Mental Wellbeing in a Remote Workplace

Mental wellbeing in a remote workplace

We’ve just completed week 3 in lockdown, and it’s apparent that remote working may become the new normal for a little while longer yet! It’s an anxious and uncertain time for everybody, particularly for your team and colleagues, who may feel unsettled due to the change around them, especially if some of their teammates have been furloughed. It’s proven that mental health and productivity are linked, so how can we as an organisation support their mental wellbeing and therefore achieve overall productivity?

Stats show that at the end of 2019, only 1 in 6 organisations had a mental wellbeing strategy, however, by the end of 2020, now 3 out of 4 businesses plan to. in this critical time, this should be top of any organisations agenda. This will not only support your team, but will also ensure greater productivity and therefore should create quicker wins for everybody. There are a few points that should be considered during this time, which we have found useful:

1. A Positive Environment

It’s not easy to work remotely without your team at your desk with you. It can be lonely! We advise creating a positive structure to the day. Timetable regular catchups where your team can share wins (no matter how small), and interact with each other. Ask your team what they would like to share and use this time for – sometimes a 10minute video chat with your teammates can make all the difference, whether you discuss work or not! At The Maine Group, we meet on video at 9.30am every morning just to check in with each other. We find it a great start to the day!

1. A Healthy Lifestyle

Ensure your team are able to make use of their one exercise a day allowance. Encourage them to go out and get some fresh air, do a workout video, or even spend some time in their garden away from their desk. This really helps create focus and sometimes encourages a different perspective.

1. Removing Mental Health Stigmas

It’s good to talk! We openly encourage this and our (virtual) doors are always open. There will be down days, but ensure your team know that you are there to support them and each other through this. It’s also important to create a feedback loop, ask the team what they would like to share, what their current experience is and what they’d like to see being done within the organisation to help with this.

1. Using time wisely

You can still train whilst on furlough, so we are booking in regular training sessions with our furloughed and current team. Everyone gets upskilled, and the furloughed team members still feel included. We also have team drinks at 4pm every Friday, with furloughed staff too, which is a positive way to start the weekend and allows the whole team to catch up socially too.

1. Clarity

There is no time more important than now to ensure that your senior team are aligned – Finance, HR and your strategic leaders should be talking daily because decisions like redundancies and the direction of the organisation are vital. The fallout that can come from miscommunication will be very costly, both in terms of people and organisational success, so keep talking and ensure that there is always clarity.

For more information on any of the above, please feel free to contact us. We would more than happy to help your organisation through this challenging time or even talk through any ideas or questions you may have. We are working our usual business hours, and our office phoneline is also still open, so do also feel free to give us a call on 020 7734 7341!