This is the first of a few articles based on my experiences.
When the COVID-19 quarantine threw everyone into a relative 'panic mode,' a VP asked me to write a short article on transitioning from working "in office" to "at home." There are a lot of these types of videos and articles available already, but it gave me pause to reflect on how this group and these teams work - cater to their culture.
Part 1: Communication
- Communicate with tact and courtesy.
- Status is vital to success. There's nothing worse than not knowing what people are doing. The default thought is they are watching movies or housework. Which leads to...
- Trust on all sides.
- Trust that you are adult and responsible enough to do your tasks
- Trust that your people are those adults, but expect status: good, bad or ugly
- Trust in the team to collaborate and be successful
- Tact: Focus on the tasks not the drama
- It's very easy to get caught up in the lack of face-to-face water cooler conversation. Be mindful of the above "Trust"
- Messages lack emotion (even with emoticons) - Always be sincere.
- Recognize potential disagreements.
- If messaging is failing and/or going beyond a simple question/answer synchronicity, it's time to pick up the phone.
- Take pause. Messaging is permanent. Read and re-read a conversation before planting a flag in a discussion
- If ever in doubt, pick up the phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment