Leadership in Times of Uncertainty: 3 Key Tips for Managing Your Team
The COVID-19 pandemic has provided us with unprecedented challenges — but you know all this already. Whenever we go online or turn on the TV, we are met with data upon data regarding the coronavirus. And, it is easy to become overwhelmed.
This is why it’s so important to be positive, and to counteract the negativity we see around us — particularly in this time of chaos and uncertainty. With this in mind, we are going to be talking about leadership, from situational leadership of a team or group to leading a firm through the next phase of business development. When we lead, we must lead by example, keep a cool head and inspire the same in others, and be positive and hopeful in the face of such negativity.
But how is this done exactly? We’ve compiled three tips that we feel are crucial to help you keep a steady ship in these unsteady and uncertain times. Read on.
1. Communicate in the right way.
Communication has always been vital. But now, it is more critical than ever.
So what does great communication mean for your organization?
It means listening to the viewpoints of others and knowing when to offer your own insight — all of which are aspects of interpersonal communication that successful leaders deploy on a day-to-day basis.
Now, however, it means more than this.
The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the pivot towards remote work and collaboration. This needs to be supported with not only the right attitude but also the right tools and solutions.
Video conferencing solutions, project management platforms, collaborative cloud document hosting, and chat tools make it easy for teams to stay connected no matter where they are. Make sure your communication toolkit is up to scratch and have everything you need to bring all of your team onboard.
2. Adopt a flexible approach.
Some think that leaders must have all the answers all the time. This is false. As a leader, you must learn to adapt to evolving situations. You must also be willing to change course as new information comes. In other words, truly great leaders are prepared for change.
The speed of evolution and change displayed by today’s challenges can be alarming. COVID-19 has thrown us curveball after curveball and plunged us into chaos and uncertainty. As a result, those traditional ways of solving problems might not cut it any longer. This makes flexibility, adaptability, and a considered approach more important than ever.
Conduct regular appraisals of how initiatives are going. Consult analytics software and listen to feedback from staff, clients, and partners. All of this is critical data in the decision-making process.
3. Maintain engagement throughout the crisis and beyond.
What is engagement?
Engagement is when your team members actively care about your company.
Engagement is the difference between you telling your team what to do and that team going out of their way to solve problems and reach solutions. It is the difference between management doing it alone and staff members actively taking ownership of the challenges the organization is facing.
A key element of fostering engagement is thought leadership, or offering your insight and expertise in a way that influences the culture of a workplace.
You may also opt to host regular feedback sessions to recognize jobs well done. Perhaps set up a reward scheme to reinforce this, or give staff members more responsibility and autonomy to demonstrate your trust. How you foster engagement is up to you. Remember, this is not just for the duration of this crisis. It should be a profound cultural shift within your organization.
In fact, this last point could apply to all three tips. If we are to truly come back stronger after this period, we need to change the way we go about our business and how we lead our teams. Let’s start now. Stay safe, healthy, and positive.
