Q: Our office has asked us all to work from home for a few weeks, at least. How do I stay connected to my co-workers and clients when I’m not in the office? What are the longer-term implications of separation from my team?
A: You can stay connected as you work from home and help avert the spread of coronavirus infection by using technology combined with good interpersonal skills.
My extroverted clients are especially disappointed in having to work from home right now, as they get energy from the social energy from others. My introverted clients are pretty delighted to have a superb reason to reduce social interaction.
If you are extroverted (gain energy from others), explore Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Zoom, old-fashioned phone calls and more to maintain social relationships and conduct business. For many Americans, our workplace is our largest social community. Not having daily human interaction can make extroverts feel lonely and depressed.
Realize you are not a wimp if the idea of a month with only your own company is demoralizing; you are an extrovert. If you are introverted, you still have to stay in touch. Miscommunications and misunderstandings multiply when we reduce interaction too much.
Also realize with fear and ambiguity flying around, human contact is especially important. Experts on anxiety recommend three antidotes to fear 1) Never worry alone (a worry shared is a worry halved) 2) Gather detailed information about what you worry about 3) Take all action in your control over what makes you anxious.
I would add a fourth suggestion and that is to acknowledge and accept what you have no power over so you don’t take foolish actions trying to deny what you cannot control.
Remember after 9/11 how everyone was kind to each other for about a week? My hope is that after being separated from our teams for a long spell, we’ll rejoin our communities with greater gratitude and kindness acknowledging the gift of the company of others. We will also have the time to examine and shuffle our priorities.
Lastly, we’ll have developed the confidence that when we work together, we can solve even big problems. We’ll take much less for granted and go into our future more prepared than we were before this crisis began.
More Top Picks Gotrax Gxl V2
The last word(s)
Q: There is a guy in my office who always seems to be spoiling for a fight. I have tried many different verbal responses, but he always escalates. Is there a best response to the office fighter?
A: Yes, sometimes the best response is no response. He cannot argue with what you do not say!
———
(Daneen Skube, Ph.D., executive coach, trainer, therapist and speaker, also appears as the FOX Channel’s “Workplace Guru” each Monday morning. She’s the author of “Interpersonal Edge: Breakthrough Tools for Talking to Anyone, Anywhere, About Anything” (Hay House, 2006). You can contact Dr. Skube at www.interpersonaledge.com or 1420 NW Gilman Blvd., #2845, Issaquah, WA 98027. Sorry, no personal replies.)
(c) 2020 INTERPERSONAL EDGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.