The Covid-19 virus has rapidly changed the work environment. Within a week, almost all companies had switched to a remote work.
For some people, it can be quite challenging to make a radical change in your environment, where you have to be quarantined.
It all adds up to managing a team in such a situation, especially if you’ve never experienced it before.
Difficult conditions and uncertainty make this all more difficult. Under quarantine, every aspect of a manager’s role becomes difficult. To cope with these difficulties, you need to change your approach to the results of your work and adapt to a new context.
Change your approach
Most teams are accustomed to a work environment where they work together, in one office, one working environment, and one schedule. Managers should help their teams work asynchronously and personalize. You need to change the expectation of doing the job, preferably giving your team members the right to do the job at the time and conditions they want. This means focusing on the results and offering them more flexibility.
Regular communication
Sociometric research proves that short-term communications are more effective for maintaining engagement. Use quick alerts to stay in regular contact. Establish a workflow structure where everyone will be involved and no one will be left out of it.
Continue your training
Learning should not stop in a new environment, but it may be more practical to reduce it. Focus on sharing short lessons, from five to 10 minutes. This may include a specific device, behavior, or skill. Provide these tutorials to your team members and allow them to choose the topic of their choice. It is possible to ask another team member to discuss the subject studied and to have a brief discussion of what everyone has studied.
Use tone and voice for feedback
It’s hard to see a person’s emotions virtually. Instead of relying on non-verbal data and body language, you now have to pay attention to text, voice, and rare video communications. Pay attention to the tone of written communication; The speed, volume and tone of voice communication; And any physical gestures in video communication. If you are familiar with your team members, the changes in these templates will help you identify the need for additional team member support.
Increase your optimism and ease the fear
Optimism is contagious. Leaders looking to the future will do better to help their team members, especially in times of stress. We should also not forget humor as a stress neutralizing factor. Remember that fear stifles initiative, creativity, and gives compliance instead of commitment.
Humans are hyper-social beings. Their psychological safety – where they feel important and secure, doing everything without fear, evasion or punishment – is crucial even under quarantine. When you create these conditions, you will allow them to continue learning, working, and contributing, and most importantly, at this time, you will recognize their humanity.