Leading in Uncertain Times – Covid 19 #5

1.     Team clarity on the values of the organisation and the behaviours they have committed to, that demonstrate those values. While the values won’t have changed, maybe you will have found it useful to tweak some of the behaviours the team commits to. How does your team rate?

1.     All team members have clear (S.M.A.R.T.) goals. Those goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Trackable. A couple of points to note on SMART goals.  Regarding the R of relevant. Have the goals been reviewed to ensure they are relevant in the context of the remote working environment? as well as what the organisation needs of them at this time? And about the M of measurable. Effective goals will have BOTH a quantitative measure and a qualitative measure. The quantitative ensures the deliverables occur. The qualitative should ensure the deliverables are delivered in a sustainable way.  With greater remote working, you may have needed to review the goals of some or all of the team members. If the goals were not reviewed, perhaps the measures, in particular the qualitative measures may have needed to be reviewed.  How does your team rate?

1.     Ongoing Monitoring and Coaching is the next element of sound practice in leading and managing performance. 

This is the regular one-to-one and team catch ups to discuss the team or individual plan, how they are progressing towards that plan, the relevance of that plan, reviewing the plan as needed and, problem solving any issues.  For these sessions to be effective the leader will be skilled as a facilitator and coach.  With the increase in remote working, I expect how this is being done to have changed significantly.  The opportunities for casual interactions, guidance, support, encouragement and problem solving is markedly changed with remote work. This is all done with electronic media in the remote environment.  A response from leaders and teams in many places is the daily (or frequency as appropriate) team meetings by video or phone as well as one-to-one meetings between leaders and team members.  Ongoing contact throughout the workday by phone and video between leaders and team members as well as between team members is encouraged. 

The higher the ratings on the above four things, the stronger the team performance will be and the less under-performance issues you are likely to experience.

If underperformance issues are emerging beyond the usual small percentage of people, it is likely that investing in the above will yield the greatest result.  Given the interactive challenges of remote working, any action on 1 and 2 may be impractical for now, as these discussions are best held with people physically present. This leaves discussing goals and the ongoing monitoring and coaching as the vehicles available to you to enhance the performance of the team.

It would be far too glib to suggest the above paragraph provides the solutions you need to address this. So, if you having an issue in this regard and are looking for solutions, please feel free to contact me through this channel and we can discuss possible solutions.

Leading in Uncertain Times - Covid-19 #4

I am struggling to find an innovative way to say this, but please accept the intensity of these words is far greater than pre pandemic times.  “I hope you and your families are well and safe.”

Like you all, we have been practicing the physical distancing requirements.  To practice ‘social connection’, we have made calls to various people in our lives and we have enjoyed a couple of video meals where people have all joined together by video and had a meal at the same time.  The technology worked amazingly well for us and we were able to have a great mix of in-depth and light-hearted conversations, like we all do when we gather with family and friends.

 For this edition I thought it would be useful to revisit the concept of the impact of change on people. The tool I will utilise is one developed here at Organisational Capability Solutions (OCS) called ‘Diagnosing likely Support/Resistance to Change.  I have incorporated David Rock’s SCARF model in this thinking.

In addition to the SCARF factors, you will observe the additional factors of:

• Relative time to adapt and, 

• Level of Control.  

Relative time to adapt refers to the amount of time a person has to consider, prepare for and adapt to the change.  In principle, the more time we have to do these things, the more likely we are to at least, not resist the change.

Level of Control refers to the ‘control’ the person had in making this change happen.  The principle being that the ‘changer’ will be more supportive of a change than the ‘changee’.  So the more influence and positive involvement a person has in bringing the change about, the more supportive and less resistant they will be to the change.

In terms of the levels of resistance and support to a change, the next level of detail of the model is shown here.

I hope you will have expected that the highest level of resistance will occur when conditions place people in the bottom left hand corner and the highest support will occur when conditions place people in the top right corner.

To the extent that it is possible, you can influence the levels of support/resistance by adjusting the factors of Control, Time, and Personal Impact.

Strategies for leaders on how we can respond to each of these 9 positions on this matrix is shown at the third level of the model.

Let us utilise this model to evaluate our level of support/resistance for our organisational response to Covid 19.

