While the nation passes through the COVID-19 crisis, many people are working from home or working under stressful conditions on the job. There is a high probability that if these conditions continue we will see declines in morale. This is something we all want to avoid because when morale falls, productivity declines, customer satisfaction plummets and employee turnover rises. Source: A Great Place To Work.
Here are 12 things you can do to counter this effect until the virus passes:
1 – Be Informed.
People look to their leaders to know what’s going on. Many of your folks will watch the updates by the President, Governor Cuomo, and all the various news outlets. If you can’t report what’s happening with some surety and accuracy, you will impeach your credibility with those on your team who know more than you and you will confuse those who don’t.
Report to your team regularly
Nature abhors a vacuum. When people in crisis don’t know what’s going on, they start filling in the gap with catastrophizing information that is usually false. There’s a reason President Trump and Governor Cuomo have those daily briefings. This doesn’t mean you have to do COVID-19 briefings every day. Daily or weekly updates on what’s happening in the organization or reports on how team members are coping can suffice. The important thing is that you stay in touch.
2 – Report To Your Team Regularly
Nature abhors a vacuum. When people in crisis don’t know what’s going on, they start filling in the gap with catastrophizing information that is usually false. There’s a reason President Trump and Governor Cuomo have those daily briefings. This doesn’t mean you have to do COVID-19 briefings every day. Daily or weekly updates on what’s happening in the organization or reports on how team members are coping can suffice. The important thing is that you stay in touch.
3 – When You Don’t Know, Admit It
Be willing to be honest that you don’t know what you don’t know. No one can predict the future with complete accuracy, so don’t try. Instead, tell your people what you do know and qualify what you don’t by admitting that you’re not sure. For example, “I can’t tell you when we’ll get back to work. I can only say that the shutdown will continue until the authorities decide that it’s safe to come out of isolation.”
4 – Describe What You Are Doing To Prepare For The Future
People feel better about a bad situation when they know what is being done to counteract its effects. This far outweighs reassuring them that everything will be alright when you doubt it yourself. If you doubt it, they probably do too.
5 – Be Transparent
Whatever plans leadership is making, let everyone know. If the plans are tentative, make that clear. If there’s bad news to share, share it openly. This may cause some distress but if it’s the truth, it builds your credibility. See my blog post EMPLOYEE RETENTION ALA FAT TIRE BEER
6 – Be calm
Seeing a leader so distressed that she seems out of control will always distress to those whom she is leading. If you don’t act like you’re confident, they won’t feel confident.
7 – Be Personal
Share how you are coping. This makes you seem human. It lets them know that you are dealing with challenges as well. Be careful here. If you’re still receiving a paycheck and they aren’t, put the focus on how they are suffering, not on you.
8 – Celebrate the achievements of team members.
In their landmark study, published in their book First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman found that one of the most effective things managers can do is praise people regularly, as long as the praise is honest, sincere, specific and job related. This may be a challenge when people are working remotely, but it’s when they probably need it the most.
9 – Improve the plight of others
Organizing efforts among your team to help others can be a tremendous morale booster. Inviting people to provide meal distribution to the needy, organize food drives, and visit those who are shut in via Zoom or Skype all contribute to those helped and just as importantly, to those helping.
10 – Ask For Problem Solving
In any organization, there are problems to be solved, many, often overlooked. Now is the time to ask for ideas to solve those problems. Form groups on Zoom, Google, Webex or other forums that allow folks to meet and brainstorm solutions to outstanding organizational problem. This can improve the organization and improve the mindset and morale of those being asked to solve the problems. And don’t forget to include everyone. Sometimes the most lowly member on your team has the best solution to a problem.
11 – Invest in training
Employees often complain they don’t get the training they need to do their jobs well. If that’s true, often, it’s because they don’t have the time to get the training in normal times. Here’s your chance to help them to grow by arranging for webinars and on-line learning. This will increase their skill level and their ability to their job when they return. It can also give them something constructive to do to keep the kids from driving them crazy.
12 – Have some fun
Forty years ago, Southwest Airlines came up with the idea of making the flight experience fun in order to distract the passengers from discomforts like no reserved seating, crowded lines and no meals. Playing a funny video on Zoom, or having a humorous report on how people at home are coping can go a long way to distract then from the discomforts they are experiencing.
The important thing is that you don’t sit back and do nothing. Doing so sends the message that you don’t really care about the challenges people are now facing. Coffman and Buckingham’s study tells us that in normal times, people want to know their boss cares about them. In these trying times, it’s essential.