Tag Archive for: covid 19

Want to Work Virtually? Now is the Time to Make it a Reality

work virtuallyMost of us have become incredibly comfortable within our own four walls over the past several months.
If you were someone who used to commute to an office every day, the first few weeks of the pandemic might have felt particularly unsettling as your routine was upended: No corridor chit chat where you found out what was really going on behind the scenes with a particular deal; no lunches with colleagues to get caught up on projects.

And then, you might have realized that you were able to plausibly replicate those experiences, making them work virtually, whether through video calls, Slack channels or a combination. In fact, you might have decided that working remotely would be an ideal option—not just for you but for your company as well.

If so, you’re not alone. In fact, a June Yahoo Finance – Harris poll found that 54% of respondents are currently working from home due to changes from COVID-19, and half of those believe it’s better than going to the workplace.

Many organizations are still encouraging their employees to work remotely, at least for the time being. But others are slowly starting to urge them back in the office, mistakenly believing it’s a necessity for productivity.

If you’re one who has seen the benefits of remote work over the past few months—or has always hoped to try a new flexible schedule—now is the time to seize on the opportunity. Here is your six-point plan to talk to your manager about formalizing a remote work plan.

1. Get the facts.

While companies pivoted to remote work because they had to, the truth is that a large number of jobs lend themselves to being done virtually—in fact, one analysis by the University of Chicago says that’s the case for 34% of U.S. jobs. Add to that the fact that a Gartner survey found that 82% of company leaders say they plan to allow at least some remote work going forward, and you can make a solid case that remote work is the wave of the future.

2. Prove your productivity.

No doubt you’ve been showing your worth to your company day in and day out during the pandemic, but now is the time to quantify those achievements. Start a document that highlights some of your biggest wins over the past few months, whether it was securing a new client (or keeping one from jumping ship), implementing new processes or even overseeing a remote intern.
While you want to make sure that your eventual contract specifies output in work product and goals, rather than hours, some managers still equate productivity with time worked. Track your hours for the next few weeks so that you can show your supervisor that you don’t see remote work as a chance to slack off. Again, you don’t want hours to be the ultimate metric, but it can help assuage concerns from a boss who still values face time as a measure of production.

3. Outline how your responsibilities can be managed remotely.

If you routinely collaborate with others, your supervisor might be concerned that a lack of face time can hamper your projects. Talk to key colleagues about how they feel about replacing in-person meetings with video calls or commit to coming into the office one day a week for an all-hands-on-deck meeting.
Find out how your supervisor wants to hear from you—whether it’s a quick check in at the beginning and end of the workday, or a detailed weekly progress report.
Prove you’ve done your homework and your plan is solid.

4. Document your work environment.

Women can be at a disadvantage when they request remote work because a supervisor might assume you will be shouldering the burden of extra domestic duties while at home. Couple that with the fact that many kids won’t be returning to a full-time classroom, and you need to make clear that your time working virtually will be spent doing exactly that, not overseeing school work.
Show your supervisor that you’ll have a private office where you can take professional video calls and agree on the hours you’ll be working. The onus is on you to check in frequently to allay any concerns your colleagues may have.

5. Offer a trial period.

Sometimes its’ easier for a boss to say “yes” if they know it’s only temporary. While you’ve already essentially been doing this for the past few months, they might have been looking forward to assembling the whole team. Offer to give it a try until the end of 2020, for example, and then the two of you can re-evaluate how it’s working on both sides. Remember that it’s a two-way street; you want to make sure you are getting the support you need and that you don’t feel your opportunities for advancement or to work on prime projects are being restricted by not being in the office.

6. End on a high note.

Ultimately you want to show your manager that your remote work is mutually beneficial. You don’t want to end the conversation from the positon of being a supplicant, or sacrificing salary or title for this new arrangement. If COVID-19 has shown anything, it’s that remote work can and does work. Use this new realization to approach your boss with a solid plan that documents your continued value—even in the virtual world.

by Cathie Ericson

/by

Cultivating Resilience Amidst Collective Trauma: Reconnect with Your Purpose

cultivate resilienceThough “we are not all in the same boat,” we have all been affected by “the storm” of COVID-19 – whether the pandemic, the implemented measures, the struggle to understand or the heated debates on individual and collective action.

Reconnecting with your purpose and anchoring in what creates meaning for you could be a core component of cultivating resilience amidst this prolonged uncertainty.

