Everyone is in the same boat, trying to figure out how to adjust their lives and move forward during these “unprecedented times”. Being a manager or business owner during this time doubles your stress and responsibility levels, because everyone is depending on your guidance and decision making. Today we will talk about some things you can do to uplift, support, and encourage your team during the increased stress and pressure brought on by the pandemic.
Let me tell you how much I absolutely LOATHE that term, “unprecedented times”. Is there really anyone who might not know that a problem of this magnitude hasn’t happened in modern times? Are history classes in school really that bad? Or just the memories of anyone over 40? I digress.
Hopefully by now your boat feels like it’s at least at cruising speed. You’ve made your plans for home schooling, or you have your masks and hand sanitizer ready. You have your designated masks for everyday life; grocery store, happy hour, formal, “oh sh*t I forgot my mask but I found this one under the back seat of my car”.
There ARE some people who are in a slightly different boat. This boat feels a little less stable. Maybe it has some holes in it. Maybe some of the people in the boat seem like they might be trying to sink the boat when you aren’t looking. This boat is your business, or the business you’re responsible for managing. You are the captain of this boat, but it may seem like this boat is not under your control right now. It’s OKAY to feel this way! You are not alone!
Managing people is hard enough under regular circumstances. OSHA safety, normal illness call outs, run of the mill complaints and issues from staff keep even the best managers busy in pre- COVID times. Now we are faced with the added pressures and issues as our businesses reopen. And there are NO guides. No one to turn to for help or advice, we are all just muddling through these rapidly changing waters together.
My Current Situation
My offices have been open the entire time. In the third week of March, when coronavirus really hit on the east coast, I pushed all admin staff to work at home, 70% of my staff were furloughed, and all but 3 providers started telehealth. Telehealth was brand new for us, as for many specialists. There isn’t much we can do for people from home, but we sure tried. We staffed only our call center and our front desk at the offices that remained open for necessary appointments.
For the month of April, we were open in only one office per day for a few hours, using minimal staff and screening prior to appointments. In May, we opened back nearly full time, and our schedules exploded. We could not have honestly not predicted we would be so busy and returned nearly our entire workforce to work by the middle of May.
I won’t lie to you, it’s been tough. I had a few good employees refuse to return. I had to have (and still do) many long, hard talks with staff who’s positions had to be eliminated or reduced for either their own safety (my marketer), or who’s positions look much, much different now. My actual days at the office are filled with being either a therapist for my staff or their staunchest defender from patients who have been trapped at home too long and are taking it out on my staff. It was exhausting. But I learned some things along the way, and I do feel like I have as much of a handle on things as I can on any given day, ha! I hope that what I have learned managing my employees through COVID-19 might help you as well.
I want to share the 10 tips I now have for managing staff through COVID!
1. Establish Trust
The first and most important step you need to take is to establish or reinforce trust with your employees. They are scared. They are worried. Many may be misinformed. Hopefully you entered COVID with a good relationship with your staff. If not, it starts over here. Say what you mean, even when it is difficult. Employees just want to know whats happening so they can plan for their lives. I establish trust with my staff through my 3 Groundwork Rules for Managing People. More than ever, your staff are looking to you for guidance on how they should feel and react at work. Working all the tips below will help you establish trust if you feel like it may be lacking.
2. COMMUNICATION.
This is the most important one. Far and away. Managers by nature MUST be good communicators. People are more sensitive and touchy than EVER. You will be needing to deliver communication quickly and efficiently, which can oftentimes be perceived as snippy and cold. Follow these guidelines for effective communication:
- Temper your communication. Do not communicate when angry or frustrated.
- Reread emails and memos three times, take all sass or sarcasm OUT.
- Be clear and concise. I post weekly updates from the CDC and our states .gov for travel guidelines.
These are just a couple quick pointers. Click here for the full COVID Communication guide.
3. Check In.
Your employees are human beings. And even though they may not seem to be under an iota of the stress that you are, THEY FEEL LIKE THEY ARE. Read that again. Everyone can only understand what they know. They need your emotional support and to feel like you care about them, which you do. Caring about people gets lost ALOT in the minutia of management. We need to bring it back to the forefront. Now there is a BIG difference between caring about your employees and being over involved in their lives, which is another topic. We still need to keep the structure of authority. A quick check in every couple of days, one on one, helps employees to feel connected and important. I have remote workers and workers in 5 different office sites, a total of 45+ humans.
I make a point of checking in with everyone at least once a week. A simple “how are you?” or “how are things going?” goes a long way. If an employee does share some personal info, I make sure to touch on it next time. A quick “how’s your mom/ baby/ house/ knitting project/ pet rock?” goes a long way towards connecting with people. Connected employees are engaged employees. Engaged employees are great employees.
4. Have Compassion.
When you have an open platform of communication with your staff, don’t just brush off their answer to your check in question. If they tell you something of value, engage with them. Ask questions. Treat them like a human being, even if you were just being pleasant and cordial. I make a point to NOT ONLY check in as a lead in to a work related discussion. People are going to have tough days. They are going to feel anxious and uncomfortable and unsure. Let them know its normal and that you can empathize with them. If someone was having a hard day, I sent them home. When they needed to unload, I let them. Make it clear that their mental and physical health is your number one priority.
5. Provide Resources.
Misinformation and gossip run rampant in even the most executive offices. Mine is no exception. The best defense is a good offense, in this case – frequently disseminated information. We use Microsoft Teams and Microsoft OneNote to provide cohesive and easily accessible communication and protocols. I ALWAYS provide scripts for my staff. It takes so much pressure off your staff to have a script. Scripts are pinned to their communication channel, and can be printed for them to have easily accessible. I provide weekly COVID-19 links to our states .gov and the CDC guidelines page. I post company wide memos and reminders, sometimes a funny GIF or emoji to lighten the mood.
Microsoft teams has great GIFs, I often will post one after a stern memo (ie: WEAR YOUR MASK, or FOR THE LOVE OF PETE PLEASE COLLECT COPAYS). I have been getting alot of use out of “person vacuuming fire” and “ostrich spinning wildly in circles”. (If you need a laugh, please google those.)
These are just a few tips to get you started as you navigate being back to managing your team during coronavirus. Tune in here for part 2! Let me know in the comments what is or isn’t working for you. Still stuck? Schedule one on one coaching with me to get you on track!
