When offices closed last March, many employers never expected to have their employees still working from home almost a year later. Not only did companies need to adapt to work-from-home styles, but they have also had to change their style of leadership.
Leading a business post-pandemic means shifting your management methods, and your mindset about what it means to be a team.
Communications is Key
It’s important to maintain frequent, transparent communication with your employees who are working remotely, as they may feel isolated from their organization and coworkers. I always keep an open line of communication with my teams, so they can feel comfortable coming to me with their ideas or concerns. Remote communication is helping me become a better listener to ensure that employees stay employees after the pandemic is over.
Reset Expectations
Most employees are trained to optimize their workflow to maintain maximum efficiency. They collaborate under the same roof, with similar work schedules every day. Managers should help their teams work with more task variety, and encourage the personalization of home office setups. You will need to reset how you think work should be done—let go of how tasks are performed and empower your employees to fulfill their duties on their terms. This can be done by concentrating on outcomes and providing more flexibility.
Practice Empathy
Now is the perfect time to sharpen your Emotional Intelligence (EQ)—the ability to manage emotions and empathize with others—as employees face the challenges of living, working, and raising families in the same space. It’s important to approach these struggles with empathy and flexibility. If an employee needs to step away to manage a home-related task, employers need to be okay with employees tending to “personal needs” during “work hours” as long as it does not impede their work performance. Leaders, and managers for that matter, need to realize that they do not need to micromanage to see quality results from their employees.
You can always practice EQ by being more open to others in a personable way and share your own struggles and victories during the pandemic. It’s important to share, and normalize, how COVID-19 has affected you and your mental well-being, so employees feel they can reach out with their own problems and know their voices will be heard.
There’s going to be a lot of changes post-pandemic, and the way we lead will have to shift as well. Before you make any business decisions, consult a professional who can advise you based on your situation. My team and I can work with you to further develop your leadership skills—whether it’s through coaching or one of our corporate training workshops. Why not visit my website to begin composing the symphony of your life?