We Are Inside of a Collective Trauma

“Collective trauma means first of all, a shared experience of helplessness, disorientation, and loss among a group of people,” explains group psychologist Molly S. Castelloe in Rolling Stone.

While the physical aspect of the pandemic has touched so many, the psychological and emotional impact – perhaps including moral fatigue, loss and sadness – can touch everyone. Some have lost their job or business, and most everyone has altered the way in which we work.

For some, this has brought the joy of being at home, for others it has diminished the connective aspects of work, and for many mothers it has forced an attention split between juggling the ‘office’ with childcare and home or online schooling.

Even if you’re back in the office or loving the changes to your lifestyle, things are externally disoriented for everyone when the phrase “new normal” has slipped into the cultural lexicon overnight and for the first time in our lives.

Social psychology “research suggests that the sharedness of traumatic experience is an important factor in mitigating the distress and anxiety that these events create,” writes Orla Muldoon. “In particular, a sense of shared experience can contribute to feelings of collective efficacy… This in turn is likely to contribute to psychological resilience.”

However, with social division rife and self-isolation serving only to “amplify distress and compound the traumatic effects,” it’s more important than ever to cultivate personal resilience as we struggle to come together collectively.

Building Resilience

According to psychologists, resilience is “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress.”

Resilience does not mean immunity to pain or distress or grief or anxiety. It means being able to navigate difficulties in a way that enforces strength and fosters growth.

While some people have personality traits that support it, resilience is absolutely learnable since it’s a habit of behaviors, thoughts and actions.

“The ability to learn resilience is one reason research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary,” according to the American Psychological Association (APA), “Like building a muscle, increasing your resilience takes time and intentionality.”

The APA suggests connection, wellness, healthy thinking and meaning are the four core components to withstand and grow from traumatic experiences. Let’s focus on meaning.

Your Sense of Agency and Self-Motivation Matters

Focusing on what you can control, rather than getting overwhelmed by what you cannot change, is a key behavior for building emotional resiliency. One aspect is turning your attention and energy to what personally animates and holds value for you.

Research has shown a positive relationship between intrinsic motivations and resilience and that self-determined motivation is a positive predictor of resilience. Self-motivation facilitates adaptation and leads to self-regulation of behavior.

“Building resilience through cultivating grit is particularly important in the face of adversity,” writes Beata Souders in Positive Psychology, “Sense of agency is central to developing grit and boils down to being at the cause not at the effect of life.”

Connecting With Values, Meaning and Purpose

“During times of crisis, individual purpose can be a guidepost that helps people face up to uncertainties and navigate them better, and thus mitigate the damaging effects of long-term stress,” writes a team of McKinsey co-authors.

The McKinsey team reports that people with a strong sense of purpose are more resilient. People who feel they are “living their purpose” experience a well-being that is five times higher than those who do not.

Purpose is all about identifying what creates meaning for us, and the ability to feel we are engaging with and striving towards more realization of it.

The McKinsey authors are quick to point out that “an individual’s sense of purpose isn’t fixed or static—it can be clarified, strengthened, and, for some, may serve as a lifelong aspiration, or North Star” and also, that it can change quickly in response to life events. The authors even recommend for companies to conduct individual “purpose audits” in these times.

“Resilience is more than bouncing back from setbacks,” writes Souders. “It is about pursuing your goals in the face of adversity and often feels like cheating chaos.”

Dr. Kelly McGonigal of Stanford University, who researches stress, recommends reflecting on our values when in middle of a stressful situation.

“This form of mindset-shift intervention allows us to change our internal narrative toward a language of personal adequacy and see ourselves as someone who overcomes difficulties,” writes Souders.

Other research shared in SmartBrief emphasizes keeping your purpose ever-present in your awareness to help sustain energy.

“At times, your purpose can be in the background as successes make it seem easier to keep going,” write the SmartBrief team of authors. “However, at other times, much like now, we can call on our purpose to be our beacon, to help guide and sustain us.”

Coaching Supports Being Purpose-Driven

Among other APA recommendations for resilience are making small daily accomplishments in the direction of your purpose, embracing healthy thoughts, looking for opportunities for deeper self-discovery and prioritizing connections.

“It takes a conscious effort to dig deep into our purpose,” writes the SmartBrief authors, who also recommend to “identify and use your signature strengths” and “lean into high-quality connections” to promote resilience, learning and growth.

