We are currently in very unprecedented times and something that unites all of us is that everyone has been affected somehow. For organisations, this is a very difficult time as the current state of affairs has resulted in some rather negative effects such as redundancies, shortage of work and some companies having to furlough the majority, if not all, of their staff.

While it’s easy to get bogged down on everything that’s going on, we thought it would be good to shift the focus on what can be done during these times to be effective leaders and get through this.

This involves looking forward and making the best out of a difficult situation. We started by talking about what management can do to ensure that morale doesn’t fall.

Communication

Communication is key here – with such uncertain times, staff are bound to find this period to be stressful. Keeping in contact, whether that is by telephone or video conference, to provide updates is one way to reassure staff and keep them in the loop. I can relate to how effective the use of technology and software such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom have been for the Gravitate team in helping us stay in contact with not only each other but also clients.

Personal development and getting creative

We also talked about making the most this time. For example, personal development seems to be an area that we never have time for because of day-to-day operations – why not use this time to focus on additional learning, completing an online course, or maybe organising some inhouse online training for staff?

Another idea was to use this time to get creative and the word ‘reinvention’ came up which I found very interesting – the idea that out of adversity comes ingenuity. Adapting the way we operate (either or a permanent or temporary basis) can result in finding new and better ways to work and may actually be the best practice for going forward post Covid.

Living by your values and sticking together

We then discussed why the way in which we react to the current situation should relate back to your Company’s and even your personal values – by doing so, you’re safeguarding your Company’s reputation. We’ve all seen the news stories about the companies who are being named and shamed for treating employees poorly throughout all of this – the reputational damage from that in today’s age with the use of social media can make things difficult for these companies when all of this is over and business is back normal.

Last but not least, we discussed togetherness and how we can all help each other through this. We can do this by sharing hints, tips and knowledge – if you have some effective tips that someone may benefit from, share this in a blog or on social media so that someone in a similar position can benefit from this knowledge and insight.

My key takeaway from the webinar was that although things are uncertain for the time being, there are still best practices to keep things moving and to ensure that your business is intact when all of this is over.