5 Tips for Leaders : Maintaining Your Team’s Morale And Productivity during Covid-19

WELCOME TO REMOTE WORKING WORLD DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

We are going through a very strange period. Many things we know about remote work have already lost their meaning.

We are in the process of getting used to our NEW NORMAL. In this new normal, we have new responsibilities such as teaching our children at home, preparing three-course of meals, doing the ironing and cleaning which has been done by the cleaner before….and performing our work with the same performance while doing all this.

Business leaders need a new game plan to get out of this process with minimal damage to the morale and productivity of their teams. we have to admit that it is not an easy job to survive by adapting to changing economic conditions while keeping teams at a certain level of morale and productivity.
As a team with expertise in effective leadership, we would like to share a few recommendations with leaders to continue to inspire their teams to do their best.

1. Show higher empathy

Working remotely during the social isolation process is not the same as working remotely at a normal time. Your team most probably have to deal with some new responsibilities such as cleaning, food, children, etc. in addition to their work.
Our advice for leaders during this period is to be more flexible and to show higher empathy for such situations. For example, you can stretch the normal working hours for some people in your team according to the needs of the person. You should ask what your teams need more often and be as flexible as possible in choosing the appropriate ranges for them.

2. Don’t give the message “I don’t trust you”

In particular, managers who are not experienced in working remotely may tend to follow their teams work more closely. ie. sending messages to the end of the day and to check whether they are online.
Instead of monitoring every move of your teams, set your goals collaboratively and communicate your goals in advance and follow up on business outputs. Trust-based relationships & communication will always work better.

3. Set an example with your behavior — Lead by example

When telling your employees what to do, be sure you are role modeling that behavior. For example, do not work from the office while asking your team to restrict their travel or work from home. Your teams will probably feel bad because they don’t come to the office while you are at the office.

4. Do not arrange back to back meetings

Organizing consecutive meetings is not an effective way to work effectively from home. Be careful not to have more online meetings than you normally would from a physical environment. Your need time left over from the meetings to get their work done.

You can apply the following practices for the meetings:

• Keeping the duration of each meeting max 30 minutes
• Leaving spaces between meetings to meet essential needs
• Using Slack, Teams, email, etc. to share information or ask for ideas Instead of organizing meetings. Meetings can be positioned as a tool for coordination and decision making.

5. Keep your expectations realistic

There are dozens of studies showing that working remotely increases productivity. But remember, this is the process of working remotely in the pandemic world. In a world where everyone’s mental health is affected, efficiency will no doubt be affected to some extent.

It is important to consistently give sincere messages to your teams during this period, emphasizing that such a period is not easy for everyone, including you. Sharing how you feel and your challenges in a transparent way will make your team feel more comfortable to share theirs.