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.