How To Bring Back Workplace Enthusiasm Even After A Year Of ZoomLife - Forbes

For many Americans, this Memorial Day was the first time in over a year that we were able to gather together with friends and family without fear of catching COVID-19. The enthusiasm in the air at my (fully-vaccinated) family gathering was palpable. It was particularly refreshing after a year of nonstop video calls, i.e. “Zoomlife”. Despite its critical importance to motivating employees and building culture, enthusiasm doesn’t translate well over Zoom. 

There are only so many hand-clap emojis that you can throw into one video call before people start looking at you funny. And trust me, I’ve crossed that line, because being the person who sends too many congratulatory emojis is part of my job. 

I’m a firm believer that CEO stands for Chief Eternal Optimist. The CEO’s number one job is to keep the team motivated and focused on the company goals. Over the past year, business leaders worldwide have had to get creative in how we build workplace enthusiasm.

In the pre-COVID era, it was easy to call a company meeting, throw up a few vision slides, and end with a happy hour that left everyone enthusiastic about the company’s future. During the quarantine era, with high rates of stress, anxiety, and workplace burnout, engaging employees has become even more critical, but has felt much harder to achieve.

Though it sounds paradoxical, the best way to engage employees and build workplace enthusiasm is to talk about things other than work. The natural water cooler conversations that used to happen at the office aren’t just nice-to-haves, they’re critical to building the human connections that bring meaning into our work lives.

If this past year of isolation and skyrocketing rates of depression has made anything clear, it is that humans are social creatures. When we feel connected to the people we work with, we’re much more likely to find our work meaningful and feel more enthusiastic about our workplace. Decades of research have shown that millennials and Gen Z are prioritizing meaning over money, seeing happiness as the new success. Happy employees are engaged and productive. Their enthusiasm is contagious, building a beautiful flywheel that creates even more enthusiasm and productivity.

So how do we build these social connections even while everyone is burned out on video calls? We take the time to get to know the people we work with, asking about their lives, and creating spaces where people can share their stories. I’ve found that setting up one-on-one “coffee chats,” and holding regular team Ask-Me-Anything (AMAs) have brought a new level of engagement and connection to my team, despite the virtual format.

2020 was the year of work coming into many of our home lives, with dogs, children and roommates regularly showing up in our work video calls. Bringing your “full self to work” took on a whole new level of meaning. Instead of fighting against this as we begin to return to the office, I hope that we will all embrace a new type of workplace humanity where we truly care about our co-workers and bring as much enthusiasm to work as we do to hugging a friend for the first time in a year. 

For more articles like this, check out my series on how the lessons learned starting a business as a female founder can be applied to any life challenges. I call these lessons PEARLS. PEARLS are made up of Perseverance, Enthusiasm, Acceleration, Raising, Loss and Sanity. Follow along my Forbes column to see how each of these ideas can help you create the work and life that you want.

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How To Bring Back Workplace Enthusiasm Even After A Year Of ZoomLife - Forbes
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