Jeffrey Auerbach shares his professional opinion on how to support your team remotely.

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Jeffrey Auerbach
Director of Strategic Marketing
Hearst Auto
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How to Support Your Team Remotely
Jeffrey Auerbach
Though remote work allows people to skip their commute and do their
jobs from the comfort of their own homes, it does come with some
challenges. Meetings are harder to run in virtual space than in
conference rooms. In addition, it can be hard for team members to
communicate about collaborative projects. Normally, you'd just stop at
your coworker's desk. But now you have to send them complicated
notifications through any number of remote work programs.
Everyone is doing their best to adjust to the new situation. There are a
variety of things that team leaders can do to offer social support in this
time of isolation.
Employers will find that the transition from work to home is easier if
employees are given resources to keep from burning out, balance
family and work, and adapt to new telecommuting needs. But even with
the best resources in the world, it's impossible to completely shake the
feeling of loneliness that comes from shelter-in-place work.

2. 9/18/2020 Jeffrey Auerbach on Behance
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JeffreyAuerbach.co
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Jeffrey Auerbach
Director of Strategic Marketing
Hearst Auto
ff b h
Social support is vital for helping humans manage anxiety and stress. In
fact, research shows that getting social support can prevent people
from developing certain stress-related medical conditions.
One of the biggest things you can do is encourage your employees to
engage in acts of kindness. Statistics indicate that people who are
shown kindness in isolation tend to feel more positively and become
more engaged in their work.
You can also put together Employee Resource Groups. Commonly
abbreviated ERGs, these committees are led by employees and
promote diversity in the workplace. The goal of an ERG is to foster trust
and cooperation between coworkers from different communities.
Members of an ERG form lasting social bonds.
If you have an ERG at your company, you can put them to work
engaging other employees. Ask them to design social activities that
bring workers into the conversation.
Many offices have holiday parties and contests. With so much time
being spent indoors, many people feel like the days blur together. Even
if you can't have an office party, you can support your employees by
doing special online events like costume parties and makeup contests.
It's also a good idea to promote informal, friendly interaction. Not
everything online has to be stiff and professional. Remind your workers
that they can enjoy the camaraderie of their peers from the comfort of
their own couch.