Rethinking engagement in the virtual workplace

- Imagine Serena Williams arriving to the next Wimbledon tournament only for the organizers to tell her that her racket has been lost in transit. But they soon tell her not to worry. And they probably hand her a cricket bat instead and wish her luck on winning the title. Well, the expectation on you and your team isn't all that different. When virtual working became the norm, the way you engage people at work changed dramatically. But you're also expected to perform in the same way. Now, technology is of course enabling us to operate virtually in ways we couldn't have imagined, even 20 years ago. And this makes it tempting to just plow on as normal. But plowing on as though nothing has changed is just like Serena trying to win that tournament with a cricket bat. Engaging your people in this entirely new set of circumstances isn't impossible, it just requires a rethink. But before we dive into a rethink, let's start with the basics. What is engagement? At its core, engagement is a feeling that drives motivation to perform and commit. I look at engagement on three distinct levels: engagement with your work, engagement with the people you work with, and engagement with your organization. And there are usually key drivers that account for high engagement levels. They can vary across organizations, but common drivers are things like high levels of trust, autonomy, and meaning. But despite all of the access we have to information about employee engagement, if you want to make a genuine difference to how your team finds motivation and commitment, it can be really hard to actually know where to start. This is especially true if your team has been through dramatic and sudden change, like a move from office-based work to remote work. So that's why I recommend a simple two-step approach to your engagement rethink, and to focus on very deliberate things you can do to reconnect your people with their work, their team, and their organization. The first step in the rethink should be all about the individual, and focuses mainly on their work. Now, this will involve having coaching conversations with each team member one-on-one. I'm a big believer in prioritizing the search for engagement in the actual work we do. So before your people can connect in new ways with the rest of their team or the organization, it's really worth spending time with them to see if this is something you can support them with. The second step in the rethink is all about the team, and focuses on how team members can connect better with each other and the wider organization. This will involve taking an intentional approach to working with your team as a group. It's all about reframing their sense of belonging in the team and in the organization. Now, the good news is, as a leader, you have the power to support your team members with their engagement through both of these steps. You might not be able to solve all of it, and you don't have to. In fact, inviting them in to join you in the rethink is going to be part of the toolkit you use to make it happen.