5 steps to establish new norms after a crisis
It’s not always easy to navigate a crisis. Let alone establish new company norms after it’s all over. But there are ways to enhance your workplace norms if they are created with the employees in mind. I am a firm believer in internal communications. It’s part of your company’s foundation in a crisis, even for a small start-up. Internal comms is how you can effectively inform, and even, take care of your employees. In essence, it’s the channel of communication that holds your team together.
Much like the current situation with COVID-19, changes can happen quickly. For many of us, from one day to the next everything changed. Here we are, weeks after the shutdown and you’re probably thinking, how can I smoothly transition my team back to work after all this? In this article, I want to share 5 easy steps that can help you to establish new norms after a crisis.
1. Take time to reflect
The best way to learn from our past is to review what has already been done. And also, acknowledge what has occurred. Reflecting shows that you are willing to be transparent with your employees, and it builds trust within your company. To establish new norms, two types of reflection can help.
- Reflect on your prior work culture. Explore, what worked before COVID-19?
- Reflect on your current work culture. Ask yourself, what has been effective throughout the COVID-19 shutdown?
The most crucial aspect here is, to be honest with yourself and your team. If you are driving changes and want to establish new norms, then do away with the work culture practices that weren’t serving you or your company. If there is anything that can be improved, now is the time to implement it.
Tip:
To gain a more holistic view in this reflection exercise, invite your team and employees to participate. In a crisis, and in the aftermath, you are stronger together. Now that you and your employees have worked from home for several weeks, try to explore what could be improved. Send out a survey asking them for feedback. Plus, it’s an easy way to ensure your employees feel heard and valued. There are many ways to reflect, so find the approach that best fits your work culture.
2. Identify new protocols
Now that you’ve reflected, what will you do? How will you support your employees? First, go through employee feedback and categorize them into themes. Is there anything that stands out? If so, use these reflections to create new protocols, i.e. your new company norms.
Provide your team with ‘new and improved’ protocols. Outline what is your company’s new approach, for example, to team meetings, to working from home, to flex hours, etc. These protocols will provide a bit of safety for your employees to fall back on. Next, find a way to communicate them in a plan.
3. Create a Change Management Plan
Even if you’re a lover of change, it’s expected to have a little resistance sometimes. This couldn’t be more true in times of crises. Naturally, humans want stability– something to rely on. Therefore, a Change Management Plan is essential to create continuity. Change Management Plans are a sure way to develop and build new norms with the support of your employees. Especially if you have included them in the reflection process.
Change Management Plans help to define:
- The purpose or problem that needs to be solved
- The goals
- The desired outcomes and clear expectations
- The task force team
- A timeline of change
- Process and suggested steps
Let’s break it down with an example. Let’s say you received feedback from your employees that they would like to incorporate more work from home days into their schedules. First, identify the purpose. What are the benefits of working from home? How could this improve your work culture if working from home was an option?
Next, set some goals. For instance, a goal could be to improve productivity by 10%. After, explore the desired outcome and expectations. For example, how will this improve productivity? Or how often can your employees work from home?
Now let’s talk a little bit about item 4 — the task force team. Your task force team should include management and employees that can act as workplace cultural ‘ambassadors’. Invite your employees to nominate themselves or others to be a part of your task force. It’s an easy way to involve your team so that this initiative doesn’t feel solely top-down.
Your workplace ambassadors are the go-to people during this transition period. They are the first to be informed of changes, they can support other employees, and represent the change you want to make across your company. Depending on the size of your company, your task force should include 2–3 people in management, as well as one representative from each department.
In the last few steps of the Change Management Plans, you will create a timeline of change and a process or suggested steps. Perhaps you roll out working from home over the course of a few months. Then you provide your employees with steps on how to incorporate this change into their schedule.
Remember, this is just one example of the many changes that you can implement after a crisis. If you’re curious to hear more strategies on change management, check out this insightful guide.
4. Liven up your information hub
Believe me, there is nothing more frustrating than having an excellent information hub with no readers. In my previous post, I wrote about how important it is to document your actions during a crisis.
Here, it is no different. If you haven’t already, create a central hub of information, for example, a slack channel, or an intranet. This single flow of communication will reduce misinformation and potential conflict. Empower your comms or content team to create content that is not only informative but engaging. Creating new norms takes time and to be honest, lots of communication. But with a well-established channel, you can have a consistent flow that your employees can count on.
Even if you’re stretched thin on resources, a sure way to liven up your content is to make it personal. One way to attract more readers is to write content that concerns their day-to-day life. Or create content that your employees care about. For example, publish the results of the feedback and write articles about each theme. Your employees have already identified what is important to them, so why not try writing about it. It certainly makes the content more interesting if it feels like it’s written specifically with your employees in mind.
5. Adjust slowly
It may seem tempting to just get back into things right away. However, big changes take time. What has been mentioned above are key ways to overcome a crisis. And there is no need to increase the stress of your employees after the crisis is over.
Your communicative approach needs to be empathetic. In the first weeks, really take the time to let everyone settle back into their routines. Some of your employees may be struggling more than others during this crisis, with the new cultural changes to come. For example, perhaps some close colleagues were let go, potentially their workload increased, there may be a new seating arrangement, etc. There is a multitude of potential reasons, and that is why empathy is paramount.
There are many ways to effectively establish new norms after a crisis. However, these 5 steps will quickly smooth out this transition period. Above all, try to appreciate your company’s transition and cultural changes. It will likely bring your employees closer together. And maybe you’ll find that you’re not as far away as you thought.
Thank you for reading, if you have any questions on how to implement these practices listed above, I would be happy to help. Send me a comment or message, and we’ll find a solution that’s right for you and your team.
