Managers Need to Do these Three Things Now

When working remotely, one can’t stop by a workmates office and ask a quick question. You now must call, email or video and still ensure that information freely flows between teams and individuals. How do you do so?

1. Establish a set number of communication channels and stick to them. Using several communication channels can be both confusing and counterproductive. Set a clear rank of communication channels for example:

• • Zoom for office meetings
  • Email for notifications or approvals
  • Slack or WhatsApp for follow up messages
  • Calls for very urgent business

2. Set a schedule for regular communication. When will you have your departmental meetings, client calls, status updates and one on ones? Setting a calendar and sending out calendar invites makes your life easier and predictable, but also reduces the time spent on urgent but not important calls.

3. Make a list of who needs to be updated and when. Be clear on what kind of information needs to be known and when. Do they need to be updated via email or video call? How many times a week do they need to be updated?

4. Keep checking on whether your communication strategy is working. It is important to see whether information is flowing or not – this will tell you whether you have set up adequate communication and information channels or not.

Your team is balancing completing work deadlines, negative news reports in the news and social media. While worrying about contracting COVID-19, and managing increased family demands and pressure. How can you keep them focused, motivated and productive? Managing through COVID-19 means that managers need to learn how to motivate in new ways. This is not the time to threaten or bully your reports to give you results, but to use a variety of tools to keep them motivated.

1. Set realistic Goals with your team. What is mission critical to keep the lights on, customers serviced and ensure that your business lives on beyond COVID-19. Determine what is urgent, important using the Eisenhower Matrix or any other tools you might have.

2. Set Expectations clearly and early. This may seem like common-sense. However currently, many employees do not know what is expected of them at work. Gallup encourages managers to make expectations crystal clear: X is the work you should do, Y is the quality standard, Z is the deadline. The article goes ahead to encourage executives to provide higher-level expectations aligned with the company’s purpose: We’ll keep our customers engaged by doing X, we’ll maintain our standards by doing Y, we’ll fulfil our mission by doing Z. The more detail, the better. Setting expectations earlier reduces the need to go back and forth which might strain an already difficult situation, and also motivates team members when they finish off tasks.

3. Communicate the importance of the tasks they are doing. In the season of “essential workers” it is essential to communicate why the work you are doing is essential to your staff. Once they see the bigger picture, they will be more inspired to complete the tasks that ensure the vision is actualized. If you would like our help in bringing this out get in touch with us regarding our internal communication strategies and tools available during this period.

4. Virtual Team Building. Companies need team building now more than never. As the lockdown continues, energy levels dwindle and reduce along with motivation and productivity levels. We have several free and paid activities to keep your teams not only connected but also mentally and emotionally strong.

I am sure you know the quote “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much care”. There is not better time to care for your people than the present. Your reports are faced with a myriad of uncertainties and want to know that they can rely on you.

1. Care, Care and more Care

If you are not conducting one on ones with your team you need to start doing so now. You could ask them the following questions:

• How is your spouse and children doing?
• Do you have what you need to work from home?
• How are you balancing work and family demands, is there anything affecting your ability to work?
• How can I support you?
• How are you doing mentally and emotionally?

While these questions may feel a little bit “touchy feely” you may find that they go along way in supporting your team. They also help you know how each individual is doing and help you manage your expectations of them.

2. Build Trust by Communicating with Transparency

Build trust with your employees or direct reports by:

• Sharing your intentions of being available to support them on their work.
• Communicating honestly on where the company is financially and what that means in the long run.

Managing through COVID-19 is not easy. Managers have even more being demanded of them. From their reports who expect more understanding and resourcing. Their families because of even closer proximity. Upper management still expect a certain level of results. Managers are having to balance all these demands as they also wrestle with uncertainty and rapid iterations during this difficult time. It is not an easy time to be in leadership but remember “leaders are forged in crisis.”