Keeping sight of your company vision and mission when the team goes remote

The practical fall out from Covid-19 has been immense, including a widespread process of migrating staff to remote working and a complete rethink of business strategies for Q3 2020 and beyond. 
 
Even before that, many organisations were in the process of transforming into digital workplaces or finally building on post-Brexit ‘certainties’. 
 
Major decisions are now being made on how to protect company viability and address the many new threats and opportunities that have arisen at head-spinning speed. Having a well-defined and clearly communicated company mission and long-term vision is essential for productivity in any business. But, with all this going on, how do you communicate your company vision to staff? 

 
Can technology help? 
 
It would be easy to imagine that using technology to connect your team, makes communication and collaboration effortless. Even with staff swiftly uprooted and consigned to remote working. This is not the case. 
 
The tendency is to ‘cluster post’ an array of business notices and data, to keep staff informed and updated. With everyone accessing the same shared resources instantly, everyone understands the new business goals and processes, right? 
 
You can’t assume your employees are shifting and changing in line with the decisions made by their superiors. Even when you send out mission statements and all manner of meaty mandates. 

 
Remote work blocks and pitfalls
 
 
Setting aside the fact that everyone takes in new information at their own pace, the main reason your employees can fail to grasp your new company vision – or indeed your existing one – is that remote working can undermine team spirit and cohesion. 
 
Working from home – especially in the current climate of confusion and concern – can lead to fragmentation of teams, new forms of friction, and a sense of isolation. 
 
Remote workers often complain about loneliness and feeling underappreciated and unheard. Feelings that are likely to be heightened while mental health is under threat from Covid-19 fears. 

 
A robust solution and why it matters 
 
Getting staff to understand and engage with your vision is the only surefire way of plugging in their motivation, commitment and contribution. From this, comes an upsurge of productivity. 
 
That requires a deliberate and wellconstructed ‘bridge’ to pass ideas and information between HR and your remote team. 
 
This could be online meetings – and eventually meetings in reality – to present and discuss your company’s goals, inviting questions and feedback. Nothing buys employee engagement more assuredly than the steps to include and consult them! 
 
Don’t assume that’s ‘job done’ either. Regular nudges and reminders of your vision, and the important part they play in achieving it, keeps everyone’s ‘eyes on the prize’. 

 

For more information on how to manage your team effectively, with tips to looking after employee wellbeing and productivity, download our handy guide: Managing the wellbeing and productivity of your remote team.

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