Team building from home

In this article: The way we’re all working may have changed dramatically, so now it’s even more important than ever to bring colleagues and teams together, Calibre Group’s Sabina Hegarty explains how

It’s a strange situation we find ourselves in and it can be difficult to know what’s coming next, but what is certain is that we are all in the same boat. That’s why it’s so important to maintain the spirit of your team members and colleagues, reassuring them that everything will be fine in the months and years ahead. But how can you do that when you’re away from your usual work environment?

Keep it social

If you work in a small company then you can create a WhatsApp group that you can all be part of. As a business that’s always operated remotely with colleagues all over the UK, Calibre is used to these methods and it’s always really helped us to disseminate information quickly, reassure where needed and allowed us all to ‘banter’ together which of course is missing if you normally work in a physical workplace environment.

Don’t confuse this method of communication with video conferences on Teams or Zoom for example, it’s a personal group for colleagues to chat together and share things that may not be about work. Sharing funny jokes, videos and light-hearted chatter is helps to keep everyone together and that they’re not alone in any of this.

But it’s use isn’t limited to small companies, larger businesses can create smaller divisional groups or dealership teams can create their own, but in all cases, it’s about remaining connected to each other throughout this period.

Drop in (virtually)

Checking in on the health and well-being of your team regularly, not necessarily every day but every couple of days is also important especially for those who’ve been furloughed and may feel a little left out of the mix.  

It’s our collective responsibility to ensure that our colleagues’ mental well-being is regularly checked on and that everyone knows they have each other to talk to at this difficult time. This is where video calls can be more beneficial, Facetiming is a good way to see if someone is looking well rather than them just telling you they are fine on the phone.

The environment we’re all working in at the moment will pass, but while we navigate our way through the many challenges we’d be mad not to use all the technologies at our fingertips to keep ourselves sane in these unprecedented times. They make it so much simpler to stay in touch, an incredibly important thing to do right now.

Calibre Group design and deliver sales, service and finance training to the automotive sector, with EQ and mental well-being an integral part of all its programmes.

For the latest information, advice and support please visit the IMI’s dedicated COVID-19 pages