For many organizations worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work. We’re more reliant on collaboration technologies than ever before.
The pandemic has forced an abrupt dislocation of how employees work, how customers behave, how supply chains function and even what ultimately constitutes busines performance. With a sudden shift to a remote workforce a new era of leadership is emerging.
One of the most important skills leaders have to develop is facilitating interactions to succeed in a changing environment. Findings from a McKinsey & Company report indicate that continuous learning in the workplace must become the new norm and that leaders need to work on “enabling the best in their people, rather than commanding it from them.”
This shift requires leaders to move away from telling their teams what to do and instead empowering employees to be self-organized.
A recent Forbes article highlights takeaways from the McKinsey report and four practices that will help leaders become more agile: connect, attend, respect and empower.
Connect during crisis
With the turbulence of today and the uncertainty of tomorrow, leaders have a unique role to play in alleviating fears and demonstrating care while maintaining a connection to purpose. Connection reduces stress, increases the sense of purpose and drives innovation.
Defining what the purpose of your team is can help employees connect their actions to that purpose, beyond being profitable. Checking in with your team frequently to see how each of them feels they are contributing to it can help spur active engagement and intent.
Communicating with your staff regularly and consistently, will both provide routine and ensure a safe space. To increase engagement, the Forbes article suggests leaders should reduce meetings to 30 minutes or less and invite every single member to speak up.
At Communiqué PR we have a daily, 30-minute morning meeting where everyone briefly reports on their action items for the day, we collaborate on projects and, when time allows, we even manage to quickly check in on personal activities. While some people may see this as a painful exercise, I personally look forward to it. It helps me get organized for the day and provides a much-needed sense of connection with my team – who I miss dearly and have not seen in person for more than five months.
Actively attend to your clients and your employees
Feeling safe is a basic human need, and a crisis will challenge this need, especially if there is a lack of communication. Leaders must embrace the role of an observer and help coach team members. While communicating critical updates is crucial, active listening is even more important.
As leaders, we must balance our intensity and desire to perform with compassionate attention to our employees’ needs. Being more mindful of another’s stress and their tension points before they impact the business requires us to boost our emotional intelligence.
The Forbes article encourages leaders to create a safe place to make mistakes and to establish an environment where employees feel comfortable asking questions.
Respect: Every employee matters
A leader’s job is not to cheer up their team or tell them what to do. The focus is more on building trust, providing support and offering flexible options to accommodate different needs. Now more than ever, empathizing with employees helps leaders determine how to best assist them.
These actions can be simple. Some companies that used to provide snacks and beverages at the office are sending care packages to employees’ houses. Other companies are providing flexible schedules.
Another tactic is to do more frequent one-on-one meetings instead of, or in addition to, regular team meetings. Especially when work is remote, feedback through email or, even worse, no feedback at all can damage employees’ motivation. The Forbes article suggests that concrete positive reinforcement has to be continuous, while negative feedback has to be straightforward and provided sooner than later.
Empower teams and unleash their strengths
After several months of working remotely, some employees have honed the ability to collaborate and be successful virtually while others may still be struggling. During challenging times, some leaders immediately gravitate to a micro-management style. However, the Forbes article encourages leaders to empower employees instead.
Encouraging associates to set up goals and to be owners of their own work can empower and inspire employees to take a more active role in their decision making and ultimately their success. When leaders empower their employees, they will become sensors to help detect and independently deal with issues in the future more quickly than if you had to do it all by yourself.
A new leadership era
In the age of continuous evolution, as cited in the Forbes article, leaders need to learn new skills: “Connect with them and their purpose more intentionally. Attend more actively than ever to detect unforeseen issues. Respect and value their skills, their personal needs and also their differences. And last but not least, empower them to decide how to do their work remotely with less supervision. It is just the beginning of a new way of leading.”