Decreased appearance of the D-word in the new workplace
I am a writer and business speaker based in Singapore. As of this writing, I have just entered the second year of the Covid pandemic. There are 3 phrases that have never been close to my conscience: wear your mask, social distancing and Zoom. None of them endear me at all. I’m not sure which term I hate more, maybe Zoom, as I’m a teacher who likes to walk into class and impress his students with my multimedia PowerPoint presentation.
Well, the purpose of this article is not about any of these 3 evils, but about a word that starts with D that is not Death. Rather, it is depression..
I want to provide advice for HR departments and business owners on how to lessen the need for subordinates to reach the D-word stage. (Of course, if any readers here are already clinically depressed, seek immediate and professional help.) .
Well thought out meeting agendas
Each meeting should have relevant agendas that must be met and acted upon after the conclusion of the meeting. There should be no post-meeting WhatsApp messages unless the business scenario has suddenly taken a turn for the worse and a U-turn in corporate strategy needs to be discussed so that the company does not collapse.
mask design
I am suggesting that all companies should go ahead and use a unique corporate skin design to aid in the linking process. After so much exposed medical literature, there is no longer any doubt that wearing a mask is being responsible and is a small price to pay for the opening of the physical work space.
Covid-Vaccination
There needs to be a serious push to get all employees vaccinated against covid so no one feels ostracized. Vaccination is the socially appropriate action that must be taken to remain part of the team.
tired zoom
Many employees have submitted feedback that they are experiencing Zoom fatigue. A quick fix is to supplement the Zoom session with perhaps some mobile gaming using Kahoot to break up the monotony. Maybe that’s how your team really feels when you had long PowerPoint presentations with hard-to-view font sizes.
Vending machines with free products
The company must provide vending machines that offer free products. You didn’t read wrong! Each time you press a button to obtain a product, the information will be time-stamped in your personal records. Your immediate supervisor will give you weekly approval if your performance is within a mutually agreed target. This will lift your spirits if your business has a variety of vending machines.
Confidence
With the current state of Covid there needs to be a certain level of trust as most of us are still working from our homes. The term KPI can slowly be pushed to the background, as traditional performance metrics are not easy to use. As a suggestion, each employee can be asked to do a weekly report so senior management can see how they can provide further mentoring guidance. Employees get depressed if they are not sure that their bosses appreciate their work.
tik tok
Many bosses don’t know that TikTok is now the “IT” thing for many people. It’s like a heavily abbreviated YouTube video with Instagram smarts. The value of TikTok is that employees can create light-hearted videos together to take a much-needed break. This is the 2021 form of corporate bonding.
I hope these tips can help eliminate the D-word from today’s workplace.