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Even as companies have some employees returning to the office, nothing about our current circumstances is optimal. While people work from home all over the world, leaders need to understand that there is a tremendous opportunity to increase employee engagement and commitment right now. I share this, not as a theory or some Pollyanna plea to make lemonade from lemons. There is real evidence that leaders have a powerful impact on the attitudes and output of their employees, especially when they are working remotely.
Several years ago, I worked with an investment firm and measured the levels of engagement and work satisfaction of employees in the office versus those who worked from home. We all expected that employees who worked in close proximity to each other would record higher scores for everything from clear communication to teamwork and camaraderie. As it turned out, our results (published in this Harvard Business Review article) showed that team members who worked from home were actually more engaged and committed than their counterparts in the office. What’s more, they rated the same leaders higher – as stronger communicators, better strategically, and even more inspiring — than team members who were sitting in offices just down the hall from those leaders.
In another research study out of Stanford, Does Working from Home Work?, the authors found that working from home led to a 13% performance increase. Work-from-home employees also reported improved work satisfaction, and their attrition rate halved.
Of course, none of this research was conducted within the context of a Global Pandemic forcing people to work remotely, but in speaking with the employees who worked from home in my client survey, I gleaned several insights into what drove their higher levels of engagement and satisfaction, and why they thought more highly of their leaders. Their answers can help leaders today improve three critical behaviors that will move the needle on employee engagement while their workers are quarantined:
1. Be intentional and precise in your communication. Powerful communication doesn’t happen by chance. It requires preparation and thought, to ensure your message is coming through loud and clear. This is exponentially more important for leaders to practice when they’re speaking to employees who are working remotely. And most people, even seasoned executives, aren’t as good at communicating off the cuff as they believe.
I advise my clients to think about key messages in bite-size chunks. Begin with a clear headline topic and 2-4 key points, each of which can be expressed in a single sentence. (Just like an elementary school composition – topic sentence and supporting evidence.) If you are proposing a new course of action, consider the “what” and the “why” of that action, and be explicit. When delegating a task or asking a group to take on a project, define the work to be done in detail. Watch out for ambiguous language and trim the corporate speak. Make it easy for your listeners to discern what’s important. Consider writing down key ideas in order to refine your message, communicate efficiently, and increase the likelihood that you will be understood. Your employees will perform infinitely better when they don’t have to guess at what you’re asking for.
2. Take advantage of different mediums and technology for different messages. Instead of defaulting to email when communicating with employees working remotely, consider more effective alternatives. If you need to share a file, ask a quick question or answer one, email is fine. But in general, email is highly inefficient and ineffective. People often spend 45 minutes or more composing an email that takes 2-3 minutes to read. I’ve worked in offices where a group of people sitting within a stone’s throw of each other spend most of the day trading emails, when a quick conversation could have provided instant understanding.
Since walking down the hall to chat with an employee is out, the old-school phone is a decent substitute. It provides at least a 2-dimensional perspective, adding tone and color to your message or conversation, and it’s quick. And while videoconferencing isn’t quite 3D, we’ll call it 2.5D – it adds facial expressions, body language and the nuances of conversation. If you need to problem solve, discuss larger volumes of content or generate an idea, make the effort to jump on a phone call or videoconference. In my HBR article about leveraging the power of videoconferences, I emphasize the productivity gained in convening 20-minute, highly focused videoconferences. Employees will thank you for respecting their time and helping them work more efficiently.
Make an extra effort to connect on a personal level. At work, we often take time to chat about our lives outside the office, but when everyone is working remotely, it’s even more important to check in with colleagues on a personal level. You don’t have to make it a big production, but consider making a quick call or sending a text message to an employee to say, “I was thinking of you and wanted to see how you are.” Or, “I just thought of something funny and wanted to share it with you.” This happens naturally when you interact with people at the office, but it won’t happen at all right now unless you proactively try to connect at the metaphorical water cooler.
The virtual happy hour has gained some popularity in recent months (though I’d opt for a “happy half-hour”), and you can use it as more than just a perfunctory gathering. Be intentional about topics you can bring up to get your team talking about what's happening in their lives and how they are handling the unique circumstances imposed by Covid-19. These moments provide a chance to talk about something other than work itself and strengthen your connection with team members, peers, and even your boss. It also allows you to be task-focused and direct in other moments when you only have two minutes to share something and can’t spare any time for pleasantries. For those of you thinking to yourself, “I don’t have time for this,” I’d suggest that you will if you become more focused and efficient with the rest of your time by using the approaches suggested in points 1 and 2.
Leaders who communicate effectively and efficiently, and who are compassionate and concerned about their employees’ well-being are going to get much better performance out of people working from home. Especially those who may be juggling childcare and school expectations, negotiating work-from-home schedules and spaces with a spouse, partner or roommates, or simply overwhelmed by the stress of today's reality. If you want to retain your employees and motivate them to produce great work, first take a good look at how you are performing as you lead from home.
