We’re living in stressful and uncertain times. Many industries that relied on office space have switched to working from home and while employees may be celebrating their newfound freedom to spend the entire day in their pajamas unless there’s a video call scheduled, it can also be hard to motivate, and even detrimental to their mental health. Whether your team is new to remote work, or you’re trying to help your current remote team find a balance as we socially isolate to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, what can you do to help support your employee’s mental health while working from home?
Understand the Potential Risk
While many of us have been thrust into remote work with little to no warning, especially as the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, it’s still important for team leaders and managers to understand the potential mental health risks that can accompany working from home. Isolation and loneliness are among some of the biggest risks. You might be having daily Zoom calls and chatting it up in Google Hangouts, but when it comes down to it, each of your team members is at home on their own.
Burnout is also a big risk because you’re under a lot of pressure to be as productive as possible while working from home. This pressure can lead to anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns
Under normal circumstances, we could mitigate some of these risks by having a day or two a week when everyone came into the office, but today, with offices closed and gatherings of larger than 10 people banned, that isn’t an option, so managers and team leaders are going to have to get creative to help support their team’s mental health.
Keep in Touch
Team leaders aren’t the only ones that need to keep in touch with their teams. HR departments can and should be working remotely as well, keeping in touch with their company’s employees to ensure that they’re doing well during this stressful time. Companies may want to offer counseling through their HR department if they have anyone in their ranks that is qualified to offer that sort of service. If not, just having someone to talk to in a professional capacity about work, concerns about your job, and what you need to support your mental health can be incredibly beneficial.
Team leaders might want to consider offering themselves up as an ear as well, depending on the size of their team, but it is important that you consider your own mental health as well before you offer to help someone else with theirs.
Help Them Upgrade
One of the biggest stresses of working from home comes from having to wear multiple hats. In the office, if something broke you could call the IT department. If you had an issue with a customer, you could hand it off to a manager with the wave of a hand. When you’re working from home, you’re often on your own and that can get stressful.
One of the easiest ways to reduce that stress is to help your employees upgrade their home office with the tools that they’ll need to stay connected during their remote work adventures. Offer it as reimbursement rather than as a gift so employees will be allowed to keep the equipment that they purchase to enable them to work from home. This will take some of the stress off your employee’s shoulders and make it easier for them to maintain their mental health while working from home.
Encourage a Healthy Work/Life Balance
This is probably the most challenging part of working from home. How do you leave work in the office when your office is right down the hallway from your bedroom? You need to ensure that your employees have the tools to maintain a healthy work/life balance even though they’re at home. This might include encouraging your employees to shut down their work computers and stop checking email or responding to messages once their scheduled hours are over. It could also include helping them set up a dedicated workspace that they can leave behind once their day is over, or sticking to a regular schedule even though they’re working from home.
Whatever you do, make sure that your employees have the tools they need to separate themselves from work once the day is done. Encourage a healthy work/life balance as a way to support their mental health as well as their physical health.
This Too Shall Pass
While many companies might stick to a remote work model once the crisis is over, for the majority of workers who find themselves currently working from home, it’s important to remember that this too shall pass. We might spend a few months at home while we wait for the virus to run its course and for science to invent a cure or a vaccine, but once it’s over we’ll head back to the office and it’ll be like nothing happened. In the meantime, though, team leaders need to make sure that their team members are taking care of their mental health as we navigate this new normal together.
