Being forced to work from home may seem to be a positive for many, but, as a medium company, how do you ensure your team is still being productive?
Each individual is different and as a leader you need to have a strategy for each and every one, as the leadership expert, Tom Peters, eloquently explains in this video. But how much time there is in a day and how can you ensure everyone is looked after the way they should?
Be somebody’s “Survival Buddy”
This could be the perfect time to foster relationships and support each others… so why not create a ‘survival buddy‘? Kind of like your accountability buddy but for Covid-19 times!
Managers should encourage employees from different teams to get together and talk regularly, discuss difficulties, express reservations and also create new ideas… somebody new to confide into and who can be there for you in difficult times… It’s also a perfect time to get to know more of your colleagues, especially if you change your ‘buddy’ every few weeks.
Become a Trusted Leader
This is also the perfect time for leaders to be trusted and step into their roles effectively. Schedule time with your first line just ‘to chat’, ensure everyone on your team has access to you and feels relaxed enough to tell you how they really feel. Promote psychological safety by asking what’s bothering them, how ‘working from home’ is affecting them and what they have been worrying about. You might not be able to solve all their problems, but being there to listen and not judge is sometimes more than enough and will make them trust you for the long term.
McKinsey suggests to foster collaboration and transparency across your teams… distribute authority and share information to encourage others to do the same.
Keep the spirits up
In your scheduled time with your team, try to concentrate on the positive, what have you all achieved? what’s the positive innovation you’ve created? and what’s blocking you from doing more? Create that support spirit as well as a framework for continual growth.
Morale in this phase is very important… so why not nominate a new member of the team each day to choose a positive quote and share it with everyone?
Slack or WhatsApp Group are great channels to share the motivational quotes or funny memes, let your team feel inspired or just laugh for a few minutes each day… laughing is even more important in difficult times!
Keep the body healthy
Make sure your team is looking after themselves.. a good combination of sunshine time, happiness and healthy eating is what’s keeping us healthy and with a stronger immune system.
So why not have competitions with your team? how have you improved yourself in your exercise hour? what healthy recipes can you share with each other? what new skill have you learnt today?
Create a new way of sharing with your colleagues, a bit of healthy competition and ensure everyone participates…. a healthy body brings a sharp mind
Connect with your nearest and dearest
Human beings are social beings… promote time to keep in touch with your dearest, but also ensure that your team has a little bit of fun!
A number of virtual pub quiz, zoom parties and other online socialising activities have flooded the internet in the past few weeks… how do you ensure every member of your team is involved?
It might be worth having a weekly “company quiz” where your team or the whole company gathers online to have fun and also learn something about your latest technology or the future trends as well as random general knowledge or music questions to keep the fun element up.
And if you are a very small business or a solo-preneur, or if you just would like to, please do join us on our weekly call on zoom on Wednesdays at 12 noon Central European Time time on Zoom https://zoom.us/j/3444425337 we would love to be your “survival buddy”!