What a strange new world we live in at the moment! As one of my clients recently put it ‘We are now in Business as Unusual”. We find ourselves Working From Home (WFH), an abbreviation not used until a few weeks ago. When I first sent this to a great friend via text message he though WFH stood for ‘Working F***ing Hard’. (Thanks Chris for making me literally lol) This was true as at the time I was (and still am) WFH and WFH! 😊
We find ourselves in isolation while trying to find ways to not be isolated. We are using new tools like never before such as Zoom, MS Teams, Houseparty and other products to try and stay connected (both at home and work) and productive in this interesting new working world.
It has forced us to improvise and change our ways of working which although difficult now, I believe will have a positive impact on the future world of work.
The recruitment industry, like many other industries has been hit hard. We have seen businesses already go into liquidation, others have mass redundancy, and other businesses reduce days in the office, commissions and or used other levers.
Thankfully at Aurec we have a strong, stable foundation that will see us through the coming months assuming there is no more significant change to our business ahead. This doesn’t mean we haven’t had to make some tough decisions and make some alterations to how we operate in the short term, but we haven’t had to make any radical change.
The speed of the change and impact to the economy was rapid (significantly higher than through the GFC period) and this has our clients, candidates and internal team nervous and uncomfortable.
So what can you do as a leader to assist with navigating this ‘New Normal’ for your team? Here are some areas I have focused on with my team:
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Communication through this period has and continues to be key. I am constantly re-enforcing to the team across the following areas:
Delivery and execution of our strategy for this period.
Knowledge sharing across the group on trends in the market – from candidates, clients and competitors
Communication of daily commitments across the team
Communication on successes and wins across the group
Sharing of ideas to improve performance
Transparent and weekly sharing of our financials so the team understands where we are at and where we want to be both through this period and longer term
Be clear on any changes you are making to the business, explain why and give clarity as to how long the changes will be in place. Regularly update on these!
Open Q&A for people to ask any questions or cover any concerns
You cannot overcommunicate through this period. We check in as a team three times a day via Zoom however I find myself constantly talking to individual team members through the day to ensure we all have clarity of purpose, task and direction and to understand where they are at individually.
Finger On The Pulse
Keeping a finger on the pulse as a leader is vital for the culture and morale of the team while they are all remote. This can be difficult to gauge. Our culture at Aurec is open and transparent (thanks to years of team offsites) and this being key to the culture we have developed, however, as a leader you still need to reflect and consider; what questions are they not asking me? What’s been left unsaid? Why? Asking probing questions of your team and leaders is vital to ensure you have a finger on the pulse and proactively address any issues or concerns that people are feeling.
For example – I know with our team at Aurec there were concerns about our position in the market due to the people in the team having friends in the industry that were let go, lost multiple days of work, had structures change etc. To combat this we moved to a new schedule of sharing financials and a greater level of detail. We also had an open session around this topic to answer and cover any concerns both now and moving forward.
Vulnerability
You don’t have all the answers and that is ok. Be brave enough to be vulnerable with your team. Share where you are at, any challenges you are facing. Ask for their advice. Being vulnerable will likely lead to them being the same. It is not weakness, it is strength.
Get Creative
Get creative with your days. Have a walking meeting around your neighborhood to get some exercise, (virtually of course but with everyone on the move) have some fun with your backgrounds in Zoom, lighten the mood with a team game. Find different ways to connect and have fun! Earlier in the week Jay from our team had a game where we had to go and find different items from around the house and he would judge the winner. This was a great way to break up our lunchtime meeting!
Connection is more important now than ever before. Ask your team for ideas on how we can bring energy to the day.
Celebrate Success
Now more than ever celebrate your wins! Don’t just wait for the big wins. Think about each area of the process where your team wins and celebrate together. Find the positives in each day, harness those and let them propel you forward.
Your perception of the market can become your reality if you let it. You can’t change things you cannot control but you can change how you perceive it. Life is 10% what happens and 90% how you react to it!
Each day our team discusses where they have won for the day. It’s a simple but powerful exercise that shows that there are still ways to win in any market conditions.
WFH!
Work From Home and Work F Hard!! Now is the time to work harder than ever before. Execute on your strategy, build relationships, connect and setup the success will come as we move out of these difficult times. The work you put in over the next few weeks/months will pay off! Don’t take your foot off the gas!
A Vision Moving Forward
It might seem a long way away at the moment but you as a leader need to start laying the road to recovery. You may not know how long this pandemic will play out (but like every other crisis it will have a beginning, middle and end) but you need to give your team direction, support, hope and inspire them towards the future. How you lead through this matters.
How are you leading through the current challenges? What would you like to see from your leader during these times? Please share your thoughts and comments below.
This article is originally published at www.matthewcossens.com/blog/
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