 Starting with ‘Time to Adapt.

This has clearly been short. Earlier this year people had heard about it on the news but in my experience, there was a low level of recognition that it would impact on our shores. The same way SARS had minimal impact in Australia. So when we started to actually take clear actions of responding the time felt short.  I’d suggest that initially this put us in the left-hand column. As time has elapsed, our people (and ourselves) are now progressing to the right.  You decide where you and your people are on this.

Leaders actions

To increase ’Time to Adapt’ from here you can:

• Continually forecast to your people what any likely and possible further responses from your organisation are.  

• Keep these forecasts real and include the level of likelihood in the forecast. 

• Build confidence in you and the organisation by including the processes you will utilise to make and execute that decision.

• Give leaders in your organisation enough information so they can discuss and translate the information and its implications at the team and individual levels.

 Level of Control

What say did people have in the measures that have been implemented.  When a fast response is needed, there may reasonably not be the opportunity for people to have input or influence on the measures taken, but as a leader it is beneficial to be aware that such a situation will negatively impact on the support/resistance to those measures. Those in the health and care sectors will have perceived this as a reasonable level of control, because they were already aware of the type of protocols that are needed in a pandemic.  Those in other sectors probably perceived a lower level of control.  Where did your people land when you assessed the level of control they had on the changes (made to date and being developed) associated with the pandemic?

            Leaders Action

To increase ‘Level of Control from here you can:

• Provide opportunities for people to have input into the measure that need to be implemented.

• If the measures are decided, endeavor to provide opportunities for input into how the measures are to be implemented.

• When communicating the measures, include clear articulation of how input was obtained and

• If the above are not practicable, invest in thorough and timely explanations as to why the steps are being taken, including opportunities for people to question the reasons for the actions taken.

• Equip leaders to address questions and concerns about the measures being taken.

• Be prepared to admit that some of the actions taken, in hindsight, may not have been optimal. It can then be added that action was needed and the decision makers made the best decision they could in the time they had with the information available at that time.

 SCARF Factors

These factors were discussed in issue 1 of this series. And I note that if I was writing that issue now, I would rephrase some of the language.  That is because it is likely that the restrictions that we will be required to adhere to, to address the pandemic are likely to go on longer than I anticipated at the time of writing issue 1.  A symptom of the current uncertainties.

How are the requirements of the pandemic impacting the Status of you people? If your people are experiencing loss of income (partial or total) that will move them down the matrix. In certain sectors, status will increase. Look at the public outpouring of support for health workers.

            Leaders Action

To increase status from here you can:

• Promote any positive role your organisation is having in your community through these times, and therefore the importance of each role in the organisation.

• Remind your people that keeping a business afloat and people employed, is a contribution to the community.

• Remind people that following authorities’ advice on physical distancing is important and is helping the community, so anything you and your people are doing to enhance physical distancing, matters.

What is the impact on the Certainty for your people?  Two weeks ago, before the various economic stimulus packages, certainty for many would have been lower than it is because of those packages. Even so, how are your people responding to the highly changeable nature of the pandemic response by governments, organisations and others in their lives. What is their level of certainty for issues away from work such as the wellbeing of their loved-ones?

            Leaders Action

To increase Certainty from here you can:

• Reinforce, enable and insist on the full application of the hygiene measures to prevent acquiring and spreading covid-19.

• Provide your people with quality and ongoing information about the status of your organisation and what is being done to keep it sustainable.

• If the organisation is not sustainable, investigate and inform your people of the provisions available to them to support themselves and their families.

• Remind people that while this is going to persist for a while, there will be an end point to it.

• Keep talking about what certainties there are such as:

o   There are customers that need your product or service

o   Even if the need for your product or service has diminished for now, that need will return.

o   We are fortunate to live in a very robust society which has solid safety nets for us.

o   We are fortunate to live in a society that is taking relatively strong steps to minimise the negative health impacts of this illness.

Let’s look at Autonomy. What is the impact of control over one’s environment? My observation is that many people now working from home, are feeling a slightly increased level of control over their work, but clearly less control in their lives overall because we have lost the choices to go out.  For those who have concern about the virus infecting them or their family directly, the instruction to stay at home is likely to be a comfort and increase the sense of autonomy.

