Players Only - Employee to Employee Engagement

By Steve Woodcock, SOF-ONE Principal Partner

In a previous post we discussed the need for leadership to shift their engagement model to connect with employees working remotely to maintain a healthy culture. 

Perhaps even more important is fostering employee to employee engagement.

That is engagement where the boss is NOT present. 

  • Those impromptu watercooler cooler discussions or stepping out to lunch created the opportunity for open communication on a more personal level. 

Daily informal interaction amongst employees is vital to collaboration, problem solving and emotional support / resilience. 

  • Exchanges at a more personal level allows for vulnerability which in turn promotes trust. 

That trust comes back into the work environment and is foundational to stronger collaboration, creative discussions and constructive feedback.

Leadership can’t exactly recreate this without a return to work, but it can facilitate alternative ways for employee to employee bonding in a virtual environment.

These are environments to share about family, personal events and challenges without judgement. 

Here are some steps you can take to cultivate employee to employee engagement:

  1. Schedule “Speed Dating” sessions.  Ask employees sign up for slots where they will do a 15 minute video conference with other colleagues to talk about anything but work. Make it a fun opportunity to break from work.

  2. Create team social time in the calendar, for groups of 3 to 4, including a facilitator where each person will share something about a personal experience on a topic of the choosing of the facilitator.  The goal is to get to know each other and create a bit of vulnerability.

  3. Allow your team to come up with their own ideas.  Appoint an Engagement Champion from the team who will facilitate brainstorming sessions, assign owners to the ideas and build the plan which promotes employee to employee engagement.  Make sure the Champion knows this is to be fun and Anything Goes.  After all, your team will know best what works for them.

  4. Work from a team room where you can freely Chat or IM with co-workers while at your computer.

The important thing is that leadership facilitates this engagement, but is not a part of it.  Have fun bringing fun into the remote work space.