If people can work anywhere, they can live anywhere.

We’ve seen a shift from ‘lifers’ to somewhat transient workers - apart from seeking more monetary compensation people are also looking for a greater quality of life aspect to what they are doing in addition to the amount of time they have to spend earning.

So if people are working remotely they may have more opportunity to expand that quality to include their idea of and goals toward an ideal living space, location and work pattern. Ultimately bringing that highly sought after work/life balance to an equilibrium!

How many people in your immediate circle of family and friends have a land-line? Younger people may not even know what that means ! Cell phones are the norm and keeping the number no matter where you are lends itself to the idea that it doesn’t matter where you are.

Setting down roots will be different in the coming years than it has been in the past. There’s a freedom to recognizing you can make those choices based on your ideals rather than employment circumstances. The security of remote-style working will motivate individuals to maintain that status, in effect inspiring loyalty, strong work ethics and the highly sought after happiness.
In fact some of these options may be so wide open to them that it is overwhelming. Recognizing this will be key to your relationship with them. Helping them to cope with it should be one of your goals.

For instance, after my mom passed away I realized that I could live anywhere I wanted to - location was no longer critical, my work is portable, new locations are inspiring, my relationships are solid, however, with the whole world open to me I could not decide where I wanted that to be. It took several years to determine that while I’m a bit of a nomad, I still want roots and those need to be relatively near family and friends. I think I’ve found that happy medium and actually with the pandemic as it’s been, now I have even more access and direction in the virtual world.

Over to you... let’s delve into engaging your team members.

If your team is going remote (or many members are) why don’t you engage them in an exercise that helps them see the possibilities and feel the company support. Try some of these - it’s an investment of your time and theirs that will pay dividends.
First tackle the individuals - find out where they are at, what they would like and how they can connect the dots:

• Have them create a ‘dream board’ and then help them draw parallels with them to their employment circumstances that can move them toward realizing some, or maybe even all, of those ‘dreams’.

• Hit them with a list of questions and ask them to write a ‘story’ in response. You can make it fun and have them do it in a children’s book format or a romantic short story. Maybe it becomes a contest of some sort, the team receives each story and rates it for originality, motivation or inspiration?

• Have them create an ideal day away and then gift it to them!

In each of these potential activities you need to be the leader you are and ask the questions that will help them focus, build direction and then help them realize what they have created and what they can create.
When you have a handle on where the individuals are at, engage them in an activity to develop your team culture.
Determine what accountability looks like for them, what member to member interaction would be most satisfying for them if they can’t physically work together, what do they need to see, hear, know about to feel connected? You can try this in one of the formats for individuals or perhaps it’s a brainstorming session, one on one meetups or a team-building event. Whichever way you handle it, again, as the leader you must pose the questions and draw out the responses. When you have an analysis on their input, address the group and deliver the results - touch on individual responses, innovative solutions, rewards that can be affiliated with the directions you’re taking. Demonstrate that you hear them and value their input.
The interesting work part I can’t help you with unless they are in the arts :) however, I believe every job has a creative aspect to it, be it how to beat the clock, which way a number should read or how to arrange a display. I sincerely hope most of your team are working with you because they enjoy the actual work and you likely know a great deal about it so ask yourself what you do to keep it interesting and share those ideas with your team.

In the interim, get your team engaged.