It may be an absolute struggle to keep your team positive. You may have had to furlough and lay off part or even most of your workforce, and maybe your biggest struggle right now is keeping your own chin up. We get it, we really do. These are trying times, but all these rough circumstances are going to break us, re-mold us and we are going to emerge a stronger and more motivated community, with our priorities readjusted and our resolve stronger than it’s ever been. That is what you have to focus on. That is what you must remind your team. That is what will drive you forward through the storm.
We often forget to look at the mental implications in the business world. Long hours, scrambling to meet deadlines, resolving conflicts, finding solutions for obstacles both big and small… There are a number of stressing factors throughout any given business day (even weekends), and in a situation like this, you can just multiply it by 100 (maybe even more). You have to recognize the effect that it has on your mindset, as well as your staff. You have to be intentional about how you navigate your mindset around the negative clouds that approach you at every turn. Because your mindset determines how you weather the storm. It determines how you survive.
So how do you keep morale up during these times? There are many ways, and the important part is that you do something. Consistently. We have chosen a few of our favorites to help you get started.
1. Visibility
Being present is the most important way to boost morale for your team. Stay connected. There is so much fear and uncertainty infiltrating our workforce, and silence is the greatest antagonist. Set up consistent communications, updates, meetings. Zoom is our friend right now, it gives everyone who is chained to their home office an opportunity to remember that we’re all in this together. In these meetings, make sure to be encouraging, informative and make certain to give everyone tasks and keep them accountable by checking in on benchmarks and goals.
2. Transparency
Everyone is looking for answers to a multitude of questions, and that includes your team. Maybe they are asking questions that you couldn’t even possibly know the answers to, but you have to give them the information that you do have access to. However, during this dark and uncertain time, it is up to leaders to take a calm and consistent tone coupled with measured actions when it comes to longer-range plans. Be straightforward, but kind. Remember that transparency is the key component to trust from your workforce – think like a reporter and provide constituents the who-what-when-where-why, so they don’t fill in the blanks themselves with rumors.
3. Confidence
Your team will look to their leaders and their response to any given circumstance. Think about when you were younger and you gauged a situation by the reaction of your parents. How you carry yourself and react, along with how you communicate information will be analyzed down to the bones. Understanding the importance of how you remain calm and confident influences your team morale.
4. Flexibility with Expectations
Be clear on essential daily productivity benchmarks, but be empathetic & flexible with company policies. Crisis WFH conditions present logistical and emotional challenges. Tensions can rise quickly where any combination of family are all in the home during work (spouses, younger children, or college-age students who have returned from campus for the semester, and elder care concerns are all stressors). Keep in mind that we are all humans, and not everyone is accustomed to this new working environment and all the new distractions and stressors that come along with it. Kindness and compassion must be factored into this new work environment, but that does not mean that expectations should fall by the wayside, they just need to be tailored to the reality of the situation.
5. Resources
Keeping with the theme of “being human”, it is no secret that mental health is a vital issue in this crisis. Because that’s what we are dealing with, a crisis. Along with that comes so many issues that will complicate your workforce’s focus in individual ways. Take time to check in on people individually and provide resources should they be experiencing more anxiety than normal. Connect them with therapists, someone to help guide them through their struggles. Provide them with resources should their family be struggling to put food on the table, a list of local pantries offering free food or reduced pricing. Perhaps you could even start your own community pantry for your workforce, collecting food, toys and hygiene essentials that some members of your team may be in need of.
Keep Your Chin Up
We know that the most important way to provide this example is also through your own mental strength. Make sure to take care of yourself as the leader, not only to set the example, but also to influence the success of navigating these tough circumstances and remember… we’re all in this together!
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