Kilo, Kilo calling Romeo, Romeo… can you hear me, ovaaaaa???
Why shouldn’t you leverage the new normal long term? I think it is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future – did you hear Google have told their staff to work from home till the end of 2020? #newnormal right? Anyway, there is nothing to lose and so much to gain, over the next few blog posts I want to talk about 5 key areas you should be addressing to leverage this new normal to produce consistent customer experiences, maintain and/or increase sales and most importantly keep your most influential assets happy… your employees. The first, the most obvious but often the most overlooked area is comms.
Communication (a.k.a. connection, transmission, over the wire, correspondence, talk, watercooler conversation, radio silence… etc.)
Communication seems obvious but without any planning it can become inconsistent, disjointed, and frankly pretty painful for all involved. There is a lot that needs to be considered given you probably haven’t seen your team face to face for over a month now – the first place to start is with the way you are communicating and we don’t just mean on teleconferencing platforms (although those may need a relook). What other methods are you using particularly for 1:1 engagement? WhatsApp, social media, email, good old-fashioned telephone calls – everyone has a preference, do you know what that is? Have you asked?
Do your team know when to expect communication from you – we’ve come to expect when our government will speak to us (kind of) and that gives us a sense of comfort (we’re talking about timing, not content) – your team needs to know when they are going to hear from you especially if it’s about company updates related to how you are addressing this pandemic and the resultant regulations. Consistency and continuity are key here.
Finally, transparency… there is no room for miscommunication at a time like this. Your EXCO team will be discussing the nitty-gritty but it must be delivered to the business, as a collective, at the same time. Speculation or assumption due to one person running their mouth outside of that delivery means you have to deal with hours in a virtual HR office or worse your team stops delivering the way you need them to. No one has time for either, energy needs to be spent on everyone rowing in the same direction not keeping people in the boat.
In area 2 we look at engagement & empowerment because frankly your business can’t afford a disconnected workforce at the moment (if ever!). Sign up to receive my blog and get the next 4 areas directly in your inbox.
Photo credit: Everyday basics on Unsplash