Business
How can you make the best out of having your people work remotely? I have seven thoughts:First, encourage people to enable their cameras during video conferencing. Communicate the importance and benefits of people being able to see one another during meetings and discussions. Let people know that you don’t care if Fluffy is on their lap during an internal meeting, but maybe not for a client meeting. In other words, be the understanding and empathetic boss during these times of stress. You could actually have a lot of fun with video conferencing to lighten the mood. What if you started each meeting with a humorous ten-minute show-and tell before getting down to business?Second, schedule teams to video conference one-another to prevent involuntary isolation therapy. It’s one thing to incorporate what many refer to as jam time where people work uninterrupted to get stuff done. But, remember that in many ways, your company is a family. It’s healthy to see one-another. And, as you always should, start on time, end on time and send an agenda before each meeting. What’s an agenda? An agenda is a document that identifies a list of items for discussion, complete with objectives, timelines and actionable steps.Third, do your best to maintain team-building activities, assuming you’ve done team-building activities before some of, or maybe even all of your people were sent home. One of my favorite and most effective ways to keep teams alive and intact is through the implementation of an All Ideas Matter program. Encourage and incentivize your people to contribute ideas of how to improve metrics such as communication, efficiency, morale, retaining good people, sales and generally becoming even a better partner for your clients. Fourth, don’t discuss coronavirus. Your people need a break. Even though we’re told the worst may be behind us, the preponderance of the news is still focused on the awful stuff, and much like being subjected to Christmas music at retailers in the month of September, negative news is almost impossible to avoid. Don’t waste your time or energy adding to it.Fifth, if business is slow, take advantage of this time to think about how you will need to reinvent your business as we emerge from this pandemic. We already know that being successful requires reinvention to stay current and relevant, so start thinking of how you can do so. Better yet, ask your people to contribute their ideas and offer rewards for the best ideas submitted. Perfect for that All Ideas Matter program I talked about a minute ago.Sixth, again, if business is indeed slow, think about stalking your competitors – those companies doing whatever it takes to survive, which includes courting your customers. Learn about them. Find out what they are up to. Look through their websites and google them. And yes, compare your brand to theirs because your customers are doing the same. If you think this is the time for hitting the brakes on your marketing, think again. Cash may be tight, and you may have needed to lay off or furlough, but when we emerge from this, the brands that pulled over to the side of the road and stopped their marketing will be challenged to regain customer relationships. I digress.Okay, seven. Much like people are questioning whether the government was properly prepared for this pandemic, you can ask the same of your company and your brand. As of this very moment, does your company and brand have the ability to adapt not only to this pandemic, but to what the new, undefined normal will be? Have you figured out a way to make your brand relevant during a crisis? This whole crisis we are going through reminds me of a scene in Crimson Tide which happens to be one of my favorite movies. For those of you who are unfamiliar, in the movie, Gene Hackman was the commanding officer of a nuclear submarine, and Denzel Washington was brought in as the submarine’s executive