There are all sorts of ways that team leaders and bosses of agencies are using Zoom and similar apps to keep teams of people amused, engaged and motivated. 

Meetings with participants wearing silly hats, playing games, donning fancy dress, having drinks together and such like, all go some way to raising spirits. I’m not sure I can add much more to the raft of creative ideas in this respect.

The thing I think is perhaps more important though is just who keeps your spirits up?

To keep the spirits up of your virtual team, you’ve got to be in the right frame of mind and I know that leaders, of both teams and companies, sometimes have their moments of fragility too.

I often noticed that when I used to wake up the wrong side of bed and be in a bit of a grumpy mood when I got into the office, it could drag the whole energy of the agency down.

Positivity is infectious, but it is sometimes hard for leaders to be positive ALL of the time.

So, when your spirits need lifting I think you need to do the right stuff for you that keeps your outlook as cheery and optimistic as possible.

I’ve found that you can speak to the right people in your life who put a smile on your face and they can turn your mood from bad to good just like that. You could listen to that bit of music that fills you with joy and re-energises you. Find that classic sketch or clip from a movie on YouTube that always makes you laugh. Maybe revisit that sporting moment where you lost it completely in the euphoria of the occasion.

Sometimes you need to put yourself first in order to keep everyone else’s spirits up.

With that in mind, I’m off to watch this:

Written by Graham Goodkind who is a Dutch uncle – a new type of non-exec business adviser – to several agencies in the marketing services sector, in addition to being founder and chairman of Frank.

*** Given the current situation, Graham is also offering free private one-to-one video sessions to PR Moment-reading business owners who would like urgent advice or counsel related to their specific circumstances right now. Our Agony (Dutch) Uncle will try and help with practical and creative thoughts, ideas and suggestions based on his wide and varied agency experience, bearing in mind how tough it really is for some agency businesses at this time. Email gg@mydutchuncle.nl to arrange this. ***

(If you have got a question for our agony (Dutch) uncle regarding any issue relating to the running, operations, business or financial aspect of a PR agency, either as an owner, manager or executive, then email gg@mydutchuncle.nl and your question will be featured in a coming issue.)