Practical Tools to help your business get through the crisis:
During this time of unprecedented uncertainty, we often fall into a state of fear, panic and despair. As leaders, it is crucial to lead from the front and bring a sense of peace and calmness to those who look to you for guidance.
Below I’ve laid out a few practical tips that both my brother, Simon, and I have implemented over the last 2 weeks since hearing from our President on 22nd March 2020:
Take care of yourself and your Team
- Over-communicate with your teamTeam Huddle (or “Zuddle”)
We start our week off with a team huddle (“zuddle”) to understand how people are feeling and to give praise where praise is due. This can easily be done via Zoom or another video conferencing platform. Each team member gets an opportunity to share with the rest of the team during this time. We have a few simple rules during this time: no cellphones or other chat applications open, all other applications shut down to ensure we are all focused on the huddle; it is not the time to discuss work – it’s a time to connect with everyone and share how we are doing.
Watercooler/Coffee catch-ups
Every one meets every day, from 8:00 to 8:30 in a Zoom meeting. This mimics getting into the office, grabbing a coffee and chatting with people. It’s a casual meeting and no-one is required to attend. It’s also a non-work related catch up.
WhatsApp Group
We’ve been using WhatsApp for a number of years to help increase the office banter. We share jokes, pictures and chat about our weekends, sporting events and conversational topics. We’ve found it really helps build our team and allows them to feel more comfortable with each other.
Slack
We’ve also used Slack for a number of years to help us communicate better throughout the month. We are a cloud accounting business who are able to work from any location and implemented remote working a couple of years ago. Slack ensures our team is on the same page. It reduces the number of emails and helps direct communication through slack channels. Since lockdown, we’ve added a Coronavirus channel to streamline information relevant to our clients.
Strengthen your mental health and well-being
The fallout from COVID-19 is going to have a drastic impact on people’s emotional and psychological wellbeing. Amidst social isolation, financial uncertainty, loss of resources, relational distancing and social disruption this is an unprecedented time of stress, anxiety, and fear.
We started the month of March 2020, with a new initiative internally called MyGrow. It is an emotional intelligence platform that helps you develop your EQ over time. They are currently running a free webinar series that will equip you to build psychological strength and emotional resilience in this interesting time. Use the link here – https://www.mygrow.me/healthandwellbeing/ to sign up.
Keep active
Being stuck at home is not an excuse to stop exercise. It can break your routine and there are many ways to keep fit and healthy from home.
- Make your own super circuit
- Find an online workout to follow
- Sign up for a class (Yoga, Pilates, Boxing and many more)
All of the above may feel hard, but the benefits will far outweigh the hassle. Enlist a friend or colleague to exercise with and keep each other accountable. My wife and I have started doing morning workouts together and it’s been really helpful to stay motivated.
Keep Healthy
Another really unhealthy habit when you are stuck at home is that the fridge and cupboards are much closer to your office than usual. It’s really important to stick to your nutrition routine during this time as food is often an emotional trigger and so plan out your meal times and stay away from binge eating (this is like binge Netflix, which is also likely happening).
To conclude, it is really important to ensure you are looking after yourself as a leader and keeping in constant contact with your team as they will be feeling very uncertain and fragile.
Author Peter Magner CA(SA) is Director of Iridium Business