Tips for leaders to enhance emotional resilience in hybrid and virtual teams

Last year we were navigating issues with offices and teams going virtual. Now, in many places, the challenge is hybrid offices and teams. It may be the case that part of your office is at home and part is in person, and that can create a new set of dynamics. It’s a good time to review your practices for emotional resilience. We have some tips.

In virtual meetings explicitly say how you feel. It is important that leaders model healthy emotionally aware behavior. When teams and colleagues see that you are comfortable expressing emotions, it will help give them the space to do the same.

Ask others how they feel. Remember, there may be some people who do not feel comfortable freely expressing their emotion. It’s especially important to include any virtual team members that may feel new distance from those that actually have a seat at the table in person.

Establish team ground rules for the new reality. As our teams go virtual, it is critical that you set the rules for ways of working. Cameras on or off? Hybrid or all virtual? Cadence and length of meetings. These norms ease team interactions and help teams feel more “teamie”.

Include social time in meetings. Social interaction time – independent of the team task, will help teams to develop the social structures necessary for positive emotions and trust. 

Create clear spaces. Especially for those working virtually, it is important to differentiate home from work. One way to do this is to create clearly delineated boundaries of when your workday starts and ends and don’t do work outside of these time boundaries.

Have breaks between meetings. It can be exhausting going from virtual meeting to meeting and letting emotions pile up. Thus, make sure you have at least 5 minutes between meetings away from your computer.

Keep an emotional diary. This doesn’t mean you have to write your emotions down, but it means to stop occasionally throughout the day and take stock of how you are feeling. By noticing how you feel you can take a step back and reflect how specific emotions influence your thinking and behavior. This will create an opportunity to effectively work with emotions and thus enhance your leadership performance.