The Update You Need to Send to Your Team
Just over a year ago, our office prepared to send all staff home to begin working remotely for an unknown period of time. I remember where I was standing during the conference call I had with my team of 40 to reassure them in the uncertainty. I tried to make my voice calm even as my mind raced. After we hung up, I sat down in front of my computer and cried. At the end of the day, I felt the need to connect with them again and remind them—and myself—they were a part of something bigger than themselves. I wrote them an email with the subject line “Daily Update” and the date. I had no idea at the time that one year later I would still be writing these daily updates—and they would become one of the most important ways to keep our team connected remotely.
The general format for each Daily Update included a reflection or affirmation, relevant work information, and then I closed with links of interest and fun to do’s. In the early months of COVID lockdown, the links included articles that resonated with me, virtual tours or workshops, online fitness classes, and recipes. I poured an hour into crafting each update to inform and hopefully inspire. It felt like the way I could show my team how much I cared for them, even when we couldn’t see each other.
At first I wasn’t sure if the Daily Updates resonated, but then the responses started to come back.
“Thank you for helping our team stay connected. I look forward to your updates each day.”
Some days the updates were uplifting and other days, they were vulnerable to reveal the tough moments we were going through.
After three months of struggling to keep up with the daily updates to the team, as well as my other work (and home) responsibilities, I confided to my chief of staff I was feeling overwhelmed. She suggested the team could alternate sending the updates, which would give everyone a chance to share their own reflections, favorite tips, and photos. We organized a rotating schedule that designated a specific Daily Update for each team member. (I maintained Tuesdays and Fridays, so I could continue interacting with the team.) Because of the size of our team, each person ended up writing one update every two months or so.
This is when the true magic happened.
The team embraced these updates as opportunities to share their wins, struggles, and things that brought them joy. We celebrated new gifts to the organization, innovative approaches to work, and birthdays. We mourned family members, friends, pets, and the ongoing sense of loss from the pandemic. We committed to social justice. Team members reached out to follow up on stories shared, to offer compassion and a listening ear, to laugh—to connect with each other. I started to receive responses that said:
“As a new team member, this has been a meaningful way to get to know everyone on the team. Thank you for this gift.”
“It has been wonderful to hear what’s happening in everyone’s lives while we’re apart.”
If you haven’t been doing this activity before now, it’s not too late. This activity can work for your team of four or 40. Here are some tips to get you started.
1. Model this practice
As a leader, start out by sending a series of updates either daily or weekly. Introduce the concept to the team and share about yourself. Though this can be a place to share work announcements or updates, there are likely other venues for that. The goal here is to connect beyond the usual, if you can.
2. Establish a schedule
Based on the size of your team, determine whether it makes sense to have weekly updates, daily, monthly, or some combo in between. Sharing this way isn’t easy for everyone and you’ll want to give advance notice so team members can start thinking of ideas of what they want to say or save links of interest they want to include.
3. Provide guidelines
It can be helpful to create a template or suggested format, so team members get a sense of what is expected— and give them flexibility to share what is meaningful for them. One of our team members took us “on a walk” with her as if she were on her commute home. I’ve also sent a few video updates.
4. Have fun
Every update, like every team member, is different, and it’s been meaningful to see what people have chosen to share. These stories have become our stories.
It has become clear that we may never return to working in offices as we had before. As leaders consider how to maintain employee engagement and team culture in a hybrid work environment, finding ways for employees to authentically share of themselves and what people value personally and professionally will reinforce team members’ individual identities—and collective strengths.
I’ve kept every Daily Update in a folder that I’ve looked back on several times. It tells the story of where we’ve been as a team—and gives us the pathway for where we’re going. Research shows recalling organizational history is a way to unite and inspire a team. When we reflect on this time, we’ll be able to show how we kept moving forward in the most challenging circumstances and we were stronger than we knew, because we were in it together.
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