Social distancing, or the act of minimizing contact with others to prevent the spread of disease, can be one of the most important measures to take during a pandemic or at any time in an emergency situation. It can also affect your team and company if not handled correctly—after all, you’re in this together! The key to maintaining productivity when social distancing is necessary is to create and maintain open lines of communication among your team members so that everyone feels informed and able to make decisions on their own. Here are six tips for managing your team when social distancing is necessary.
1) Build Trust in Your Employees
Employees are going to be less stressed and more productive if they feel like they can trust their managers. If social distancing is forced on your organization, show that you care about your employees’ well-being by keeping them informed of new developments. If social distancing isn’t voluntary, provide as much information as possible and be upfront about its duration.
2) Communicate
The most important thing in managing a team during a crisis is communication. If you aren’t communicating, you can’t expect to have everyone on board with your vision of action. So be sure to speak often with each of your employees about their roles and responsibilities and what they should be doing. These conversations don’t have to occur over a conference call or even physically—just make sure that all parties know what’s going on.
3) Give Constructive Feedback
Everyone needs to be given constructive feedback once in a while, and when your team can’t be on campus due to social distancing, it’s even more important that they know what you expect from them and that they know how they’re doing. Keep track of progress and things they could improve upon with check-in calls. If you have several remote employees, try to keep everyone up-to-date with group meetings over video conferencing or social media. Keep it short!
4) Develop Good Time Management Habits
Taking on a leadership role requires good time management skills. If you’re leading your group when social distancing is implemented, it’s important to find a way to stay on top of both personal and professional obligations. If you already practice good time management habits, add how much extra work those habits might take to keep up with during social distancing.
5) Be Hands-On
Being hands-on with your team will help you work closely with them to ensure they’re doing their jobs correctly and that you understand what’s going on at all times. It will also enable you to respond to needs quickly and adjust duties as necessary. In short, it makes everything run smoother and more efficiently.
6) Know How To Say No
Know when to say no, and you’ll be able to focus on what’s important to you. If you have an idea that isn’t a great fit for your brand, kindly turn it down. And if someone can’t take no for an answer, remember that not everyone deserves your attention. Sometimes it’s okay to put yourself first and do what you think is best—especially during social distancing.
Conclusion:
So, how will you keep your team working? There are no easy answers to that question. Each team’s social-distancing plan will be unique based on a number of factors: business type, location, type of clientele, etc. Still, you can take some simple steps to make sure your team is getting their work done while they’re on self-quarantine.
Authors Bio:
Rohit Chandiramani is the CEO of London Business Training & Consulting, specialized in providing management courses. A regular trekker, he likes to scale greater heights in the Himalayas, and in the world of business.
