May is Mental Health Month, and we’re taking time to focus on employee mental health, and particularly, how managers and owners can help employees to feel engaged and valued – even when they’re behind a virtual screen.
Even under normal circumstances, employees can feel disconnected from their work and coworkers. Throw in a global pandemic and the hurdles of working from home, and it can take that disengaged feeling to a whole new level.
Mental Health and the Virtual Workplace
In a socially distanced world, we’re always in work mode. Without the everyday opportunities for organic interaction at the office, we’ve lost a lot of the casual comradery we so value in the workplace.
High levels of productivity are still expected when we’re working from home, but employees are missing the natural “breaks” that typically exist in an office environment, leading to burnout, feelings of disconnect, and emphasis on overcoming remote team isolation.
Experts agree that more than ever, employee wellbeing is critical.
Employers Can Make an Impact on Employee Mental Health
Luckily, there are several things that employers and managers can do to prioritize wellbeing in the workplace and bring that camaraderie and natural engagement back to their teams, even when they’re separated by distance.
Start by encouraging a work/life balance for teams, advocating for restorative breaks, and creating opportunities to boost morale through remote team building activities that prioritize mental health and connectivity.
Strong, empathetic leadership is essential to help employees navigate the complexities of the pandemic in the workplace, but team building experiences that harness the power of collaboration can also lead to happier, healthier, more engaged teams.
Engage Remote Employees and Boost Team Morale and Mental Health
Virtual team building activities that focus on not only socializing employees but also provide an opportunity for team bonding can help to build more cohesive teams that work together in a better, more efficient way.
Carefully crafted virtual team building activities that harness the power of team collaboration can help employees develop newfound respect for their coworkers, recognizing their other skills and abilities, and build new perspective that will also pay off in the workplace.
While lots of other virtual activities for teams are more shared experiences (and are still highly valuable!), team building activities that embrace diversity of thought help employees work together in a better, more efficient way – regardless of those physical or virtual barriers we’ve had to deal with over the past year.
When teams are introduced to activities that strike hard at the concept of diversity of thought, they arrive at more innovative solutions, expand their awareness and perception, and also rebuild team bonds that have suffered as a result of recent disconnect, leading to higher engagement and improved mental health.
Book Your First Virtual Team Engagement Activity Today
At a core level, we all just need more reasons to smile, laugh, and experience joy together. Virtual team building makes it possible for employees and managers/owners alike to celebrate their strengths and successes together while growing or maintaining those important team connections that bond us.
Ready to try something new to engage your virtual employees and give them the morale boost they need?
Reach out to the team at Think Quick Events today to get started.
