Teamwork: Keeping It Together While We Are Apart
It’s been a month since the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was implemented. For some of us, it’s been almost two months since we started working remotely as the Bank’s business continuity plan (BCP) was gradually launched.
Remote working has its pros and cons, and with the Bank’s current setup where most of us work from home and some on skeletal work schedules, the challenges are on the three Cs – communication, coordination, and culture.
Successful Remote Working Tips
Here are some successful remote working tips for UnionBankers on how our units and the whole workforce can keep the three Cs together while we work apart:
Virtual Water Cooler Discussions
One of the most common successful remote working tips Not so long ago, before most of us started working from home, many of our colleagues would usually ask our team, “Why do you refill your tumblers all at the same time?”
It became a force of habit. Doing creative work 80% of the time feels like our body clocks long for that walk towards the pantry to get water, gather around the water dispenser, observe people outside through the big glass window, and discuss ideas work-related or not.
There is such thing as “water cooler conversations” wherein brief moments of de-stress and pauses can spark brilliant ideas.
Working from home should not stop teams from having such conversations. It may be on a different medium, but teams should still have an opportunity, once or twice a day, for socialization and a quick break and breather.
Virtual Team Building
Three weeks into the quarantine period, we started to feel the need for social interaction. If you play The Sims, you might be aware that the characters “social needs” get a quick recharge through SMS, phone calls, and Chat, but recharge happens faster with face to face interactions.
The need for human interaction may still be addressed virtually. This is where face-to-face video communication through different platforms come to play. Your team can significantly benefit from a virtual team day injected with fun twists. There are video chat platforms that enable users to change their backgrounds, and you can go the extra mile by creating the backgrounds your own and make a contest out of it.
Here’s our virtual team day with “Summer Vacation” as our theme. We also did the classic “Bring Me” game, which was more fun and challenging because it meant removing your headsets or earphones to find the household item requested by the game master as quickly as possible.
Virtual Bayanihan
One of our regular online team huddles sparked an idea to extend help to our frontliners. Our Line Manager proposed the idea of donating personal protective equipment (PPEs) to a hospital in Muntinlupa.
Through the Go Beyond Communities (GBC), UnionBank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm, we presented the PPE-donation project for approval and funding. Despite being apart, we were able to demonstrate the spirit of bayanihan or the UnionBank value of ubuntu in our immediate community.
Virtual Group Coffee or Lunch Breaks
This is one thing you probably miss the most. Grabbing a cup of coffee or milk tea or overcoming the challenges of deciding where to eat lunch. The unprecedented times took us all by storm and took us out of our comfort zones. Group meals are one the glues that bind the team and make it stronger, so it contributes to the sepanx (separation anxiety) we all might be feeling right now.
The quarantine period sparked creativity for many people, especially when it comes to food preparation. Dalgona coffee or reverse cappuccino gained popularity because it allows us to enjoy café-like coffee in the comfort of our home. Most of us also experienced a new-found appreciation for cooking. Sharing these new skills and discoveries are new and creative ways to bond with our teammates as well.
Virtual Team Learning
With no commute and traffic problems to deal with, now is the best time to invest time in learning opportunities. Allot thirty minutes to an hour to catch up on the company’s online courses. You may also enroll in some self-paced learning programs and learn a skill or two. What you’ve learned may also be shared with your team through a virtual presentation.
Miss wearing your office attire? Take your virtual presentation to the next level and dress to impress while working from home.
With these successful remote working tips, keeping the three Cs together won’t be a challenge anymore.