The right executive coaching relationship fosters all of this, arguably making the investment in that support more important than ever.

by Aimee Hansen

/by

How to Make Your Next Career Move During COVID-19

Next Career MoveNavigating change at work is applicable to everyone in their career right now. Working with an executive coach can help with adapting to the new environment of work from home and adjusting your mindset to deal with the changes that, due to a pandemic, seem to be here to stay for a while.

Executive-level jobs in the financial services and Fortune 500 are not exempt to disruption as the economic damage starts to take effect and it is very possible that companies will start slashing budgets and downsizing later this year.  So now, not later, is the time to prepare to make your next career move.

It won’t be the old-fashioned tap on the shoulder informing you that your team is being consolidated and there is no place for you.  The digital version of getting marched out of the building can provoke the same feelings of rejection, shame, anxiety and fear of what job to do next. If you are fired or made redundant, furloughed or re-org’ed out, then all is not lost. Instead, start with your own inner voice and control your psychology around what just happened, as self-talk and old fears and feelings can easily surface at this point. Your unconscious mind will enjoy slapping you with paradigms developed over a lifetime. These can take many forms; for those with imposter syndrome it could be “told you so, you didn’t belong there.” In the case of general self-worth concepts it could be the shame of “letting them down,” even though when I push my clients to further consider this internal message the “them” is mystical, general and undefined.

The best investigation you can do into your own constructs can be done using concepts from Lahey and Kegan’s work in Immunity to Change. This is a book I write about often and pursue with coaching clients to help them understand how to break out of implicit notions that your brain is quietly telling you.  These notions are working as the operating system beneath all the human apps or hacks that you think you are running for things like productivity and mastery in your life.

In times of potential trauma, such as job loss, you are faced with a choice of how to recover, as there are many emotions and thoughts involved with this type of situation. The best thing you can do is let go of any negative emotions such as anger or bitterness or shame. This is often easier said than done. Get perspective, as most likely this is not about you personally in these COVID-19 times. Use this event instead as reframe the change as an opportunity to understand what you enjoyed most, and least, about both the job itself and the company culture. This will help you figure out what is next for you professionally. If you have any kind of decent financial cushion, make a promise to yourself that you will not make rash decisions and instead take the time to reflect on what you really want to do.  That could come quickly if clarity happens, which is why a good coach can help you by supercharging you and your process. What do you need more of? Less of? How do you get what you want? This can be more satisfaction, more time, more flexibility, more money, a different title or even a complete pivot into a different career.

Not Furloughed or Fired but Ready for a Change

Even if things are steady at work it is okay to think about making a change, especially if your industry doesn’t look robust in terms of future sustainability or growth. See the writing on the wall regarding how your company is dealing with employees during COVID-19. Look for actions and behaviors. Are they laying off staff in other departments or teams? How are they doing it? Is there a voluntary severance program in place where the deal is lucrative? If so, perhaps it is worth talking to your manager about the future, specifically your future. This can be a courageous conversation to have so make sure you are in good standing with your boss as of course there is risk attached. If everything looks steady, find ways to ensure you make your value visible at all times. Working smarter not harder is the key here.

Take this time to think about what you want long term. In these exhausting times, it is easy to just survive the day and pour a cocktail on a Friday to celebrate getting through another week at work. Do an exercise of “flash forward” and picture yourself three years from now; what are you doing work-wise? Which firm are you in, if any, and what does your day-to-day look like? Start with the end in mind and start to think about the steps that could be taken to get there as Rome (or anything) was not built in a day. What skills do you need to develop? What connections do you need to make? What does starting the transition or pivot to a new job, career or industry look like? Herminia Ibarra’s fabulous book Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader very much argues that we are all in transition, and we just might not know it yet. From this perspective, looking at networks and skills is a worthy action at all times. I highly endorse her work, and this is a consistent recommendation from me to my coaching clients across senior levels on Wall Street, tech, fintech, healthcare and pharma.

As gloomy as things might seem right now with the outlook for the economy and personal risks in going to work, it is ultimately an ideal time to figure out what you want and what works for you. Things will return to a normal of sorts, but who knows when? Think about the last time you interviewed for a job. You might have been in a different place in your life and it’s okay to acknowledge that everything has changed. Not least, you have a chance to think about your enhanced skillset. And surely all of our resilience muscles have increased, as we have been resourceful though quarantine, kids crawling in to zoom meetings and productivity despite lack of connectivity. You are better placed than ever to be the best executive version of yourself!

