Difficult times like a global economic crisis or unexpected pandemic tests people professionally and personally. Businesses have to prepare themselves to face tough times that are coming ahead. The business team has to be well equipped to maintain unexpected uncertainties that could even bring an end to the whole company. The survival of a business depends on the ability of the team to stay atop of challenging situations.
Covid-19 pandemic is a global threat that puts nations through the toughest of times in several years. Here are a few tips that will help contribute to better team management during trying times.
Stay Calm
Panicking is not the solution to any problem. The only thing we can do now is to focus on moving forward by adopting changes that the situation demands. Keeping in mind unpredictable situations that could come up in the future is important but fear of daring a move is going to be detrimental for the business. Operate from a solution-oriented perspective to clear up your mind to think creatively and strategically. The rational thought process you use to encourage your team will contribute to its productivity.
Task Forces
In an unexpected situation like COVID-19, the departmental priorities and individual responsibilities may not be the same as that of the times pre-crisis. They will undergo a rapid change that in itself is a challenge to the business team. Some skills get more attention as its importance keeps increasing, and employees may have to work more closely with the team to overcome the industrial challenges and adapt to the changes that came into effect.
Things are moving at a rapid pace now and we would recommend Slack as a solution for brainstorming, real-time updates, and for requesting information. We view a few of the virtual groups that are active at the moment as task forces that offer diverse expertise and help build a sense of ownership. When employees see that their ideas are given the attention they deserve and are put to action, they are motivated to continue delivering out of the box ideas.
Empathize
After all, the whole world is threatened by the crisis and it is important to realize that we all are human and will have fears and worries about the unpredictability of the current situation. Leaders have to empathize with the employees and realize that they have a life outside the office, meaning that they would be battling professional and personal challenges. They would be worried about the safety of their loved ones but still manage to show up for work (even if remotely) forgetting all the personal worries and give their best to the success of the business team.
Business owners have to realize that everyone would be delivering the best by staying within their physical, emotional, and mental parameters. It is important that you communicate with your team personally and realize that understanding the circumstances of each person is crucial in improving productivity and encouraging mutual respect.
The power of face-to-face interaction is proven beyond doubt especially in trying times. Due to the stay-at-home protocol enforced in several countries, many are isolated and human connection is crucial in a time like this.
Realize The Importance Of Communication
Business strategies have globally shifted across all industries and the business environment is not the same every day, as so much is happening around us. As the priorities keep undergoing continuous changes, the management has to take those changing priorities seriously, deploy the tasks to a broader team, and guide individual work when priorities shift.
Now that workplaces have shifted to remote platforms, where individual employees work from the comfort of their homes, there is an increased chance for directional messages getting miscommunicated or even worse, not communicated at all. Leaders have to focus more on transparency so that employees develop a sense of teamwork. When the team stays informed about important decisions at the executive level, their dedication to the work they do increases by multiple folds.
To ensure that everyone who is part of your team gets every key message, you would have to keep repeating the same points during internal team meetings for quite a while. You would be going on and on about the team objectives and key projects via the communication platform that you use. You may find it overwhelming, but remember that most people are only getting this information once or twice and it is not going to exhaust them. Always be open to questions, innovating ideas, and important conversations.
Be Prepared For The Future
Even if your company has been thriving in the competitive business world for long with a team of experts who come up with innovative ideas, the possibility for a temporary shutdown still remains. That is how the situation is. This challenging time will affect various departments in your company differently. Some team members will end up having nothing much to contribute at the moment. That does not mean they are not valuable.
It is the time that you start thinking of big strategic work that you kept postponing to complete more urgent projects. You have to learn to use the current less busy business environment and invest the extra time you get to future-oriented goals so that the future success will compensate for the losses that you might have to face now. Sometimes you may have an idea in mind that needs to be developed. Invest your time in giving shape to the idea. Certain departments have to hold strategic meetings to identify key goals for the upcoming year.
