Dennis Snow of Snow & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in customer service, employee development and leadership, offers tips on managing teams who are working during the COVID-19 pandemic:
1. Be visible. “People need more communication than ever, because everything's a moving target. So whether that's Zoom meetings, whether that's socially distanced meetings, or whatever avenue, as leaders we need to be visible to our employees, more than ever.”
2. Be a storyteller. “Now is the time to be sharing stories about the difference we're making for our customers. A compliment we got from a customer, whatever it is — we need to be sharing those stories with our people.”
3. Be upbeat and realistic. “Be that positive presence, but at the same time, don't be Pollyannish about it. We need to [tell employees] that these are challenges and we are making tough decisions right now.”
4. Be transparent. “Say, ‘Here's what we're doing. Here's what we might be doing.' Minimize the number of surprises.”
5. Be empathetic. “We need to let our people vent to us. We need to let them be emotional. We need to let them know we're here to listen.”
6. Be extra appreciative. “Most of our people are doing things that they've probably never done before. They're doing double duty. Sometimes they're literally putting themselves in harm's way. At the same time, they're worried about their families, they're worried about their health. We should always be appreciative of our folks, but be extra appreciative right now.”