wider team remains connected. When we don’t have those hallway or watercooler conversations with other teams, we can forget to touch base while working from home. At NEOS, we have monthly award nights where the entire team gets together online to celebrate the month’s achievements and recognise our peers. This is a great way to connect with the entire company in one virtual gathering.
- Find new ways to socialise: whether it’s with your colleagues, family or friends, there are lots of ways to socialise without the same old Zoom call. At NEOS, we have monthly online games nights and water cooler chats. Online Pictionary and HeadsUp were a hit if you’re looking for interesting game options!
- Acknowledge new challenges: working from home can present many kinds of challenges. Remind your team that you appreciate their great work and understand their home workspace might not be perfect. Keeping kids busy, home-schooling, and managing an unsettled household can be a lot to handle on top of your daily work tasks. Checking in on team members and being understanding of new environments is important. To help our advisers entertain their kids this month, we’re running a NEOS colouring competition. It’s open to all ages (including adults) and we hope it will provide a couple of hours of fun. If you’re an adviser and your family is interested in entering, contact your dedicated BDM!
Looking after yourself and checking in on others has never been more important.
To all our valued adviser community, we hope you’ll join us for our online fitness classes and colouring competition to keep your body and mind moving. As always, please chat to your BDM if there is anything we can help you with.
*Australian Institute of Family Studies