Revealed: The Six Habits of the Best Covid-19 Bosses

One of Australia’s biggest workplace mental health support providers has shared the secrets behind the best leaders managing their teams through the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

From attention grabbing toddlers to cute pets, the Covid-19 pandemic has opened a window into our fellow workers’ lives more than ever before, Dr Jenny George CEO of Converge International said today. 
 

“We sometimes saw more than we needed to, but many leaders have a far deeper understanding of their team, their motivations and the competing priorities that busy home and family life bring,." Dr George said.

“Our data, from more than 2 million Australian workers, shows some people thrived working from home, while others struggled – due to highly disrupted living circumstances, financial hardship, lack of support infrastructure and changes to daily habits and routines.  

“People with carer responsibilities were severely affected, for example with home learning or caring for elderly relatives while in periods of hard lock down,” said Dr George.

“Likewise team members whose identities are defined by their work, experienced a major adjustment struggle; and managers trying to lead and support staff experiencing deep disruption, themselves faced uncertainty about their own careers which weighed on their usual coping abilities."

2021 has brought a different type of demand, and now leaders are faced with creating a strong team culture and performance in the hybrid, flexible-working environment common to most workplaces today.

Here are the six secrets of the best bosses during Covid-19:

1. Paint the Picture: Work with your team and ensure you have a clear vision and idea of what working remotely and, in the office, looks like for everyone in the team.
2. Define the negotiables: Be clear about your expectations – outline what’s negotiable and what’s not on the table. Communicate clearly about trust and work expectations in flexible working arrangements and consider behaviour “nudges” that encourage the team to maintain their usual quality of work. For example, it could be that everyone needs to show up in person for the day of the weekly team meeting.
3. Focus on Culture: Good workplace culture doesn't grow itself, especially with people working remotely on various days. Managers need to make space for team culture to develop. For example, organise a team coffee meeting on the day that all team members are in the office to enable that critical human to human interaction.
4. Encourage honest conversations: If issues arise among team members, don’t let them fester. There will be different arrangements in place with different members of the team. Make sure this is transparent where appropriate within the team and nip any rumours in the bud. While this open and honest form of communication is often uncomfortable for many Australian managers, it can significantly improve team culture and reduce workplace stress when done respectfully. If there’s behaviour that’s not normal to the typical, as a leader make sure you check in and encourage employee to seek support. Acknowledge the distress and circumstances and illustrate a pathway to resolving issues is available.
5. Practice kindness: Everyone experiences situations differently, especially cases like a global pandemic, where stress and uncertainty is higher than ever. Some team members will thrive, others will struggle. Practice kindness and understanding where possible and alter your interactions with team members as required. Team members that are supported in the times they need it most will often give back to an organisation through dedicated loyalty. Maya Angelou said it best: “People will people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
6. Employ what you’ve learned during the pandemic: You know the strengths and professional limits of your team more than ever before and where they might need extra support – whether that’s by you as their Boss, or from an expert outside the organisation. Take time to review what’s working and what’s not and encourage feedback and input from your team too. Choose which elements you’d like to keep moving forward, the parts that aren’t working and you’d like to get rid of, and brainstorm new things you’d like to introduce. Covid gave every team a good opportunity to redefine how they work together, and your team will value the opportunity to be heard.

“And remember it’s okay if you don’t get it quite right,” Dr George said.

“Leading is imperfect and we are all learning as we go – so give yourself permission to fail.

“The recent Victorian lockdowns demonstrate uncertainty is here to stay, which means now’s the time for businesses to focus on building personal resilience,” Dr George said.

“We are collectively going through dramatic change as both leaders and employees during a period of continued uncertainty. Be a good listener and don’t beat yourself up.

“The organisations managing best are the ones that honestly acknowledged they were ill-equipped for a crisis of Covid-19’s scale and formally reviewed their mental health and wellbeing policy and strategy during the height of the pandemic,” Dr George said.

Media Contact: Bas Bolyn, 0447 486 195 

ABOUT CONVERGE INTERNATIONAL

• Partners with 1200 organisations in supporting Australia’s workplace mental health by ensuring over two million Australian employees are covered and have access to our EAP and workplace mental health services.
• Workplace support to over 2 million Australians – 1 in 20 workers access Converge’s counselling services.
• 3800 incoming calls every week.
• 650 Australian workers supported by EAP counselling every day.
• 36,000 Aussies have received psychological support for COVID-19-heighened mental health issues during the pandemic.