With many people still working from home, how can we ensure they feel supported and still part of a team working towards a common goal?
Is it enough to supply them with the necessary resources and train them to acquire the skills required to fulfil their role?
Prior to the pandemic, home advantage was seen as a big factor in football matches. However, this season the empty grounds have seen this dissapate with Liverpool, the current Champions, losing 4 consecutive home games for the first time since the 1920’s for example. The skill levels haven’t dropped for the home sides, the resources provided haven’t changed so from a technical point of view the pattern of results shouldn’t alter.
What is different is the emotional impact on performance. It isn’t enough to rely on technical skills and objective data, we need to factor in emotions. For example, when Fernando Torres, their Spanish striker, signed for Liverpool he was quoted as saying;
“With just 45,000 fans there, that roar they give makes you think you have wings on your feet.”
Torres scored the winning goal for Spain in the final of the 2008 European Football Championship, and was widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest strikers. He was made Club Captain at the age of 19 at his previous club, Atletico Madrid, so we are not talking about a guy you think might be lacking in confidence and self belief.
Which makes his comments about the roar at Anfield and the effect it had on him all the more interesting. He clearly believed that the encouragement and support he received from the Liverpool fans helped him raise his game and produce that extra level of performance.
Back to those people we have working in isolation at home. Hopefully they have the facilities at home to enable to carry out their duties. No doubt they have the necessary levels of skill and experience to fulfill their role. What are we doing to provide them with the emotional support they need? Or are we expecting them to play in an empty stadium and produce the same results?
There are a variety of ways we can provide that support to those working from home;
We can call them and have non work related catch ups.
We could have a Zoom team meeting on Fridays to share news.
Asking for feedback on how you can help them can give you new ideas.
We should encourage them to take regular breaks.
One of the most important elements of our roles as Leaders is how we provide praise and recognition. Even our top performers, like Torres, can feel the benefit of praise and recognition. Working from home in an “empty stadium” makes this even more critical. I’ve worked with two leaders recently who do this extremely well.
The first manages a team of 10 people and they set aside specific time to hand write cards to each of their team to thank them for what they have contributed to the team effort that week/ that month. As part of the message they also include an inspirational quote that is different for each person and tailored to the personality of the individual.
This same principal is adopted by the CEO of an NHS Trust who every Friday afternoon spends an hour writing out notes to a number of people in their Trust that have been identified as having contributed in some way to the achievement of the Trust’s goals that week. The CEO is adamant that this hour is the most rewarding and important part of their week.
What is interesting about their methods is that the notes are handwritten and posted out to the individuals, rather than emailed, which makes it really personal. Secondly the messages are specific in their praise, which means the person receiving it understands what exactly they have done to “earn” the recognition.
The feedback each Leader has had about the notes has been extremely positive. This has encouraged them to continue with the messages but has also served to remind them of the importance of being specific.
Working from home can be very lonely and we need to maintain regular contact with each other to provide that emotional support. It’s far more fulfilling to score in front of a full stadium than an empty armchair!
What can you do to provide more support to your people?
At The Coach Business, we provide one to one and team coaching to help people explore ways to increase their impact and influence. If you would like to arrange a taster session to find out how we could help you, contact us today.