            Leaders Action

To increase Autonomy from here you can:

• Look for ways to involve people in determining any changes that need to be made.

• While setting whatever clear boundaries and standards that are required, and within the capability of each of your people, actively look for opportunities for people to make their own decisions within those boundaries.

Looking at Relatedness, is there a change in their relationship status (not the Facebook kind) with others? This may be influenced by the extent to which the physical isolation is causing social isolation versus an experience of social connectedness.  

            Leaders Action

To increase Relatedness from here you can:

• Keep in touch yourself with each of your people.

• Expect and enable leaders at all levels to do the same.

• Facilitate the engagement between people using the various digital technologies available. Consider enhancing the technologies available to your people to improve the engagement experience.

• Get your people together virtually just for the sake of getting them together with the agenda items just about; sharing their experiences, unloading, supporting each other, looking for the positives and funny experiences in what has been going on for them and, having some fun.

• Remember significant events for individuals and the team. If you marked an occasion (such as birthdays, other anniversaries, achievements) when your co-located, keep marking the occasion while you at located at a distance.

Lastly, Fairness.  What is the perception of fairness that your people are experiencing? Are your people feeling “we are all in this together” that our political leaders are repeating? Or do they feel they are carrying a heavier burden than others.  For those who have ‘faired’ well out of any responses by the organisation to the pandemic, do they feel that others have been treated unfairly.  The perception of how others are treated can have a similar impact on support/resistance as the perception of the treatment they personally receive.

            Leaders Action

To increase Fairness from here you can:

• Ensure any decision-making processes are in fact, ‘fair’.

• Be transparent about any processes.  If you’re not comfortable being transparent, people will reasonably consider there is something not fair happening.

• Lead for the top in terms of any sacrifices that need to be made. I heard an example last wrecently where an organisation had to cut salaries.  The cuts went as follows:

o   General staff   25%

o   Executive        40%

o   CEO                 50%

Ensure people know that this happening.

A Common Thread

If you are reading this blog you have already demonstrated a passion for leadership. And leadership is the common thread through all of the above actions.  These actions take commitment, energy and skill.  I urge all organisational leaders once again, to not skimp on the resourcing of the leadership functions, both in terms of the priority they make of their own time and, the number and capability of the people in the leadership functions of your organisation.

As a senior leader, your junior leaders need you to mentor, coach and re-energise them so they in turn, can fulfill the needs of their people.  Your more junior leaders may be resilient, but they are also human and ongoing demands without a boost will drain them. They need such support from you.

Then there are your needs. You need a boost too.  To get your boost some options are:

• Have your leader fill that role.

• Ask an external mentor (such as a former boss or someone else you respect) to help in this role.

• Work with one or more peers within or without of your organisation and fill this role for each other.

• Work with a professional coach.

• A combination of the above.

You already know that your behaviour will set the standard for the rest of the leaders in your organisation, so again, I urge you to make this activity a priority.  It will be good for you and if you are feeling more effective, your organisation will benefit too.

Please feel free to share any of your experiences with followers of this blog/post.

Leading in Uncertain Times - Covid 19 #3

I do hope you and your families are all well and keeping safe.

This is the third article on the above.  As before, it is intended as a tool to assist you in your role as a leader of and in, your organisation.

In a video call this morning I heard a great reframing of the term ‘social distancing’.  I intend to adopt it and encourage you all to do the same.

 I will now refer to ‘physical distancing and social connection’.  I like the combination of the practical guidance for keeping us all safe along with the message of support for people.

 As I was this morning, I expect the vast majority of you are spending increasing amounts of time in various forms of virtual meetings. You are likely to be developing increasing familiarity with online meeting technology and formats.  

 In the spirit of the above reframing to ‘physical distancing and social support’, I thought it might be useful to explore some ‘social support’ methods you can adopt in these meetings. 

Familiarity with Technology

For all the virtual gatherings to be effective, their needs to be some level of competency with the technology being used.  Consider if everyone is familiar with the technology you are using. I have been part of presentations where technology briefings have ben held ahead of the gathering. In most cases, taking 5 minutes to explain how to access the different functions of the technology you are using is adequate. The functions you intend to use in the session provide context here but functions such as hand-up, chat, mute and video-on/off, may be a minimum that is needed.