If you wish to have a complimentary, exploratory conversation to see if executive coaching with Nicki Gilmour or one of our associate coaches could help you navigate your career this year and beyond, then please select the time that works best for you from the link below.

Event: Exploratory Coaching chat – see full list of times

/by

Intrepid Woman: Liz Elting, Founder and CEO of the Elizabeth Elting Foundation

,

Liz Eltingby Cathie Ericson

“Those who can help, should help.”

That’s the impetus behind Liz Elting’s mission, as founder and CEO of the Elizabeth Elting Foundation, which lifts up women and marginalized populations in education, health and other ways.

Using Her Success to Help Others

Elting’s philanthropic ability comes from previous work success. She always loved languages—learning four of them while living, studying and working in five countries. After graduating from college with a degree in world languages, she worked at a translation company in production and sales which prompted her to realize the practice could likely be done better. After three years she decided to go back to school and earned her MBA from NYU; shortly after graduating, she held a finance position in a French bank and quickly realized it wasn’t for her. “As the only woman professional there, whenever the phone rang, they would call for me,” she says.

That led her to strike out on her own, where she started her own translation company. Over the next 26 years she grew TransPerfect into the world’s largest language solutions company, with over $600 million in revenue, more than 5,000 employees and 11,000 clients and offices in more than 90 cities worldwide.

In 2018 she sold her half of the company in order to focus full time on philanthropy, launching the Elizabeth Elting Foundation, which revolves around pure philanthropy, but also supporting entrepreneurs.

A Wide-Ranging Mission

The foundation has recently launched the Halo Project to meet the needs of those affected by COVID-19. “It’s a public health and economic catastrophe unlike anything we’ve seen; not only did it spread like wildfire faster than we could understand, but it painfully underscored structural inequalities,” she says. The foundation aims to identify areas where they can have the best impact, and it was an easy pivot to focus on women since they are often on the front lines.

Other important areas the foundation services include public health, such as the International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation, designed to help research and treat a rare kind of lymphoma, which Elting’s father has. He had been told he had five years to live and now the common diagnosis has expanded to 18 years, signifying satisfying and rewarding progress.

She also does work with the American Heart Association, helping to raise awareness of women’s heart issues, an important need given that most heart research is directed toward men. Thanks to her work with Go Red for Women and her participation with the board, she’s become connected with other groups to help spread the word about heart disease prevention. For example, the foundation has installed a blood pressure kiosk at the Campaign Against Hunger’s sites to help those populations get their blood pressure checked. She also has supplied Susan’s Place, a women’s shelter in Harlem, with equipment like blood pressure cuffs.

Other work includes donating to the National Organization for Women and helping support “Leftover Cuisine,” which takes extra restaurant meals directly to food banks. She was able to connect a friend who works with auto dealers to help supply the cars and drivers as a win-win to keep the dealerships’ teams employed while delivering much-needed food to the food banks.

In addition, Elting is active with her alma maters, including Trinity College where she attended undergraduate school and the NYU Business School. Her foundation gives four annual MBA scholarships for high-performing women, along with investing in two entrepreneurs a year.

As she considers areas where she can make a difference, Elting prioritizes research to make sure the money is going to the right causes and confirm exactly where the funds are going. So, for example, when she makes a cash donation to the food bank, she wants to make sure that every dollar goes to food. With the AHA, she made sure the donation directly funds the blood pressure station drive rather than being directed to a more general fund, and at NYU, she directly gives to the scholarships.

“It’s important to clarify where your money is going, which makes it more rewarding and fulfilling,” Elting notes.

In her spare time, Elting loves to read and is a self-described “news junkie.” With two teen sons, she loves to indulge in outdoorsy hobbies, like skiing and the beach, and looks forward to resuming travel when the time is right.

/by

Op-Ed: From the Cold War to COVID-19: What I’ve Learned from My Front Row Seat

Lisa GableBy Lisa Gable

I’ve been fortunate to have had a front row seat at major inflection points in history, beginning with my time at the Reagan Defense Department during the final days of the Cold War.

I had actually transferred to the White House just a few months prior to Gorbachev’s 1987 visit. Later, I joined Intel Corporation and had a chance to work on a part of the Intel Inside® program, which changed consumer tech purchasing habits forever, leading to Intel’s dominant semiconductor market share in the 90s. My husband and I enjoyed the dot-com boom and thankfully survived the bust.

