The Importance of Regular Check-ins with your Team
Remote working has its benefits. No commute, the opportunity to work from anywhere that has good internet, the ability to change the laundry or feed your sourdough in between meetings (🙋🏻♂️). The list goes on. But working remotely can be challenging as well.
One of the most difficult aspects of remote work is the inability to replicate the benefits of being in the same room or building with your coworkers.
In a Traditional work setting you can simply walk over to your colleague’s desk to say hello or ask a question. You spend time speaking with your coworkers by the water cooler or breakroom and exchange pleasantries when you pass each other in the hall.
Tools like Slack, GChat, and Zoom do a decent job at keeping people connected but there’s something missing. I think Esther Perel explained this phenomenon we are all experiencing perfectly as a guest on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast. She noted that when you have a video call with someone, you’re never actually looking at them in the eye. To do so, you’d have to look directly at the camera and then wouldn’t be able to see them. There’s a disconnect and humans require contact such as touch (not in the workplace 🙅🏽🛑🙅🏻♂️) and eye contact.
In pre-pandemic times it wasn’t quite as big of a deal because for those of us who were working remotely before it was cool (or mandated), a few meetings over video chat wasn’t so bad. The problem is that the underlying issue is exacerbated when social and family time is also spent on video calls.
Pandemic or not, remote working doesn’t give you the same opportunity to interact with your colleagues on a daily basis. This is why it’s so important for managers and peers to check in with one another frequently.
Frequent check ins keep projects on track and communication as clear as possible. But it also lets you keep track of your colleagues’ well being. You hear time and time again of employees joining a Remote company and having a Few check ins with their manager here and there on the first week. But then what? Leaving your team to their own devices can be empowering but can also feel isolating.
Employers need to make sure that their onboarding process clearly outlines expectations around regular check ins.
Here are a few things that I like to do on a regular basis as an operations leader:
Attend weekly 1:1 meetings with my direct reports
Pop into team meetings
Pick someone I haven't spoken to recently and send them a quick chat message to see how they're doing
Randomly select someone to email and ask them how I can make their day better
I guarantee the first few times you reach out just to say hi and ask how someone is doing, you'll get a response asking if you need anything. Can we as leaders set the benchmark that checking in on someone doesn't require anything in return?
Be genuine, never ask for anything in return, and do your best to help people with work and extracurricular items where appropriate. You might be surprised:
The nicest message I ever received at work wasn't from a boss or client, it was from one of my colleagues. He wrote, "Hey Drew, how are you doing?... I figured you are always checking in with people and thought perhaps, no one checks in on you."
I never expect this, but I'm grateful and proud that the people I'm privileged to work with have their own wellbeing and their colleague's wellbeing in mind.
image: by Unsplash