Part I
(A three-part series, helping leaders and teams work easier, remotely.)
This has been an interesting two months of working at home, and for some individuals working remotely is a new way of life. Or as I heard today from one of my associates, ‘Moving Into Normal’, a new normal for all of us. How will we do that? What will begin to feel more normal or better than it was before!
Here are some ‘new’ strategies and policies that were gathered by Gallup Organization’s Larry Emond, from over of 100 members of a Corporate Roundtable (this is part of a larger group includes 650 of the world’s largest companies; the companies in this sampling average $27 billion in revenue with 80,000 employees and most are global organizations.)
Here’s what they are suggesting to us:
Strategies, Policies, Practices:
Dealing with Crisis:
Here are several protocols and plans to consider:
- developing succession contingencies for all major executives
- cross-training team members to perform critical functions
- documenting business-critical functions, processes or procedures
Big Hint / Ideas from Alysia
1. For each leader, executive, and intact teams: Have each individual do the Elevations for Organizations © assessment; which explores an individual’s Personality Traits, Skills / Competencies, Values, and Interests.
It also tells leaders and executives their strengths, and going forward what are the best types of jobs to line individuals in, as it leads to an organization’s succession.
It is also important for executives to ask their leaders, where they would like to go in the organization? The insights will be eye opening, and give each executive the ‘correct’ picture of the individual.
2. Reviewing your current SOP’s (Standard operating procedures):
- What parts of each person’s job do they individually enjoy?
- What parts of their job do they want to do differently or change— let’s say in 2 months from now?
- How can you as the leader make that happen?
3. Cross – Training: Based on the answers from reviewing the current SOP’s what cross training needs to happen so each person could assist their team members when needed, over the next few months and beyond.
Wellbeing
Companies are also assessing risks to their employees’ physical and financial wellbeing, from the pandemic. Their work-at-home mitigation efforts include:
- instituting mandatory work-from-home or remote work policies where possible
- making revisions to employee compensation and benefits policies
- reminding employees about mental health services for stress management
- using back-up care programs, childcare subsidies or other dependent care benefits
Big Hint / Idea from Alysia
Wellbeing:
- Ask: How are they exercising daily? What is there daily schedule?
Everything from leaving their ‘work’ room every few hours to getting fresh air to shortening their work day to stop at 4 PM, for example.
Communications
Encourage corporate leadership to continue to communicate frequently — daily, weekly or as available.
- Many leaders are issuing FAQ guides to their employees.
- Along with expert advice from their leaders, messages of encouragement, should include a genuinely personal element
Big Hint / Idea from Alysia
Communication:
- Set, for example, an 8:30 AM ‘Standup’ Monday Morning Meeting – to set the tone for the week – each department reports in, what they want to accomplish for the week
- On Friday morning ask, ‘How did we do this last week? How did they meet their goals, that they set on Monday this week?’
- Encourage individuals to complete their weekly work in a solid manner, and encourage them to each ‘leave work early’ at 4 PM on Fridays, for example.
- On Friday afternoons, invite each member of the team to do a ‘developmental’ exercise / activity; have them complete the activity and report on their results at the next Monday morning
Training
Businesses are rapidly expanding training opportunities:
- Much of it concerns managers, who are being tasked with assisting in coronavirus containment, if their organizations is still at their office site.
- Responding to employee needs or concerns, and communicating disease-management policies and preventative measures, such as hygiene practices, for those organizations still at the company’s sites.
Big Hint / Idea from Alysia
Process Analysis to set the tone for the training needed by your group:
Before new training starts, ask the group:
- What processes are working well?
- What processes need to be changed?
You’ll see the ‘gap’ between the answers to these questions; those ‘gaps’ will be the areas that need training to occur, for the most part.
Next Week – Part 2 – More Strategies, Policies, Practices & Teams Working Remotely