In 2004-2005, working closely with the auto industry, I hosted a hallmark Nagoya meeting between Toyota patriarch Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda and General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner. Our building was surrounded by hundreds of Japanese paparazzi as the companies battled it out for top global sales position with the Japanese automaker maintaining the edge. And in 2009, as obesity was emerging as a global health risk, I worked with 16 food and beverage company CEOs to help reduce 6.4T calories from 35% of the food sold in the United States.

As an observer, a participant and a leader during times of historic change, I learned to plan for multiple scenarios when redesigning and building high-impact, sustainable operations. Here’s what I know about managing through an inflection point:

• Always plan for disaster. Anticipate that at some stage, something will fail and determine whether or not the systems you have built will survive significant fallout from political or economic events, regulation or new competition. The question I ask daily is, “If we have the worst market crash tomorrow will we be able to sustain our core research infrastructure?”

• Hire smart people and help them move quickly by moving boulders out of their way.

• Look for opportunities to partner with other organizations to decrease costs by supplementing existing activities, creating new channels or outsourcing lower-yielding but well-loved legacy initiatives.

• Run as fast as you can. Do not slow down. You only have a short window of time in which to build and you need to move quickly.

• Preserve cash. Organizations who maintain lean operating systems and build reserves have the highest probability of riding out the worst market.

In 2018, when I joined FARE [Food Allergy Research and Education] as its CEO, rather than experience an inflection point, for the first time I may have created one for the organization. With a remit to restructure the organization and facilitate high-net-worth donor and industry investment to drive therapies and diagnostics into the marketplace to meet the needs of an underserved patient community, in 12 months we received $75M in commitments and put into place a cash conservation plan.

Now amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and even as some states and businesses prepare to open, at another inflection point. You simply never know when the inflection points will arise, yet here we are again as organizations try to pause to help others, while doing their best to stay relevant and generate revenue to support the needs of populations they serve.

Today, my staff knows that all ideas are on the table as we meet 2020 objectives in unanticipated ways. We are culling through my archives of the most innovative concepts executed by former teams during opportunity and crisis as we look for that kernel of a concept that can be reimagined and extended. Interestingly, we are finding that ideas gleaned from science fiction, spy novels and murder mysteries sometimes lead to the next new idea. We take thoughts and play them out in a 100 percent digital engagement or a combination concept like 10 and under in-person salons connected via Zoom across the country. And we find our humor and celebrate wins daily.

As Andy Grove says: “Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” While we are in the midst of a pandemic, and closures and work stoppages may seem disastrous, keep running and do your best to enjoy your front row seat. It will help for next time.

Lisa Gable is CEO of FARE, Food Allergy Research Education, the largest private funder of food allergy research advocating on behalf of the 32 million Americans living with potentially life-threatening food allergies. Lisa’s passion, expertise, and fearless workstyle have propelled her to achieve the titles of CEO, US Ambassador, UN Delegate, Chairman of the Board, and advisor to Presidents, Governors, and CEOs of Fortune 500 and CPG Companies worldwide.

/by

Leading Your Team in a Pandemic: 6 Quick Tips

Leading your team in a pandemic is about navigatingLeading Your Team in a Pandemic a course that puts control and choice of how much your team wants to talk about the pandemic in their court. This a lot to take in for most people to take in and giving space to let them have their own personal thoughts or feelings and the degree to how much they want to share those feelings, should be  very much up to them.

People are psychologically in different places for different reasons including it seems due to location, political affiliation in the USA (nowhere else it turns out, just here) and where they get their news from.

Work towards helping everyone get to the “a-ha” moment of what is happening, by helping them get to a conclusion which resembles the objective reality that is happening. As a psychologist, I am sure that the one thing that matters is that they have to get there themselves. Telling them what is real, is not going to work, as much like gender and other prejudice, so many people cannot get to the experience of objectivity as they are viewing so much through their own subjective experience processing filter lens. The result? If it literally it isn’t happening to them or someone they directly know, they dismiss it as a possibility! Cognitive dissonance is real! If there was ever a time to read Immunity to Change by Kegan and Lahey the Harvard development psychologists, my friends that time is now!  Here is a cheat sheet article on theglasshammer.com on the subject.

Some people are very distracted by life stuff -very understandable, life has changed for so many of us with a lockdown. I am personally on week 4 with a possible 8 weeks ahead with a spouse on the front lines working in an NYC hospital and “sans babysitter” for a while yet. Yet, understand some people want to distracted by work as its a good way of maintaining sanity if they have the backup to escape to the computer or the necessity to keep the work going to keep the business going. No one wants to fail in their career or business due to the coronavirus, that is a fact.  Flex to what you need to be for that person in that moment, this is an evolving emotional ride for most.

