There’s a mixed bag of feelings out there about returning to the office, from “I can’t wait to get back to being with people face to face,” to “I don’t want to go back! I love working from home.”
“Julia” is on the fence. She loves leading her team from home and would gladly continue, but she believes working together in the office most of the time will be ideal. She’s thrilled with the team’s increased camaraderie as they’ve learned about each other while working from home. They’re more candid, collaborative, creative, supportive. Maintaining this is high on her list of “wants” going forward.
She asked what else she should be thinking about while contemplating her plans. Some of what we discussed may trigger ideas for you, so I’m sharing an overview.
Your thoughts and behaviors as leader are key:
-What have you gained from this experience that you will emerge with
-Decide how you will prioritize your time related to people and tasks
-Be transparent about the future – admit what you don’t know
-Think about how you’ll respond to those who are fearful about catching the virus and those who have no patience for that. It’s going to happen in different degrees. What can you do to get ahead of it?
-Plan for a variety of scenarios
Communication with your Team is paramount:
-Tell them specifically what you appreciate, what you’ve enjoyed, learned, want to build upon
-Be open to Q&A – transparent about what you know and don’t know yet
Ask:
-What they’re looking forward to when they return to their workspace
-What they’re uncomfortable or concerned about related to returning
-What has become stronger, better from working remotely – for self, work group
-What best practices (personal, team, department, company) they want to continue
-What is one thing they’d really like their team, manager, company to do going forward
-What will they gladly leave behind
Talk about new guidelines in this changed environment:
-How the workspace and common areas will be cleaned before/after they return
-What they will be expected to disinfect themselves, i.e., their desk
-Spacing
-Masks
-Schedules – consider flexing with core hours when everyone works
Julia is thinking about all this and more as she contemplates what she can do to fortify the team’s growth over the last six weeks. She’s keeping front and center her vision of the work environment she wants to cultivate. Reflecting on all they’ve done to increase candor, collaboration, creativity and support for each other, she’ll use that bond to address hurdles in the weeks and months ahead.
What hurdles are you anticipating? What will give you the boost needed to clear them?