 Here are 11 ‘social support’ methods you can use.

Acknowledgement of Country (2 options)

Most organisations take time to commence many gatherings, especially where external people are involved, with the acknowledgement of country.  This can of course continue with the host providing the appropriate acknowledgement to the appropriate traditional landowners.

As an add on, consider providing a screen that participants can annotate to add the name of the traditional owners of where they are attending the meetings from.  I recommend participation in the activity is optional.

This will reinforce the organisation’s values around cultural inclusion of indigenous peoples as well help any First Nations Peoples feel even more included.

Wellbeing Check in (4 optons)

Given the physical distancing, combined with the reasons for the physical distancing, providing time for this will generally be appreciated.  I am sure your organisation has a value around people or respect or something similar.  Demonstrate that value by allocating some time to it. Also, by allowing some time for this at the start of the meeting, people will feel a little less burdened with the personal stresses and more able to contribute to the purpose of the meeting. As always, context is everything, so allocate time as appropriate to that context.

For small groups it may be appropriate to go around the group and ask for a one-minute update on their own situation.  I have done this in an even shorter way by asking people to give a simple score out of 10 on their personal wellbeing.  

For larger groups this can be done by inviting people to utilise the chat function to give a score out of 10 or a short description.

 The polling tool can be used to let the group express how they are feeling. This is not particularly intimate, but it provides the opportunity for people to express their current state and lets people see that they are not alone in what they are experiencing. Or maybe they will see that they are better off than others.  

 A variation on this is to provide a slide with images of different emotional states and ask people to utilise the annotation to function to show where they are emotionally.

Where are we all from (2 options)

For small groups this can be part of the personal introductions. If your meeting involves larger numbers from a range of locations, consider providing a map of suitable geography on the screen. It could be a map of your city, your state your country the continent, the hemisphere or the world. For a webinar I am facilitating next week I will utilise a map of Australia. For a webinar I am facilitating in May, it will be a map of the world. 

Invite people to use the annotation tool and mark on the map where they are from, facilitate a short discussion about what the maps tells the group or invite people to comment via the chat function as appropriate. This will help to provide connection between participants. 

Creating Some Laughter (3 options)

 This can be used to help people settle into the meeting, to mark a shift in the agenda or as an energizer.

One approach is to ask the group ‘what made you laugh out loud today, this week’ etc.

 This can be done around the group verbally, using the chat function or by having the groups use the annotate function and providing a slide for the people to write some text onto.

Another approach is to ask people to come to the meeting with a meme, quote or image they found particularly funny. At the appropriate point in the meeting ask a few people to share what they brought (using screen share) and invite people to comment either verbally or by the chat function.

 In the current climate you might ask people to bring along something humorous relevant to the covid-19 virus, or maybe explicitly NOT related to the covid-19 virus. Whatever you think would help the group have a little fun.

The third offering here is to invite participants to provide the text to a caption. I have included one here that Cheryle Walker showed me.  If you want to create some laughter, provide a humorous image.

I will return to this theme of enhancing virtual meetings at a later article in this series.

Leading In Uncertain Times Covid-19. #2

Here is my second article on the above. as before I hope this will be another tool that will assist you to get on with the work of leading your people in these even more than usual, of uncertain times.

The concept is not new, the post is intended to bring the concept back to the front-of-mind, and deliver it in the context of the uncertainty we are all experiencing now.

Concept #2 Circle of Influence versus Circle of Concern

To remind you of the model. We all have many things in the Circle of Concern. In the current context, COVID-19 and its possible impacts are of a concern to many. A basic concern is ‘what if I get sick? If I do how sick will I get? Will I die? If I get sick and I can’t work, how will I pay my bills etc. What if my children, elderly parents, or grandparents get sick. What if I can’t get enough <fill this space with things in addition to toilet paper>. What if they close the schools? how will I care for my child and still maintain an income? What if they don’t close the schools and my child gets infected? And the list goes on. There is nothing incorrect about these thoughts. They are typical human reactions.

Unfortunately focussing on the concerns alone is not particularly helpful. It creates unhelpful levels of anxiety, distress, sense of being overwhelmed, pessimism and <insert the negative emotions you have observed in others or possibly even yourself>.

The Circle of Influence, as the name implies, are the things we can do something about, or even control.

In the context of the COVID-19, there are helpful and unhelpful things we can influence:

What are the unhelpful things we can influence that you have seen?

Here is my list:

• The run on toilet paper and other items in the stores

• Following UNinformed advice about what is safe/not safe to do for your own family and others.

• Spending extensive time on media soaking up as much of the negative information as time permits.

• Utilising all of every social contact to talk about how bad COVID-19 is.

The blanks are for you to add to.

What are the helpful things we can influence that you have seen.

My list is:

• Be considerate of others in your own purchasing patterns, while trying to understand others may see the need to buy disproportionately more.

• Be informed from credible information sources on what are safe and hygienic practices in our current context.

• Take time to be informed about the current state of events and things you need to know, then ensure you spend time on the regular aspects of your life.

• Incorporate the level of hygiene practices advised by sources you find credible and fit your life circumstance, while continuing with the other aspects of your life. Especially the positive ones like family, friends, work and hobbies.

• Show empathy for yourself and others about COVID-19 when you do meet up with people, and ensure you discuss other things, especially positive things.

• Be safe and keep others safe.

• Be courteous.

• Remember, this will pass.

• Keep a sense of perspective. As a friend of mine posted recently, what we are enduring here is mild compared to what our ancestors endured in times of war and other crisis.

• If you are quarantined, focus on how you can use that time to do things you ‘never seem to have time for’. Read that book, do that project, paint that room, write that paper, do that (on-line) course, rest.

• If income for you is reduced, take time to review your budget and contact your credit provider(s) to review repayment arrangements.

• Be grateful we live in a time and country where quality medicines are available to us and the ones we love.

What else can you add?

If people focus on the positive aspects of influence, they will feel a greater sense of control, be happier, less distressed, more empowered etc. This will enable people to get on with the tasks that need to be done, be that to care for themselves and others or their work.

So how can you apply this as a leaders.

1. Recognise the circle of concern reactions are human.

2. Give people space to express these concerns, then guide the conversations to matters people can influence.

3. When concerns are expressed, pose questions like:

   • What can you do about that?

   • Who can you get to help you with that?

   • What suggestions do you have to address that concern and get these other things done?

   • If we can’t fix that completely, what make it not quite so difficult?

   • On a scale of 1 -10, how big an issue is this?

   • Along with allowing people to express concerns, keep people focussed on the work they are employed for. Your customers need their work to be done.

4. Take time to understand the needs of your people? Who has the relatives and other loved-ones that are more at risk for COVID-19, and what do they need, as far as practicable, to address those needs.

   1. Flexible work arrangements will come up a lot.

   2. The need to socially isolate.

   3. Time to visit, check-in on loved-ones.

   4. Help with being distracted from the negative conversation.

   5. The need to be more hygienically cautious.

   6. The need to accompany loved-ones to medical appointments.

Lastly - Your Needs

Take time to care for yourself. You can’t help anyone else if you are flat out being a great leader for your team and have things in your home life that need to be addressed. Respect your needs as well as those of your people. Be prepared to seek help from others. This includes your leader, your team members and your social networks.

Keep yourself and the ones you love safe.

Leading in Uncertain Times - COVID-19. #1

To assist you our clients, I wanted to provide tools that will assist you to get on with the work of leading your people in these even more than usual, of uncertain times. Over the coming days, I will provide concepts that I hope you find useful in fulfilling your leadership roles.
Many of you will have learnt a number of the concepts before. These emails are intended to bring the concepts back to the front-of-mind, and deliver them in the context of the uncertainty we are all experiencing now.
I hope the 'bite-size' format of delivery makes their consumption practicable.

Keep yourselves and your people well.
Gordon Brockway
Founder

Concept 1 - David Rock's SCARF Model.