Here are 6 tips to lead in a pandemic

1. Acknowledge this is not a normal time for anyone and it is not business as usual

2. Give the other person space by asking them at the start of the meeting, “How would you like to spend this time together to ensure that we honor the professional work agenda and the personal needs of everyone in light of these unusual circumstances?”

3. Be neutral in your reaction to where they are at emotionally, mentally and psychologically in this process of digesting the realities around us. No judgement around if they are in denial or if they are in distress. Instead create a safe environment to express how they feel if they want to. Do not project how you feel unto them with wordy recounts of your life events or feelings around it unless they want that.  Work out how you feel and talk to your therapist or coach and then create space for everyone else to have their feelings and thoughts too.

4. Be careful about anxiety provoking questions like ‘how are you doing with homeschooling?” as so many of us are not doing well with many things. Instead ask, “How can i best support you and clear obstacles for you?”

5. Be consistent in actions and clear in communications, as this is leadership even in normal times.

6. Be human, first. Empathy is a muscle.

We are taking a publishing break until mid May to ensure we can coach (email nicki@evolvedpeople.com for coaching 2 sessions for $599, pack of 5 sessions for $1700 on zoom, facetime or phone) and support anyone who needs it and create space for everyone to focus on life priorities and staying well. Enjoy our archives of profiles (1500) and Career Advice (5000 articles)

Stay safe, social distance, ‘Happy Easter, Passover and Happy Spring’ and see you in May with a flatter curve (we hope).

Best Wishes,

Nicki Gilmour

CEO and Publisher

www.theglasshammer.com

/by

Remote Leadership: 6 Ways How To Lead When You Have to Lead From Home

Remote leadershipRemote leadership is in the spotlight in this current COVID-19 reactivity environment of quarantine and social distancing, and leaders are called to remember – now, more than ever – that leadership is not just about the employees or projects you manage, but the human beings you are interconnected with.

As entire offices are now working from home, the question is how to lead and motivate through these times. How do you stay supportive and facilitative to your people through the absence of in-person interaction? With a backdrop of increased uncertainty and lack of control, how do you take it day by day as a manager?

This is Not Last Year’s Remote Office

Prior to the crisis, remote working had grown by 91% in the last ten years and 52% of workers globally were working from home once a week. It was estimated that at least 50% of the U.S. workforce would work remotely by 2020. The current context has blown the statistics apart.

Context is everything. The advantage of working remotely is normally the sense of freedom and flexibility, but for many it’s now a result of imposed restriction, that goes across every aspect of life.

Some team members will struggle deeply with isolation and routine loss. Previous remote workers will not be having the same experience as before.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders, a Time Management Coach, writes in Fast Company, “For some, the idea of working from home is a dream—no commute and no drop-in meetings—pure productivity bliss; for others, it’s terrifying… Ready or not, you’re working remotely.”

American Psychiatric Association (APA) emphasizes, “Many are teleworking full-time for the first time, isolated from co-workers, friends and family. Our daily living routines are disrupted causing added anxiety, stress and strain—physically, mentally, and financially. It is completely natural for this disruption and uncertainty to lead to anxiety and stress.”

6 Ways to Support Your Team

As a remote leader, here are recommended ways you can support your team members:

Establish Work Availability and Boundaries

“When transitioning to a remote team, leaders should prioritize the development of clear boundaries and guidelines,” writes Jason Wingard, dean and professor at the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University, in Forbes. “At its most basic, this involves assisting employees in delineating their availability: when they will be working, how they can be reached for different needs, and how they will address challenges such as childcare.”

Encouraging employees and yourself to establish work hours and be communicative about them will help productivity and avoid burnout.

“There’s a lot more flexibility, which can be exceptionally dangerous,” writes Saunders. “You can end up barely working, working all the time, or somewhere in the middle where you begin your work very late and end up needing to work into the wee hours of the night.”

“Segment out what home or personal tasks you won’t do when you are in your work hours;” she advises, “that way you don’t spend half the day tidying the house and neglecting key tasks.”

Remote leadershipEncourage a Routine and Dedicated Work Space

The APA recommends keeping a regular routine including work, family, breaks, and other activities – as well as a designated physical space for work within the home – to support mental health while working from home.

