It’s a marathon — not a sprint

Coronavirus, a global crisis that will go down in history. This period will be written in textbooks, documentaries shall be filmed, and we’ll always remember this time as, quite frankly, a daunting one.

People have described it as the modern plague, and with technology ever-evolving, the best thing that we can do is help each other out, listen, and share resources, because now more than ever (definitely not trying to copy the Tesco Slogan) we need to.

In this blog, I’ll share what us, as Ops leaders, have learnt so far (what week are we in again?! What day is it?!) with everything being turned upside down, no clear idea of when it will end, and when our new norm (because let’s face it, it won’t go back to the way it was) will commence.

Thank you to everyone that has contributed, and I hope that with this blog, you too, can take something from this.

Crisis Management

We can all agree on the fact that the situation remains largely unknown: the duration, the outcome and all in-between. With this, it’s essential to understand that this is a marathon and not a sprint: a time where “cash is king”, and crisis management is the primary goal.

It is vital that you will need to look and monitor your finances closely. Firstly, think about the following questions:

• How long is your runway?
• Can you flex different budgets and add it to your runway?
• When are you next thinking of fundraising, and what are the KPIs you need to show in order to get such investments?

Secondly:

• What are the IT tools that you can do without?
• Can you negotiate on any rent/services?

Thirdly:

• Conduct financial plan of your best and worst-case scenario

Communication between senior management will be crucial here. Agility and flexibility will be your strength. Monitor the situation closely, and take preventative action.

Team

Remote working might be new to some, and the norm for others. But for those in which the environment is completely new, it might feel strange and lonely, and anxiety will probably be at its high.

First and foremost: Have you taken the time to understand the setup of your employees? Going beyond the screen, keyboard and mouse situation (do set aside a budget if they need something to comfortably work from home), do they live alone? If so, how can you help them still have that social aspect that is scarce at this moment? Do they have children? If so, it can be extremely hard juggling working from home, and taking care of children. How can your company help them? Questions remain plenty, but the key aspect is comprehending that personal and professional lines are going be blurred and that it’s OK. Get the children to come into video calls, the pets, the parents, so as to be more inclusive and keep the team bonding.

Observing team morale is crucial. It is of utmost importance to keep positivity high, to keep everyone laughing and to continue trying to have those fun conversations that you might have with different employees when making a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

How can you possibly do this remotely? Below are a couple of ideas:

• Daily challenge/task for each day e.g. sharing baby or pet pictures, piece of art in their home
• Pub quiz — Normal pub quiz format is an all-time favourite, but maybe putting a category on “fun facts about the team” so you still keep bonding
• Random scavenger hunt e.g. finding a word and taking a picture of it
• Lunch and learns from different people in the team — have someone present on something they are interested in
• Keep praising the internal success that goes on in the company
• Create an internal newsletter with things that going on in the company, recommended podcasts/playlist by the employees
• Team Wellbeing — Have someone in the team conduct a Yoga session, or challenge each other with bike rides

I love that show^^^

Communication

What becomes apparent when working remotely is the significance and the importance of communication and transparency. When working in the office you get used to the “tapping of the shoulder” or calling someone's name so you can ask them a quick question. Clearly, when working remotely this is eliminated and what follows is this obscure cloud, along with our good friend “assumption”. What probably supersedes is the need to book meetings to talk about different topics, and the next thing you know your calendar is full of meetings with little time to get work done.

What is accentuated is (a) time management (b) processes in place © misinterpretation. Whilst it’s easy, and at the time it probably makes sense to set up meetings, it’s vital to really understand what makes more sense: Meeting vs. Quick 5 minute call on the spot. Where minds differ on this, it comes with the right process and correct tools to give your employees so they can make the decision. Questions to ask: What is the outcome of the meeting is. Who is the decision-maker? Do people need to prep beforehand, and is there somewhere where the notes are stored. One of the best videos out there about meetings is from Claire Huges, COO of Stripe, that best describes running an effective staff meeting. Lastly, misinterpretation. It’s sometimes hard for a joke to come across in a Slack message. What’s more, is that people can interpret what you say in different ways. Just remember, that all misunderstandings on slack/email can always be resolved with a quick 5-minute call.

Finally, another common theme is that when working remotely, it can quickly highlight the people that you work closely with. With those that you don’t interact on a regular basis can quickly become forgotten, and the team bonding might take a hit. A good tool to keep this up is Donut Buddy.

Furloughing:

The final topic, and probably the hardest of them all.

There was a consensus that the term “furloughing” was one that was never heard prior to this situation (in the UK that is — it’s more common in the US).

Whilst never hearing this term before Covid-19, furloughing is not the easiest of processes: deciding who to furlough, communicating this to those that are furloughed, and to those that aren’t, the consequences etc. is no easy task. Whilst furloughing deserves a blog of its own in terms of processes and aspects that need to be considered prior to undertaking such task, what is of utmost importance is communication and transparency. As we touched on communication and transparency above, this not only becomes ever more highlighted in a remote world but more so, for an employee that has been furloughed.

For those that are furloughed, there is a fine balance of how involved do you keep those furloughed employees vs. what is too much. In this environment, it’s vital to still best to keep them involved in what’s going on with the company. A couple of ways:

• Keep in touch days
• Frequent check-in calls
• Emails of company updates (or all hands) and announcements are key

To stress this — it’s ever more important that they aren’t left completely in the dark, and to keep those that are furloughed still motivated, and still want to be a part of the team. It’s best to have over communication rather than to assume that everything has been communicated. Encourage those that are still working to check in with those that are furloughed.

So now what?

Agility in the company is key. This situation is one to be monitored daily as things can change rapidly, so you have to be ready. Knowing where you are financially all the way through is important, and this will allow you to know what the situation is like at any point in time. It’s important to keep sane, level-headed and keep communicating.

In closing, you are not alone. This is something to remind yourself of time and time again. Not only this, but everyone is new to this environment, so keep patting yourself on the back because you’ve probably done a great job so far.

A question for you all? What are you doing now that you weren’t doing before that you’ll continue to do?