Whilst a return to ‘normal’ isn’t imminent, with Germany exiting full lockdown it starts to give us some hope in the UK that it might not be too long before we follow. Naturally our attention begins to drift towards how we might return to a semblance of normality and how we recover. However, I believe that we could all underestimate the challenges associated with this.
In the world of international employment, there is a counter-intuitive reality that when moving jobs around the world it is the repatriating that is deceptively harder than expatriating – i.e. it feels harder to move back home than it is to move to a new country. With the challenge of COVID-19 the majority of organisations have displayed an ‘all in’ commitment to COVID-19 leadership and have recognised and responded to the challenge by communicating with and caring for their people during this tough period, but I do have a slight concern that as managers we might underestimate the challenges of the return to a more normal way of working.
For me the following 6 tactics will be instrumental in how effectively people leaders handle the return and ultimately inspire performance:
1. Stay close to your people during those first 60 days
After the burst of enthusiasm of getting back to it, the reality of what we have lost may surface, we may start to question the commute, the loss of contact with family, the hectic pace of life. The reality is many people will underestimate the emotional challenges of returning to normal and the best managers will pick up on it and provide support.2. Reset the team’s purpose
I find it remarkable how nations and the world have come together and changed their whole lifestyle in order to keep one another safe; how workers on the frontline have placed others’ welfare before themselves. Relating this to organisations, the most-high performing companies, teams and individuals are often characterised by their clarity of purpose. For those leading departments and teams there maybe value in the early stages of ramping back up to run an interactive session which answers why this team exists, who does it serve and what makes our role important to the overall company.3. Bring an element of closure to COVID-19
The reason I propose a soft closure is that some individuals will have been severely impacted, and healing will take time, however from a team perspective placing COVID-19 to one side will help people to look forward. A simple way of bringing some closure is to review what did we handle well and what could have been handled better, and to conclude with what learnings or insight we want to take with us from the period of disruption.4. Take a pause moment and think clearly
When an unexpected event happens in the cockpit, pilots are trained to ‘sit on their hands’ and do nothing (initially) but think about their options. This ‘pause’ moment or clearing of the mind helps the crew to arrive at the best course of action. The majority of employees will be excited to get back to the office and what they know – delivering projects and making a difference for customers – and our bosses will be looking for a quick start and so will many of our people. Before we know it will be back in the relentless world of business which most of us enjoy. Getting the team together virtually over the next few weeks and visualising what a good return would look and feel like will allow you to think clearly, put things in place before being overwhelmed with delivery and have a shared plan.5. Be selective on the right strategies and innovations
More organisations decline due to indigestion than to not having enough good ideas. The opportunity for greater reflection and the need for organisations to get performing will both be catalysts for new ideas and innovation. Whilst you don’t want to pour water on this energy, becoming overwhelmed with change and experimenting with new practices and processes will slow you down and create greater uncertainty at a time when employees, customers and shareholders are looking for stability.6. Clarity on how you will Fuel the performance of your people
For the organisation to recover, people are going to have to return to their previous levels of performance and then some more. Clearly it is unrealistic for this to happen unless you can better enable them to perform. As a leader are you clear what you will put in place that will enable better collective performance from the team and also how will you achieve this for each individual? |
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Review these 6 tactics and with your team decide on a list of do’s and don’ts which are going to support your people’s return to normal. Compile a 30 day ‘returning to normal’ plan divided into 3 sections and discuss and agree how you will tackle the next 30 days, visualise the roadblocks you will encounter and the key enablers which will keep you on track and, finally, agree how you will support one another. |
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