Remote team wellness is an essential component for any entrepreneur working with a remote team. The aim is to help your team stay healthy, happy and productive while working from afar.
Why Remote Team Wellness Matters
Smart Entrepreneurs and small business owners recognize the importance of their team’s mental health and wellness. Because a team’s emotional wellness directly correlates with their efficiency and productivity – and your bottom line.
The Great Resignation was mostly due to people reevaluating what is important to them and stress, burnout and pressure from a job was often the deciding factor in prioritizing their mental health and leaving. With so many options available to employees, companies with a great culture, who care about the wellbeing of their employees are the ones everyone wants to work for.
These are the companies that are attracting top talent – and competition is fierce.
The Benefits of Remote Team Wellness
Companies that have implemented a remote team wellness program have noted the following benefits:
- Improved mental health and wellbeing
- Morale is tremendously improved
- More camaraderie between team members working at a distance
- Improvement in productivity
- Increase in employee retention.
Creating a Healthy Workplace Culture
It’s important to remember that sincerity is key, when implementing a remote team wellness program. This is not meant to be a drag or just another thing to tick off on a to do list.
It starts with you. Because it needs to come from the top down, and management needs to be invested, involved and enthusiastic.
Working remotely offers huge benefits to both employers and employees. There’s the reduction in overhead costs and time saved having to commute among others. But many remote workers struggle with feelings of isolation and this can have a tremendous negative effect on their mental health and wellbeing.
It takes a hugely secure leader to sincerely open up about their own struggles, but it is a surefire way to engender trust, ensure open communication and it shows genuine care.
Ensure the Basics Are Covered
The first thing that needs your attention when it comes to remote team wellness, is ensuring that the basics are covered. That your team members have the necessary equipment and software required to perform their tasks. This includes a comfortable workstation and an adjustable height chair that supports good posture.
How to Implement a Remote Team Wellness Program
As humans, we tend to over-complicate things. The easiest way to implement a remote team wellness program is simply by speaking to your team to find out what they would find appealing. Sometimes what we think people would enjoy turns out to be very different from what they actually enjoy.
And while it’s impossible to please everyone, all the time – try to include a variety of activities-so there’s bound to be something for everyone.
What to Include in a Remote Team Wellness Program?
Focus on Stress Management
A good remote wellness program should include stress management techniques, tips and tricks. Educate your team on practical ways on how to manage their stress. There are so many fantastic stress management techniques and practices to incorporate – these include:
- Guided meditation
- Visualization
- Deep breathing exercises.
- Mindfulness meditation.
- Progressive muscle relaxation.
- Mental imagery relaxation.
- Relaxation to music.
- Biofeedback
- Counseling
Clear Communication Channels
Set up regular meetings and ensure that there are clear communication channels for your team members to communicate with you, and with each other. Regular communication with your team members ensures everyone is aware of their responsibilities and progress can be monitored. Remember, not everything has to be formal. Simply creating a Slack channel dedicated to dealing with stress and talking about how to manage it is a good start. You can also appoint a wellness officer to help your team manage stress.
Also, just getting together to have a cup of coffee via Zoom is a great way to stay connected.
Encourage Healthy Choices
Educate your team around the basics and encourage healthy choices. Make sure your team are aware of the benefits of:
- Getting enough sleep
- Staying adequately hydrated – at least 8 glasses of water a day
- Maintaining a healthy diet
- Enjoying some form of exercise daily
- Taking time to do the things they enjoy
- Staying connected with family, friends and co-workers
All of the above has an impact on mood, concentration, and productivity. But most importantly on your team’s sense of wellbeing.
Hybrid Wellness Days
It can often feel like remote teams are missing out on terrific in-office employee perks like Pizza Fridays or fruit and snacks. This really doesn’t have to be the case. There are so many awesome things you can do for your remote teams. It often just involves a little research, planning and creativity. You could sign up for fruit box subscriptions send employees a fruit box like those offered by Frog Hollow Farm
You could also organize a hybrid wellness day where you can send your team members a care package with relaxing or uplifting aromatherapy oils and a luxurious robe. Even Keel Soap offers extraordinary soap cubes and bath fizzies that are just the thing for a relaxing soak in the tub to melt stress away.
Provide Plenty of Opportunities for Exercise and Recreation
Boost Those Endorphins
Remote team wellness programs should include physical exercise sessions too. This could take the form of a 30 minute high intensity interval training session, or a more sedate desk yoga session – or perhaps both – so team members can attend the one that appeals to them and fits in with their needs.
The important thing is to encourage movement – and not just during an exercise session. Employees should be encouraged to get up and move
Schedule Time for Fun
All work and no play makes for a miserable and unmotivated employee. There are so many activities available that are designed to improve team coherence – while everyone is having a great time.
A Game Show Event
This virtual trivia quiz game takes place online, so it is ideal for remote teams. You get to select the categories beforehand. Your team is invited to the event and provided with a virtual meeting link where they get to battle it out and put their trivia knowledge to the test. This can be customized to your needs and it’s a huge amount of fun.
You could also host book club meetings or a team lunch online.
Virtual Laughter Yoga
A great addition to remote team wellness is Virtual Laughter Yoga. This program focuses on techniques that support a healthy body and mind. Virtual Laughter Yoga combines team building and yoga. Its a fun, light workout, improves blood circulation and oxygenation – all while reducing stress.
Laughter Yoga focuses on:
- Boosting creativity
- Deep breathing
- Meditation
- Stress relief
- Relaxation
There is so much you can do when you create your remote team wellness program. The important thing to remember is that your employees know when you are sincere and genuinely care about them.
And that people who are appreciated go above and beyond what is expected of them. Other than just being a decent human being, showing genuine gratitude and appreciation for your team does wonders for your employee retention rate too.
Your Wellness Is Important Too
As an entrepreneur and business owner, it starts and ends with you. You are the reason your business will succeed. The responsibilities and decisions are yours. And so is the stress, overwhelm and exhaustion that seems to be par for the course. The smart way to manage this is by focusing on your strengths and the core tasks that are going to grow your business and ensure your success.
The rest?
Simple.
Outsource it.
Book a call with MYVA360 today. We’ll talk through your requirements and match you with a professional virtual assistant who will take care of your admin and free up your time, so you can get to all the important things that need your attention.
We look forward to being of service!
