Leading your team in uncertain times

We’re all working in extraordinary times and for People Leaders there’s no playbook for what to do in the face of a pandemic. To help you support our people, here are a few suggestion you can follow:

Help people focus on the work that matters most today

• Come together as a team and review your priorities - work out what needs to be delivered right now, if there are options to delay specific work; and what you can do to support each other.
• Ask your team to review their meetings and really consider what’s a priority - see if there’s a few meetings that can be combined, paused or cancelled.

Be flexible

• Reschedule meetings to hours that work best for your team members.
• See if the team member wants to split up their day or week if it’s getting too much. This includes shifting their start and finishing times or increasing their bandwidth hours.
• Discuss reducing hours for a short-term period.
• As a team, agree some on ‘meeting-free’ time throughout the day or week.

Be understanding

• Understand your meetings might not be as formal – if there is noise or distractions in the background be understanding.

Remember that having a flexible approach doesn’t just mean using flex time. Empower your people to make decisions about their work including where things can be paused or reprioritised in order to help them manage in this complex environment.