As people adapt to a new normal including teleworking and no travel—Business Processes become even more important to sustain business focus, engagement and communications in a virtual environment.

COVID-19 has created an immediate change in how we operate business. Hard decisions are being made hourly as more information rolls in about the status of the virus and the impact on our country. As we deal with work-at-home scenarios, closures, travel bans, social media etc. it is very hard to keep employees focused. However, the need to keep our eyes on the business is more important than ever. Every crisis offers the opportunity to get better, be more creative and make improvements (sometimes in areas we didn’t know needed improving.)

Here are some steps you can take now to keep your business moving forward:

1. Communicate: The more information you can share with your team the better. What people don’t know; they make up. At a minimum, have a weekly virtual meeting with your team using Zoom, WebEx, GoToMeeting or some other online meeting tool. Create an agenda topic called Roundtable where employees can ask questions, raise concerns but also express how they are feeling. The opposite of isolation is connection. Stay connected to your colleagues.

2. Motivate: Working remotely may make it difficult for employees to stay motivated. There may be too many distractions at home and performance may suffer. Metrics on a scorecard can serve to motivate employees, increase accountability and ensure focus in the right areas.

3. Engage: An action register can help engage your team by documenting critical assignments and tasks. Agree on target dates and let your colleagues do their job. Make sure you conduct an accountability assessment by reviewing the action register to ensure everyone on the team is engaged.

4. Expectations: Set behavioral expectations with your team. This new way of work can lead to conflict especially if you have a multigenerational team. Agreed upon behavioral expectations can reduce conflict and provide a platform for constructive feedback discussions.

5. Learning: Look for training opportunities. If your team is experiencing a slowdown in workload, now may be the time to catch up on required training or cross train employees on different jobs and tasks.

Watch our webinar on “Leaning Into Your Processes to Engage Geographically Displaced Teams”

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