Two years ago, I remember having a discussion with one of my peers about the benefits of working at home. At the time I was commuting 45 minutes one-way, to sit at a desk and take virtual phone calls. I only had 2-3 in-person meetings a week, otherwise the rest were with team members located around the globe. My peer had recently taken a job where his boss was in another state and slowly started WFH 1 day a week, then 2, then 3, then an entire week (or weeks) if there was travel mixed into the schedule. The pattern became a consistent WFH 4 days a week, as long as there wasn’t anything pressing with family responsibilities. I was gun shy for myself and my team to flip the switch of WFH. I was currently WFH 1 day a week and I was HYPER productive and I actually worked MORE HOURS, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t have to worry about the wave of traffic or if the sun was out (blinding the people going to work and coming home from work) or if it was going to rain (rain = overly cautious drivers that will not do the speed limit). I was in control of my time… I dictated how my day was going to go.
Flash forward to 2020, COVID-19 hits – now we are all WFH and the majority of everyone, managers and workers alike, have NO idea how to act. Managers are torn between micro-managing and not managing at all. Workers find themselves staring at their inbox waiting for work to come in, or not working at all. Productivity is going down. People are “working”, but are they? How do you really know if you can’t manage by wandering around? Should you care? You can tell that everyone is stressed, HR is telling you (as a manager) to back off and let people react to the fact that their lives are now upended, especially the ones that have dependents at home that would normally go somewhere during the day (e.g. school).
We are in unprecedented times! How could you possibly expect anything from your direct reports when they are trying to…
- Productively work from home and trying to provide value while fearing that they might lose their job.
- Productively teach their kids so they don’t fall behind while CONSTANTLY telling them it’s NOT summer vacation!
- Productively being a care taker or partner, without really having the ability to “get out of the house”.
- Keeping their sanity while trying to be creative in the kitchen, or with crafts, or teaching themselves another language.
- Achieve some semblance of a “completed goal” for the year so they can feel like they’ve done SOMETHING this year.
Who’s fault is it if nothing gets done? The reality is that you’re still the manager, still in charge, and as a manager of a team, a department, a company, you have to take ALL OF THIS into consideration. You are in charge, what do you do? How can you possibly expect anything out of your people when they have SO MUCH STRESS at home? How do you manage through changing times?
Here’s my recommendation:
- Understand that family is priority, reinforce the point, and don’t forget it.
- Reinforce that the work environment / culture is changing and, while people now have the freedom to do their job however, whenever and wherever they need to, remember… there will be an “adjustment period”.
- Give your team work and hold them accountable to complete it by the due date, requesting (at least) a weekly update on progress.
- Stay connected with your people, ensuring to meet weekly in a 1:1. (NOTE: 1:1’s are not meant to be time for status updates, use this time to connect with your people!)
Here’s what I would say to my team:
“You are a valued part of this team and you play an important role in continuing to help the company hit our goals. How we do our work will be different, and your family needs to take priority. I trust you to balance the needs of your family with the needs of the team. When the work gets done is up to you, but the work still needs to get done. There are a number of things you can leverage to meet the needs of your personal life, like vacation time or flexing your work days as needed. We will stay connected with our weekly 1:1 meetings and I encourage you to be open about what’s going on in your life and your ability to be productive while figuring out your “new normal”. I will be meeting with you this week to discuss the tasks assigned to you, and I expect weekly updates on progress of these tasks. Don’t be afraid to reach out if there are any questions or concerns.
People are social creatures that want to feel they are positively contributing in some way. Being productive and providing value are cornerstones to filling this need. As a manager, you need to continually prioritize, assign tasks and let them execute. Give your team ownership of a task, like you normally would, except now it’s at their discretion to get it done. You don’t have the 8-5 with an hour lunch anymore and you can’t see your people, either. You have to TRUST, give them freedom to get it done and hold them accountable if they don’t get the work done. Be open about performance, be creative with working time and schedules, flex with your people (if possible). Bottom line, we are all in this together and we need to get the job done somehow, some way.
P.S. My Foundation is Not of my Own Inherit Wisdom, It Has Been Learned!
In my years as a team lead and manager, I have become a student of Manager Tools. While I cannot say I’ve attended their seminars, I’ve listened to hundreds of hours of their podcasts, am a paying member of their community, and have read all of their books. They’ve helped me process what I was experiencing in my daily interactions with my team and customers. They’ve helped me through some tough times as a manager and continue to help me get me through tough times as a consultant. I highly encourage you to check them out.
Further, I’ve been listening to Michael Hyatt for YEARS. His tagline has been “win at work and succeed at life”. His podcast “Lead to Win” gives a lot of guidance in leading through tough times. You can check out more in the knowledge section of my website.