Keeping your teams positive

We are all in it together

The current environment has provided significant challenges to corporate leaderships. Besides the key issues related to business continuity, the core issue at hand is how to motivate and support employees and fellow team members who are facing severe anxieties about the situation.

Further the sheer unprecedented nature of the crisis and the decibel level around the ‘gloom and doom’ predictions are a huge departure from the hitherto regular routine of daily life.

Each individual employee is grappling with multitudes of challenges ranging from managing daily essential transport to caring and worrying about their children and their future while also facing a stressful time about their own jobs and economic security and thereby that of their families.

Many corporates’ leaders who are committed to Sri Lanka, and understand that this is a passing phase, though a hugely challenging one, have got together to share notes on some of the best practices they adopt to maintain employee morale. This is a compilation of some key points emerging from these informal chats:

Give and share control: A frank and open assessment of current business predicament with clear things to do for each member and a regular process of monitoring outcomes gives employees a sense of involvement and control in their own destinies. A feeling of being in some control reduces stress and mitigates the feeling of uncertainty  

We are all in it together: A clear statement that every one of us is in it together. And that this is not one person’s issue but equally everyone’s irrespective of designation, status or background provides relief and a sense of comfort to team members. This can help reduce the self-blame tendency that could reduce self-esteem and thereby paralyse productivity and engagement

No toxic positivity: The problems that the country is facing are real and structural, the challenges faced by people are not going to vanish overnight or in three months, or in six, maybe next year (no one knows for sure). Leaders must calibrate the “let’s control what we can” narrative with sound acknowledgement of the problem and the real challenges

Be authentic: This crisis is impacting all of us and it’s important to reinforce the “we are in this together” narrative as a leader. Don’t shy away from sharing your personal struggles, challenges and coping mechanisms. Avoid the superhero trap.

Lead with knowledge: The current crisis is a complex cocktail of many wrong economic and policy choices over a multi-year cycle. COVID, lack of tourism are only proximate causes. Don’t operate at the surface. Leaders must invest in building in-depth knowledge so they can articulate the issues effectively to their teams.

Lean on experts: We recommend that leaders engage with leading economists to get a refined perspective and share these openly with their teams. It helps in building a joint understanding of the issues.

Lean on your industry peers: We are all facing the same storm but perhaps riding in different boats. Some companies are dealing with this better than others and it’s useful to learn what other are doing and perhaps learn and implement

Engage in scenario planning: Leaders must consider doing a weekly scenario planning looking at best, most likely, and worst cases. It gives everyone comfort to know that we are prepared even if things go further south. The act of engaging in this kind of planning as a team is more valuable than the final plan itself.

Being kind: One way to turn off your challenges as a team is to help others whose struggles are greater. When done as a team, it builds collective resilience and a sense of perspective. There are many causes that organisations and teams can choose from.

Inner work: That’s the only way to stay sane so keep doing inner work (mind and body). Do whatever works for you to stay fit, stay in the zone, and lead.

In summary

The leaders’ narrative and its robustness can often be the defining factor in how organisations deal with crisis, show up and come through it. To paraphrase a cliché, “When the going gets this tough, even the toughest need each another to get going”. So, time to get together like never before.

(Sunder Ramachandran is the Country Head at GSK Sri Lanka. Santosh Menon is a marketing communications expert with 20 years of experience in multi-national locations.)