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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n1. Start by establishing new workplace norms to create a\nsense of stability.<\/strong> For most organizations, there\u2019s been disruption in\nday-to-day norms\u2014how we collaborate, communicate and get the job done. That\u2019s\ncausing a lot of stress, and it adds to the stress most people are feeling in\ntheir personal lives, too. Leaders can help by establishing a clear set of new\nnorms for the workplace. For example, there\u2019s a proliferation of technologies\nfor working virtually\u2014Zoom, GoToMeeting, WebEx, text messaging, Slack, Google\nHangouts, FaceTime, etc. However, this abundance of choice (combined with the\nlikelihood that different people in your organization are using different platforms)\nadds to the sense of confusion and disruption. Leaders need to set new\nstandards and expectations for how their teams collaborate in the new virtual\nenvironment. \u201cWhich videoconferencing platform should we use?\u201d \u201cWhen should we\nhave a videoconference vs. a conference call?\u201d \u201cShould we be sending text\nmessages or using email?\u201d These issues may seem like small details, but they\u2019re\nnot. They\u2019re really about re-establishing a sense of predictably and stability\nin the workplace. Take the lead in establishing new norms and expectations for\nyour organization to collaborate, communicate and get the work done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Don\u2019t make assumptions about your people\u2019s ability to\nwork effectively a virtual environment.<\/strong> It\u2019s natural to assume that your\nhighest performers in the prior work environment will also be the highest\nperformers in the new virtual environment; that\u2019s a risky assumption! Working\neffectively from home requires a different set of skills\u2014more autonomy and\nindependence, comfort with being alone, better skills at self-organizing, the\nability to focus and resist distraction, a productive physical work environment\nat home, and more. The fact that one of your colleagues was a \u201crock star\u201d when\nworking in the office does not necessary mean that he or she will be as\nproductive in a virtual environment. Let go of assumptions, take the time to\nnotice who\u2019s adapting well and who may not be, and provide additional guidance\nand support where needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Any existing problems in your culture will likely\nescalate, so be vigilant.<\/strong> The sudden catapult into this virtual environment\ntends to exacerbate whatever organizational challenges existed before. For\nexample, if colleagues didn\u2019t communicate well before, communication is now\nharder, so the problem will likely get worse. If there was a problem with\nemployee engagement, now that people are working from home, engagement will\nlikely decline even more. Now is the time for leaders to pay extra attention to\nwhatever \u201ccracks\u201d they\u2019ve noticed in their organizations in the past, and take\nintentional steps to make sure the cracks don\u2019t widen into canyons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Good communication is more important than ever.<\/strong>\nEncourage your people to think about their communication choices. Here\u2019s a\nframework I\u2019ve given my clients for years: I call it the one, two and three\ndimensions of communication rule, and it\u2019s even more important now. Whenever\nyou need to communicate, think about how many \u201cdimensions\u201d of communication you\nneed. Written communication is one-dimensional\u2014you only have the words on the\npage. A phone call is two-dimensional communication, because you have both the\nwords and voice inflection to communicate your message. In-person communication\n(or videoconferencing) is three-dimensional, because you have words, voice\ninflection and body language. In general, the more complex or emotionally\ncharged the situation, the more dimensions of communication you need to\nleverage. Most of us have seen cases where people got into a misunderstanding\nover email that could have easily been resolved with a face-to-face\nconversation. That\u2019s because they defaulted to one-dimensional communication,\nwhen they needed three dimensions. Now that many of us are working virtually,\nit\u2019s easy to default to fewer dimensions; and at a time when we\u2019re all operating\nunder more stress and uncertainty, that can be disastrous. Encourage your\npeople to be mindful of the message and think about when they need more\ndimensions of communication. When in doubt, pick up the phone, or (better yet)\nset up a video chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. This is a time to focus on your \u201cpeople\u201d skills.<\/strong>\nPerhaps most importantly of all,leading in this new virtual environment is more\nchallenging because much of the human-to-human contact that is vital for\nengagement has been lost. For example, if you practiced \u201cmanagement-by-walking-around\u201d\nor had an open-door policy, that\u2019s gone now. At the same time, the stress,\ndisruption and isolation that most people are feeling increases the need for\nhuman contact. As a leader, you need to replace at least some of what\u2019s been lost,\nwhich means focusing on your people skills. Increase your visibility,\ncommunicate more often and look for opportunities to engage more with your\nemployees. This is a time when (despite working from home) you should make more\nof an effort to connect with your team, check in and ensure that they know\nyou\u2019re available. Above all, make sure your people know you are there for them\nas we all navigate this difficult time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Gerry Valentine, Public Speaker, Executive Coach, Business Advisor It\u2019s been four weeks since \u201cstay-at-home\u201d caused most of us to transition to remote working. For some, like people in California, it\u2019s been even longer. I\u2019ve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[290,300],"class_list":["post-1202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-crisis","tag-leadership"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/towncryyers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/GettyImages-1092408816-e1584465337482-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C699&ssl=1\")
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