“How are you? No, really: How are you?” COVID, Culture & Crew with Jana Taylor and Michelle Berg
Last week at The51, Jana Taylor of 321 Growth Academy and Michelle Berg of Elevated HR Solutions lent us their expertise on a topic the two of them admit “means a lot of different things, to a lot of different people.” Culture—the “operating system” of an organization—the values, benefits, and behaviours of people and teams even when no one is looking—has been affected by COVID-19 in incredible ways.
In seven points, Jana and Michelle elucidate the impact that our new, and next normal are having on our teams’ mentalities, and offer ways we as leaders can maintain and even improve our professional culture through this time.
Just like Carey Houston, Founder of 321 Growth Academy, emphasized last week, right now the only appropriate place to start, is…
1. Empathy, empathy and empathy.
“It goes without saying,” Jana begins, “that to have empathy, we need to move beyond the truths that can often come off as platitudes.” As so many of our email subject lines these days like to put it, “We are all in this together,” and “We are here for you” might (and hopefully are) true sentiments from whoever is speaking them, however, Jana explains that leaders need “to have an understanding of what people are actually going through, so we can help them,” otherwise these platitudes are only empty words.
“What worked before isn’t necessarily going to work now, but don’t forget to ask the simple question: How are you? But really, how are you?”
At Elevated HR, Michelle and her team have been advocating for “wellness checks” built around one basic, yet consistently underrated question. As Michelle says, “It’s not ‘How’s the work,’ It’s not, ‘How’s the project,’ not ‘How are you coding this,’ It’s How. Are. You. By building these questions into everyday meetings and conversations, leaders allow for more transparency, vulnerability and empathy.”
2. Mental health matters
These days, as Jana explains, it’s as if we need a translator to decode what our team members are really saying when we ask how they’re holding up. For example:
“OK” = barely holding on
“Not so bad” = Thankful we’re all surviving, but no one in the house is talking to each other.
“Getting by” = Surviving
“Pretty good” = No one knows what that means.
In short, everyone’s mental health is being challenged, and while some companies and organizations will have access to more resources than others, every small thing helps. A Slack channel dedicated to real talk, a number to text, some organizations are even assigning “buddies” to check in with each other.
As Michelle says, “We need to show up for everyone on our team regardless of where they’re at, or where we are.” One platform that she and her team have found helpful is betterhelp.com , as users get unlimited access to a therapist for a single monthly fee.
3. (Super) Straight Talk
Whether you belong to an industry like hospitality, which has suffered huge blows, or an online tech platform that’s pivoted, but not suffered losses—everyone’s business plan has been forced to change in the last few weeks. “What we’re recommending in terms of communication,” Jana explains, “is how to be straight-forward about the real impact. Don’t sugar coat, be very straight-up; and the things that you do know, communicate them straight.”
“Before the crisis hit, each organization had a growth plan, business plan and hiring plan. As leadership, we need to be straight forward and transparent.”
Michelle seconds this sentiment: “Treat people like adults—this is their livelihood and they have a right to be upset. Tell them what you know. The more they trust you, the faster they’ll be with you when all of us rebound.”
Speaking to “head counts vs heart counts,” Michelle and her team have even seen incredible examples of people volunteering to be laid off, because they’re in a situation where they can handle it (perhaps their partner works, and they need to look after the children), and they know others are not. Moral of the story: don’t information hoard; when teams trust each other, they are more likely to pull together for the good of all.
4. The “new normal” and the “next normal”
Both Jana and Michelle emphasize the temporality of these unique and challenging days. The “new normal” is an ever-changing and evolving thing, and admittedly, no one knows exactly what the future for team behaviour and culture will look like. However, there are exciting innovations that are sure to come out of the COVID months of 2020 as well; Michelle says, the next normal “is about reestablishing value but in a different way. We’re already talking to organizations that are changing the way offices are going to be structured, working with interior designers who are crazy busy right now.”
What will space-planning look like in the future? We know some people are most productive in the morning and at night, but not the afternoon—will we keep the flexible-hours we’re seeing more of now? What will policies around family and sick time look like post COVID? And most importantly, how will organizations handle the inevitability that some workers will prefer remote work to in-office schedules?
“These are things we’ve been talking about for so long. Things are accelerating much faster than we were prepared for, and that can be very exciting.
5. Cultivate your culture — virtually
At 321 Growth Academy, Carey, Jana and the 321 team encourage their companies to do two things: identify and bring online what made their culture unique before the COVID crisis and think creatively about what kind of new cultural elements they have the chance to introduce now.
While some rituals and behaviours are certainly easier than others to virtually recreate, like daily stand-ups or group lunches, this is an opportunity to introduce new initiatives that virtual connection alone makes possible: for example, “pet sharing” video calls, Friday “virtual dance parties” and even “house tours.” Ironically, in some cases virtual connection offers long-term colleagues’ insight into each other’s personal lives that in-person connection never could.
6. Be part of something bigger
For many people, being a part of a “greater good” that’s bigger than themselves is a healthy way to focus their energies, connect with their communities and practice gratitude during a difficult time. Jana says, “We’re finding it helps people to be able to get beyond themselves, bringing that “all in this together” concept together in a meaningful way.”
Volunteering opportunities can be as simple as writing letters to seniors, or supporting the grander initiatives of a nonprofit, like transforming hotels into shelters—encouraging your teams to engage and get involved in their community can work wonders on mental health.
7. Leading in a crisis — the best of times, the worst of times
Finally, Jana and Michelle emphasize something we all know, but don’t always give ourselves license to admit: This is really fucking hard.
“Leaders, founders, everyone we’re talking to, all have moments of wanting to curl up into a ball. But know you’re going to be on that rollercoaster—having that knowledge is helpful” says Michelle. And although leading through a crisis puts our professionalism and our humanity to the test, it can also be, as Jana explains, a really powerful chance to grow. Like Carey Houston explained last week, this is the time when the “bullshit layer” is off; it’s a lot easier to lead when your bookings are going up, your gaining new clients and all is going well— but when things get tough, are you the kind of leader you’d want in your corner?
“Now it is time to focus on your customer—dig deep and get your grit on. From a leadership point of view, this is an opportunity to be real and vulnerable.”
Jana and Michelle, these are the kinds of real insights that will see organizations through the other side. We’re very grateful for your combined expertise, and for lending your voices to The51 Community as we all learn how to ask, no but really, how are you?
-The51 Team