Saunders writes that sticking with your routines – such as wake up, eating, activities and exercise times – support a greater sense of normalcy and clarity.On the other hand, Saunders writes “Abandoning all your routines will lead to decision fatigue and likely a lapse of willpower. You may find yourself home all the time, yet not even showered or dressed most days.”

Denoting a dedicated work space to settle into will help you and team members focus – and reserving that space as much as possible for work.

Be Flexible and Compassionate To Differing Circumstances

Optimal availability, schedule, and routine may look different for each individual, including yourself.

“Your mindset (now) has to shift to flexibility, overcommunication, and compassion,” writes Jay Friedman, president and parter of Goodway Group writes in Business Insider. “Take everyone’s situation into consideration and adopt accordingly.”

Friedman emphasizes the importance of establishing ‘parameters for a work-life integration plan’, which allows employees to adapt their schedule around their total responsibilities, such as home-schooling, and that may look different than a 9-to-5.

“To avoid miscommunication, encourage employees to be open on their calendars by blocking out ‘family’ time;’” he writes, “encourage those without such responsibilities to carve out ‘personal time’ before and after their work day to facilitate healthy work-life harmony.”

Also, re-assess responsibility allocation in your team based on the current situation.

Prioritize Goals, Not Hours

It’s not about hours spent sitting at the desk. Focus on goals and results.

“Don’t worry as much about what is being done. Instead, concentrate on what is being accomplished,” quotes Forbes, from sales and marketing professional Donald Hatter. “If we are meeting our goals, then great. If not, we need to look into the situation further. It is all about accomplishment, not activity.”

“Especially during times like these, look at the team’s achievements and celebrate what they’ve done,” Friedman writes. “The ongoing support and celebration of wins — both large and small — will be a huge motivator.”

Clarifying goals and who supports what can help with delegation, according to authors in Harvard Business Review (HBR): “Clarifying roles among the team helps people understand when they can turn to peers instead of the leader, which prevents the leader from becoming a bottleneck.”

Check In Regularly and Document

46% of remote workers, according to HBR and cited in Forbes, reported that the best managers checked on their team members regularly and frequently.

Checking in, as well as responding quickly, are important to keep connection, while face-to-face virtual meetings retain a sense of closeness and cohesion.

As written in HBR, “The most successful managers are good listeners, communicate trust and respect, inquire about workload and progress without micromanaging, and err on the side of overcommunicating.”

According to John Eades, CEO of LearnLoft in Forbes, questions should be:“What have you done? What are you working on? Where do you need help?” It’s important to give ownership for how things get done with individuals, and trust your people.

Brian de Haaff, Co-founder and CEO of Aha!, points out that documentation is critical when running a team remotely, assuring communication is flowing, messages are accurate, and records are kept. Recording virtual meetings on Xoom, etc helps to catch team members up directly.

Haaff further recommends documenting the three Ps: “problems, progress and plans”, to use as a launching point for weekly check-ins.

When moving around the virtual office, check your bias. Homophily – such as reaching out, relating to, assigning and relying on those with whom you share similarities – is at play. One recommendation is to keep a list of team members with photos around to consult, so you can see if you’ve truly been reaching out to all.

Be Connected, Be Personal, Be Empathetic 

More than ever, remind yourself that your team members are human beings with emotions stirred up in this moment.

“People suddenly working from home are likely to feel disconnected and lonely, which lowers productivity and engagement,” according to HBR. “Under these circumstances it is tempting to become exclusively task-focused. To address these challenges, making time for personal interaction is more important than ever.”

This means keeping face-to-face connections through virtual tools, especially with those who may need extra support, showing active interest in people’s lives and well-being, being available and approachable as a leader, and acknowledging people’s concerns with compassionate flexibility.

“The best way to ensure people are engaged is to over-communicate. You can do daily check-ins and virtual hangouts like morning coffee or lunch,” advises Friedman. “If the method you’re trying isn’t working, change and adapt quickly.”

Don’t just manage your team or projects. Connect as humans that are mutually inside a challenging environment of disruption and uncertainty, and need support as we help each other through these waves.

By Aimee Hansen

Aimee Hansen is a freelance writer, frequent contributor to theglasshammer and Creator and Facilitator of Storyteller Within Retreats, Lonely Planet recommended women’s circle retreats focused on self-exploration and connecting with your inner truth and sacred expression through writing, yoga, meditation, movement and ceremonies.

/by