A few days ago, we facilitated the first of four ‘Managers in Lockdown’ conversations with a group of Senior HR and L&D leaders.
We were interested in helping managers remain productive from home, and also in exploring how they could maintain and even grow levels of accountability within the teams they manage.
Four key themes emerged from the discussion:
FOCUS
- Set clear goals and monitor progress, rather than activity.
- Prioritise what’s really important and defer what’s not.
- Let team members decide where to focus their attention to achieve priorities.
- Whilst a template for the new normal is not yet available, look for opportunities to innovate and start planning for recovery.
EXPECTATIONS
- Be clear with your team members what they can expect from you.
- Be clear about your expectations of others.
- Move from managing presence to managing outcomes
INCLUSION
- Include everyone. Make sure physical in-groups do not also become virtual ones.
- Make it easy for people to share what’s working and what’s not from one day to the next
- Everyone is at a different stage, help them to feel comfortable with where they are
EMOTIONS
- Ask people how they are feeling, really listen to what they say and show empathy
- Recognise the need to cut people slack where necessary. They’re doing their best
- Allow space and time for people to work through what they are experiencing personally, and validate their emotions without feeling the need to fix
What do you think? What advice would you give to managers trying to keep their team members productive?
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