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Leading a team with effectiveness means that the leader possesses the ability to gain trust, with his or her followers, however, any slight form of barrier might spell a level of distrust.
Over the past few months, I have learnt that the pandemic has brought about some changes that are affecting the way we interact, especially, between leaders and their teams.
If your business is still permitted to open, consider the last time you had a face-to-face chat, with any of your employees.
You were likely maintaining some decent level of social distancing.
The absence of physical interactions, with your team is quite a barrier that you may not have considered.
Also read, Pandemic & Social Disatnacing: Psychological Effects & Remedies
It does matter, even, if you are leading your team, virtually, as long as that physical interaction does not exist.
The question now is, how will leaders improve, or maintain trust levels, with their team, despite the challenge of no physical interaction.
Recognising them personally
Remember the last time you got a gift that made you felt someone or some group of people appreciated your effort.
The idea, behind sending a message, or a token of gratitude is not something new and even, with that, it is not a common strategy employed, by many leaders, on their team members.
In times like these, therefore, when barriers have been created physically and perhaps mentally.
It is quite necessary that leaders take time out, to look for new ways of creating trust between themselves and their employees.
Trying to demonstrate appreciation is part of it anyway, however, maintaining some level of trust and engagement is essential as well.
Personalized appreciation
You might be having periodic virtual meetings, and feel that these interactions are quite well enough, to help your communication.
True, it may be, however, you can only build little trusts, through this experience.
Not until you begin to engage with your team on “personalized experiences” that you will observe some changes, in communication with your team.
Starting with something, as simple as sending a phone text, or WhatsApp message to them, for a job well done, might just suffice.
Employees appreciate this a lot, as it creates a sense of trust they have in you.
Check out the individual
As a leader, you could begin by considering the individual team members.
What do you really appreciate about them?
Looking into this, you might want to consider a different way of appreciating them, in a personalized way.
You could go as far as appreciating them in the midst of a meeting, such that other team members will be aware of such, hence, motivate them to put in their own extra effort too.
Are there any other effects of social distancing you know, let us know in the comment section.
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