Using David Rock's SCARF Model, here are some suggestions to assist your organisation lead more effectively through any current uncertainty.
Status:
Assure people of their status wherever and whenever you can. In most cases their status will not diminish. In some cases, their status will increase, such as health workers.
My current thinking is that the people at risk are casual workers who are likely to be the first to have their hours reduced or even have no work offered. What can you do to assure their status? Can you promise to call them first when the work resumes. Is there any work you can have done by them that will help you prepare for the upswing when this is over. And if the schools are closed for a time, how do you maintain the status of the people who will need time off to care for our children. Use of leave certainly, and you can take the lead in ensuring they are not criticised in any way for being a parent.  Can you be more creative in job share, part-time and working from home arrangements, so people can meet their vital parent obligations and still support your business.
Certainty
Again for many, longer-term work can be assured.  Most of our organisations will exist at the end of this disruption, and most of your people will have a job, the same job, at the end of it.  
Those taking time off to care for others can be given certainty if you choose to.  Some industries will shrink or even close for a time. What certainty can you give them when reopening occurs?  People who lose income due to closures may have other uncertainties in their lives such as meeting mortgage and other credit responsibilities.  You can assist your people by directing them to relevant government agencies (centrelink) and encourage them to talk to their credit providers about making arrangements to obtain adjustments to their repayments during this period.  
Ensure you have optimal infection control plans in place and they are being implemented.
Utilise technology to minimise the need for direct personal interaction.
Remind people that this period will pass, we don't know when, but it will pass.
Autonomy
Some suggestions from me here are:

• Where practicable give as much choice as you can about work arrangements such as part time, work from home and job sharing.

• Provide people with quality information on Covid-19 and appropriate infection control. Then ensure you provide people with the tools and materials to apply such measures.  Enforce minimum standards, but allow people to take extra steps if that gives them comfort.

• To increase the physical space between people, can you create more space for people to work. Utilise the spaces created by people working from home, Utilise meeting rooms as work spaces, open up any closed down work areas.

• Involve your people in making suggestions and developing suitable responses.

Relatedness
This is about optimising the level of a sense of belonging to a group. Challenging when the response to such a virus is to minimise personal interaction. My suggestions here are:

• Increase the internal communication about the organisation's actions in relation to COVID-19.

• Where your organisation has a direct role in addressing the virus, proudly explain how the work of your organisation is helping others.

• Ensure that communication includes quality information on how the people (staff, customers, others) are being cared for by your organisation.

• Provide updates on anyone who has been impacted by the illness (with their permission of course).

• Continue to celebrate personal milestones, just do it with less close personal contact.

• In communications, include staff who are on leave and casuals who's services are not being utilised for now.

• With handshakes now deemed unhealthy, create new ways to do personal greetings. You can have some fun with this. I am personally promoting the 'elbow bump', the'air high-five', also known as the 'wi-five' and, the 'foot tap'.

• Create opportunities to share resources, both for work as-well-as those required at home.  

• As leaders, take time to be seen (hygienically) around your organisation.  This may include VC'ing into meetings.

Fairness
Extra care is required to ensure that your responses are not only fair, but seen to be fair. So your executive team can work from home and be relatively safe. What are the options for your frontline people? How will you keep them safe? And equally importantly ensure everyone knows you have kept them safe.
What resources are being allocated to ensure their safety and well-being?
If you are moving into the space of having to reduce staff numbers, what are you doing to ensure equity in how those decisions are taken.
You may choose to take a 'we are all in this together approach'.  While cashflow will be a major issue for many organisations, can you share the income loss around by:

• Reducing hours more uniformly, e.g. moving to a shorter work week.

• Having higher earning employees (probably like you) reducing your salary for a time. This may or may not be paid back at a point in the future.

• Utilising leave accruals. This doesn't save cash now but it does reduce a liability.

Leadership is Real Work
All of the above takes leadership.  Leadership in this context is going to mean engagement, listening, thoughtful responses, continual and quality communications with; your staff, your customers and other stakeholders.  So this is not a time to expect your leaders to be extra resources for the frontline.  Your leaders need to do the work of leading and managing.  In addition to the higher demands on your leadership work, their will be extra demands on the management work of planning, organising, controlling, developing, motivating and staffing.  This is the work that will leverage the effectiveness of your frontline people. So I urge you to consider the resourcing levels for the leadership and management work just as seriously as you would for the frontline work.