From an organisational perspective the COVID-19 crisis has now moved into a steady state phase with new patterns of operating now firmly established, chief among these being homeworking. But human nature being what it is, for many the novelty will have begun to wear off already. Therefore, leaders now need to focus on maintaining morale amongst their people.
Here are a few practical tips we feel could be useful.
Watch your own energy levels
Because in a crisis, people take their cue from how their leaders appear to be coping, its important you stay on top of your game. So, focus on eating well, getting a good night’s sleep, exercising regularly and having downtime.
Maintain discipline and routine
If you haven’t already introduced a daily team start-up call, then what are you waiting for? The first
agenda item on this call should be to check your teams’ well-being and that of their families. Then,
you can proceed to check that your team understand what they expected to achieve and have the
tools to carry out their tasks. These daily conversations are important as they will produce those
good ideas that can be so useful in a crisis.
Practice effective communication
Do not underestimate the effect the current crisis is having on your people and that individuals will all
react differently to it. So, in addition to the daily team call, have one-to-one conversations with your
people and, in doing so, be sure to make the most of video calls. Recognise and empathise with
the different challenges that people are facing and offer help. Also, encourage group chat forums,
especially considering the fun and morale boosting impact that sharing hilarious videos can generate.
Let’s face it, how much have we all enjoyed sharing them recently?
As leaders, we have an opportunity, as never before, to get to really know the individuals within our
teams. We can also help them grow professionally through the trust we place in them at this time of crisis.