The pandemic has required most of us to work in new ways, at ad hoc desks (or beds!) with overwhelming reliance on technology. There’s distractions on many levels while we manage the daily stress of keeping ourselves, our families and our communities functioning and safe.

Teams have responded remarkably to the situation by converting to remote, work from home, or hybrid scenarios, making use of video conferencing and digital work spaces to recreate being together while apart. These tools have helped us carry forward, but in times of disruption even the most high-performing teams can struggle with trust, connection, and productivity, especially when distractions and emotions are high.

As we figure out how to safely re-enter our workplaces and navigate what’s next, managers need to be aware of the impact of crisis on team functioning, and well-being. Not only will managers need to reconfigure day to day operations, they will need to ensure their teams can rebuild and reconnect in these new conditions.

Reconnecting teams after crisis requires awareness and intention. Managers can lead the process by creating clarity, assessing trust, and helping the team recalibrate the way they work, connect, and support each other.

Creating Clarity

No matter what, a key role for managers is to ensure their team is aware of the direction and goals of the organization and what that means for their own work. As we pivot to tackle the challenges of the crisis, many of our strategic plans and key metrics get derailed, adding to feelings of chaos and distress. Managers can guide their team to create a sense of clarity while embracing uncertainty by:

Acknowledging reality: The team may be feelings grief, loss, overwhelm and disconnection, yet with forced isolation they might be reconnecting to self, feel renewed focus and have new priorities. All of this will influence how people show up and how they feel about their work. Helping the team name this offers support and builds confidence to face the situation head on.

Identifying and re-committing to core values and purpose: Get back to basics: why you’re here, what you do for the business or community, and how you do it. This can re-centre the team’s values and reinforce what’s important – regardless of what’s happening in the world. Revisiting these principles in your weekly team meetings or 1-on-1’s helps create a shared consciousness that will guide decisions and actions even in uncertainty.

Redefining clear and achievable goals: With a new reality, it’s important to know where to focus attention and energy, and agree which activities are most likely to move things forward. Revisit and refine goals to make sure expectations are clear, and outcomes are connected to the organization’s purpose and vision. And adjust as needed. Taking time to notice individual contributions and recognizing the small wins along the way keeps everyone tuned-in to what matters.

Restoring Trust

Being separated, the fatigue of “zoom flu”, the fear and stress of becoming sick, and not having the right information to make decisions can interfere with team trust and overall trust in leadership. When humans experience stress, our brains respond by closing off, protecting ourselves and trusting less. To assess and restore trust managers can focus on:

Naming and addressing trust breakdowns: Be open about where communication was insufficient, or where technology created negative experiences, and what you’ll do about it. Talk about barriers to getting work done, and how people feel about their ability to follow through on commitments. Identify where feelings of “us” and “them” might be showing up – especially if some team members are working in the workplace and some are not.

Clear communication AND authentic human connection: As a manager it can feel like you’re communicating continuously, and this might be so, yet there is a difference between communicating information to people and engaging with people in conversation where everyone feels seen and heard. Doing both consistently and well, as a manager and as a team, is important for transparency and connection. Feeling connected helps boost the trust centre in our brain, boosting oxytocin, which increases our willingness to take social risks and assume the best about people.

Creating Psychological Safety: Make it safe to be open about challenges, mistakes and what’s really going on in people’s lives by talking about it regularly. Make time for the team to really listen to each other, get clear on needs and values, and find common ground. Demonstrate gratitude and empathy as a manager by taking time to recognize your team’s efforts and acknowledge difficult conditions your team might be facing.

Redefining & Recalibrating Work

Managers and teams need to take stock of what’s working, what’s missing and what to keep doing (or not!) to find momentum and stay responsive as things change. Teams should consider together how they will define what productivity looks like, what they can stop, start, continue, and how norms and routines are impacted including:

Daily Work: tasks, tools, workflows, processes, priorities.

Team Roles: information flow, decision-making and accountability.

Meetings: frequency, duration, purpose and outcomes.

Expectations: outcomes, level of autonomy, communication tools, formal and informal connection, availability, and boundaries.

Creating space to process change, refocus energy, embrace individual and collective realities, and co-create a new way of working together will strengthen team relationships, trust, and resilience.

While a pandemic is the crisis we face today, crisis can come in many forms – resignation of a key team member, restructuring, an acquisition, or an environmental emergency. We live in a time of revolution and evolution in technology, social systems, and globalization. Complexity and uncertainty are unavoidable. Building awareness and strategies to reconnect and recalibrate our teams is a critical competency for Managers to ensure everyone can adapt and thrive.

If you’d like more strategies or support to help reconnect your teams, we’d love to start a conversation to see how we could help.

Sources:

• The Neuroscience of Trust, Dr. Paul J. Zack, Harvard Business Review (hbr.org January 2017)

• How to Build trust & Boost Productivity Within Remote Teams, Adam Hickman, Ph.D., Gallup.com (April 13 2020)