Leading in the time of COVID

Last week my team and I completed six months of working away from the office and adjusting to apply the workplace norms and practices to operating virtually . ‘work from home’ is fantastic when individuals have an option to exercise it to better manage their work schedule and personal commitments, but, being mandated to work remotely is a different experience- convenient, uncomfortable (physically and mentally), frustrating, productive, disengaged, flexible and many more, all at once, for different people in your team and company.

As a manager, what do you do? How do you navigate around the challenges of supporting your teams remotely while remaining focussed on business priorities that keep evolving and have also been impacted by the pandemic? I have been thinking about these questions and while there are no manager handbooks and guides, yet, that tell you what to do, there are some lessons learned and best practices based on the collective experiences of managers and HR leaders across organization that I have personally found helpful and I am sharing here for any new managers who may benefit from them.

Look after yourself first

“..put on your oxygen mask first before helping other..”- Remember the PSA on the flights when people could still travel? It applies really well to managing as well. As a leader YOU MUST prioritize self-care and as selfish as it may sound, you must look after yourself first. Take time-off to replenish your physical and mental health, ask for help as you can not have all the answers and define clear boundaries to your personal time- you need it if you truly want to support your team.

Define clear priorities for the team

Your team is dealing with a lot probably, at work and personally. The last thing they need is uncertainty and confusion about what you expect them to work on and deliver during this time. One of the most important thing you can do for them is to help them assign the right priority to the asks coming their way and support them if they are challenged for it, within the team, or with outside stakeholders.

Share more, communicate often

Being away from the workplace has created an information void and people are eager to know more about the details concerning work, career-impact and in general about ‘return to office’ and remote working plans. Now, more than ever, as a leader you have the responsibility to communicate these developments in the context of your organization and business priorities and ensure the co

Try a different approach to work-life flexibility

Before COVID changed the rules of workplace engagement, I actively used to discourage my team from working late evenings and sending mails or messaging team chats over the weekend unless the world is collapsing, dropping subtle hints about disconnecting from work and investing more time on themselves; that has changed since. Why? Some people are hundreds, or even thousands of miles way from home and need to check on their families during the day and prefer working at a staggered schedule, others are limited by local govt. restrictions on social visits and lean on work as distraction from feeling stranded in their shared accommodation. Parents like myself need to redraw the lines for better managing child’s needs and demands from their own work. The need of the hour is to encourage people to find a rhythm that works best for them and the team and is reflective of the work-life integration that we are going through. Keep an eye for any signs of burn-out, though!

Encourage time-offs

You need time-off every now-and-then to manage your energy and health and so does your team. In the current scenario, taking time-off may not mean going for holidays, or a change of scenery for most and can understandably lead people to put their leaves on-hold. But, it’s critical to ensure rest, recovery and wellbeing of your team. Actively encourage them and create opportunities for people to disconnect from work. Also, lead by example.

Find ways to take the pressure off

Companies are exploring different ways to alleviate employee anxiety during these times, some have briefly paused all performance reviews, while others may be giving additional company benefits, holidays and investing in more resiliency resources. As a manager, you should not only nudge your teams to avail these resources, if available, but also help them narrow down their focus by identifying opportunities that create impact without compromising their well-being. Facilitate virtual avenues for social connects for better team engagement and collaboration and to generally check-in on how people are doing and enable them to voice concerns. Don’t forget to appreciate good work when you see one, no matter how small!

Actively manage the experience of new joiners

While the hiring and onboarding schedules for the teams and companies have been negatively impacted, causing temporary inefficiencies, but, the affect on the experience of the new joiners is disproportionately high. As a manager, you have a tremendous responsibility to shape the experience of new people joining your team as this will be formative to their future productivity, growth and retention. Make additional time each week to connect, not just to check-in on their virtual onboarding, but to build trust and put them at ease. Create space for them to integrate with the rest of the team through home/off-site and virtual coffee catchups, but, most importantly, provide them with clarity about their role expectation, equip them with resources and support them in establishing relationships so that they are set up for success.