When considering forward planning or mitigating potential future risk, very few business leaders would have put ‘global pandemic’ at the top of their list of threats. Here in Australia, the Prime Minister described the Covid-19 outbreak as a ‘once-in-100-year type event’, so it I’m certain it didn’t feature in many conversations about business stability and growth a mere 6 months’ ago.
But in less than six weeks, working practices for the foreseeable future have been turned on their head. Many business leaders have been caught off guard by how the Coronavirus pandemic continues to impact the way we work.
Some agile organisations can repeatedly adjust between working from home and their office, utilising the many tech platforms available to ensure everything operates well within the latest guidance. But for others, it can be far more challenging to manage employees who may be unaccustomed to this level of constant and rapid change in their workplace. We have also seen those currently working from home facing personal challenges such as home schooling, self-isolation or the real or imagined threat of income reduction.
We all lead differently, but here are some tips to help those who may be navigating these challenging conditions and want to ensure their teams remain productive, whilst also supported:
Know Your Teams
First and foremost, leaders need a systematic and objective view of how their teams are coping in key areas such as communication, alignment, clarity, workflows and process issues. Given the rapid pace of change, this process needs to be as close to real-time as possible so that teams can remove issues iteratively and adjust to challenges as they arise.
Look For Opportunities
It’s easy to get stuck in a negative mindset with so many risks and bad news swirling around, but the pandemic has also in some circumstances, forced us to be creative, and innovate our working practices. This unique situation has accelerated our transition to the future of work, which puts a focus on decentralisation, autonomy, online systems and a distributed workforce. In many ways this is a chance for organisations to try new things. Double down on what works, learn from what doesn’t. Most importantly try small and fail small.
Over Communicate
When you don’t communicate enough people will fill the gaps with speculation, particularly in stressful times. In these circumstances there is no such thing as over communication! Be as transparent as you can be, be factual and be compassionate, and don’t be afraid of repeating important information. Most importantly, set the expectation of constructive two-way communication that is inclusive and reflects the culture of your office, even if the location has moved.
Set Cultural Expectations
It’s important to set the cultural tone as soon as possible. Simple practises like asking remote teams to use video, having regular voice or video touch points, or even having open sessions online where team members can opt in to work while staying connected can have a huge impact on morale and the culture of the group.
We’ve even seen teams embracing their new environments with ideas like dress-up mornings for daily stand up. Finding these kinds of simple and fun outlets for teams to blow off some steam might seem trivial, but it can make a huge difference to stress levels and morale, so be flexible and cultivate cultural initiatives where you find them.
Now is the most important time to demonstrate clear, confident leadership and to introduce processes that will empower the team, and that they will adhere to. We’ve seen many organisations coming to Teamgage looking for a solution to help them adjust to new way of working. Our ‘Ready to Use’ solution allows organisations to quickly and easily discover how their staff are really coping in real time, aligned to specific objectives, and whether they need to address any issues or make improvements.
This, coupled with a more hands-on, flexible and compassionate approach, such as regular check-ins will help teams feel heard, appreciated and trusted, whilst you in turn can feel confident that they are performing, engaged, that their well-being is supported and that they continue to meet objectives even when not visible to you.
About The Author
Ben Smit is CEO and co-founder of Teamgage. Teamgage is an Australian organisation, founded in Adelaide in 2016 by Ben and Noelle Smit which offers software that gathers employee feedback and guides organisations and their teams to improve. It has worked with clients including Telstra, Westpac, the University of Canberra and Santos. The system measures behaviours and sentiment aligned to the strategy of the organisation and drives teams and managers to action their own improvements in real-time, from the ground up. Teamgage also provides deep insights into the organisation as a whole, delivered using artificial intelligence to identify key trends and changes as they happen.