We have entered a new era of conducting business after the global economic shut down from one day to another.
After having reopened businesses, the environments some of us have returned to may look vastly different from the ones we left.
What have you done to prepare for that change as a leader or business owner?
Did you use the time to reflect and adapt to services and products that are needed?
Did you prepare your team to cope with a different work environment both on-site and working from a remote workplace?
Certainly you were confronted with different perceptions and perspectives of that kind of unintentional break due to Covid-19.
The different mindsets you are faced with are human – fear, doubt, happiness, hope, stagnation, and so on. When it comes to setting up a new routine and way of working, living and operating, one should not be shy of change, though.
Going through it, it is important to make people feel comfortable with change and adaptation if you are the one responsible for a team or your own business.
1. Regular Check-Ins
As a team leader you should make sure on a regular base to see how your people are doing, how they feel and offer support if needed.
Same for your customers or prospects as a business owner. Now it is more important than ever to connect and communicate. Showing vulnerability, being in the same boat, sharing thoughts and positivity is a welcomed medicine to soften the hardness of change.
Read more about the 3 C’s to Counter a Crisis.
2. Prepare Your Economic Come-Back
Time for inventory!
Is there anything you can refer to such as previously done deals before the lockdown to get yourself and others back into people’s minds? Practicing “after-care”, so to speak. Get in touch and see on what page everyone is.
The technology that is now available in the new reinforced ways of digital communication does not leave any room for stagnation since you are competing against a virtual world that is very uncomplicated to access and makes some kind of interaction and winning clients so much easier than it used to be before.
Reduced costs due to less commuting and reduced office space in the future will strengthen the human connection.
Take investments into training and support for team members or self-education into consideration.
You might encounter seasoned team-members that are not willing to change since they “have always done it this way”.
Maybe it is time to bring a big thought to the top of your mind:
3. Do I Have the Right People on Board?
It is natural to be nervous when faced with an unprecedented situation that enforces change. The ones who adapt their mindset and work ethic will flourish in the shifted work environment, whereas others won’t.
So, it is time now to have a critical look at your team members, customers and prospects. If they are not willing to adapt to change out of a closed mindset they might not be the right fit for your continuous path. It might hurt, but may have to decide to separate.
Only like-minded people, willing to change with you and the environment, can be desired partners for the future of work, where we are in already.
Careful, there is another kind of resistance to change from people that you don’t want to get rid of before having a look “behind the scenes” and their motives. Those are the ones who don’t know how to change or express their fear since they feel that they would not be able to do so.
Here it is up to you as a leader to be empathetic and invest in training and support to make them see that it is not difficult to change with an environment of support and increasing technology to make everybody’s life actually easier.
We have licked our wounds, now it is time to move on and make decisions on behalf of the company. In consideration of the sake of all and the individual.
Decide what spirit and attitude will run your come-back and don’t settle for less. For yourself and others.
>> Are you settled in or do you need a little push in the right direction? If you do, click here to find your personal solution.