The Rise of Tele-Meditation for Remote Teams in an Era of Uncertainty

The sudden outbreak of widespread panic due to COVID-19 has caused a drastic turn of events, which has led to business disruption and other public health trauma. However, the long-term impacts are still unclear, and the quick shift of arrangements to remote employment has emerged as a trend. This disruption has created substantial opportunities to manage teams more flexibly, likely to result in durable changes in interaction models and business processes in the future. Employers and teammates must plan, communicate, and respect all the limitations of a personal and professional work-life balance. We all must encourage diversity and embrace diversity expectations. 

How do we handle our current situation?

For any virtual team, the business modifications are significant. With strong cooperation and team morale, there can be an increase in speed, agility, and vertical integration between organizations to have resources readily available. Team members can broaden their perspectives and careers by working across different organizations and cultures and on a variety of tasks and projects. Together, teams must develop effective working relationships. This cannot be done without an empathy, communication, and balance- which can easily be molded with support.

How do we achieve a motivated team?

Tele-meditation is the cultivation of powerful and balanced inner tranquillity through customized meditation practices. It releases stress, anxiety, and helps to discover joy and peacefulness. An individual's mental health is very much of importance when it comes to remote work-life balance. Effective cooperation and work ethic can be enhanced by healthy moods, sleep, and cognitive functions of memory. 

Tele-meditation is now being made available through many web-based platforms, and can look after the complete wellbeing of an individual. “Meditation is the act of disidentifying from inner thought flow and concentrating on calming and healing,” explains Robert Thurman, Ph.D., a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University in New York. 

Employers, we know that you’d want your team to stay motivated and improve every stakeholder’s experience, and employees, we’re sure that all of you want to take your work to the next level and amplify the bonds with your colleagues. Your team is at the heart of your success, and group meditation is an untapped mechanism that can increase productivity and focus members away from stress. This different dynamic can be created to support joint energies and yield better results- all through a morning meditation. 

What are the benefits of tele-meditation?

The idea of tele-meditation sittings has been a trend in the tech world for an extended time now. According to Pandit Dasa, a monk supporting corporate mindfulness in New York for the past fifteen years, the foundation of every team is trust (1). To preserve and grow harmony in this relationship, leaders have to implement a healthy culture that encourages open-mindedness and a safe space to share. As our lives become busier, this avoids rushed miscommunications that can lead to negative reception and a feeling of animosity. In his experience, Dasa commends the success of meditation creating team mindfulness, or the ability to acknowledge and react to emotional changes in a clear and composed manner. 

Successful virtual teams claim that certain conditions supporting the authenticity of group members will, over time, help to create the organization’s optimal ethic. Over a period of time, we can watch teams push past the stressful nature of working remotely, and luckily enough, find a place of motivation in their own homes. Adequate training, instruction, support and strengthening criticism can accelerate development.

How can you set up meditations?

In personalized tele-meditation sessions, practitioners aim to keep up a calm awareness of their sensations and thoughts. Several companies have begun with meditation curricula. It makes one individual grow in various fields, but it makes a team grow in morale, trust, and overall efficiency. 

According to Mark Moschel, at Dry Farm Wines, his team has been taking part in daily meditations before their usual stand-ups for over a year now, and he’s been able to see and feel the difference (2). Their goal was to create a peaceful state of socializing, and a meaningful service for the world, or profit. He can confidently attribute the firm’s success this year to their daily guided silence and stated affirmations. Moschel states that starting this day with inner calmness, and bringing importance to what really matters, our passion and appreciation, is the first step to take. It removes anxious distractions when the day begins, and creates a place where people can more easily connect with one another. 

As a perfect example of what we are all striving to achieve with meditations, the team at Dry Farm Wines was very inclusive, inviting any key stakeholders to their morning sessions. This deeper sense of empathy created better working relationships with their vendors, and more motivated, eager responses between collaborators. Furthermore, bringing everyone together creates a sense of gratitude that removes any separations or discomfort in communication. 

This guided daily practice, even a weekly group meditation, serves the company in a way that nothing else could; it provides a small step forward in achieving mindfulness and clarity in goals, relationships, and alignment of values. Your team is more similar than you think, so allow yourself to take this leap with your partners. It may seem intimidating to start alone, so feel free to reach out to us as a resource! Not only do we have recorded meditations to concentrate away from your daily stressors, our meditation coaches can help your remote team transition in this difficult time. COVID-19 may change our processes of engagement forever, but here’s our chance to foster an empathetic and motivating environment for your team to grow. 

In any situation, guided meditation is something progressive. In an era of uncertainty, it is a tool for transformation.

References

(1) Dasa, Pandit. “Team Building: Using Mindfulness and Meditation.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 31 Aug. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/team-building-using-mindf_b_11766148?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADdm57AbajCjH1lqz7h0DONrPIj5Xh1eSanaJSrvDe5ohTovt4yEJjqEAdK2J-lYikLYWuosYsAOzIaSZKG1saW3afB_-DM5L-HpnK8VPe-M7zvxRCvkutEflHtV1US-j1LpI7pCJOv9wf2NbrL7rFD1Sv045qyoFDmLkfTT_8J2.

(2) Munsey, Ryan. “The Peace and Profit Manifesto: Conscious Abundance with Todd White of Dry Farm Wines.” Natural Stacks, Natural Stacks, 6 July 2017, www.naturalstacks.com/blogs/news/todd-white-dry-farm-wines.