Team Management during the Pandemic aka Welcome to the Unknown
Written by Amila Čiva, IT Project Manager at Softray Solutions
It was roughly this time last year that our lives, both personal and professional, took a sudden turn to the ultimate unknown. In the days leading up to a year of uncertainty, we were struggling to understand what was happening and how we’d respond to it, not only when it comes to our personal lives and the quarantine that was forecasted, but also our professional life and daily face-to-face communication we were so used to.
Working in an IT company, within dedicated teams that work together on different initiatives trying to achieve that one common goal means having a work family of your own. People we work with are those that we spend most of our time with, share the good and bad of life, and gain opportunity to get to know each other through various challenges we face on a daily basis. There were some significant obstacles and issues that needed to be worked through and settled in the past, to get to know the people we work with, understand their attitudes, discover their strengths and weaknesses, and combine them into one fully functioning team, a well-oiled machine so to say.
Switching from face-to-face communication, socialization in the office spaces, joint lunches were replaced by a completely different way of life and work. While in the past, many wished for it to be more widely accepted and encouraged, remote work has shown that besides its many good sides, it also has a couple of not-so-great moments to it.
Remote work, when left to one’s free will and needs, compared to remote work one is forced to commit to in order to protect oneself and others equally, are two completely different things. There is a string of challenges and issues that arise, and in order to maintain productivity and motivation for the work that, at the end of the day, needs to be done, it takes a skill or two. Most of all, it takes awareness and understanding that every one of us, regardless of our experience and professionalism, is a human being.
Below, you can read about some of the strategies you might employ to help you tackle challenges that might come your way.
Welcome to the unknown — get settled as we’ll be in here for some time:
1. Encourage and Support Emotional Expression
Most of us are best used to scenarios with clearly defined steps and outcomes. The mind of a software developer or the mind of a QA analyst, practically any role in an IT team, is focused on detecting, identifying, and then resolving the problem. One at a time. But what happens when the problems and many and completely unknown? How does the team manage to continue their usual daily routines and focus on the work that needs to be done if the ground is constantly shifting between our feet?
You can help your team make this switch by raising awareness and not ignoring the situation we were thrown into. Encourage the team to communicate, to share their feelings and emotions, their fears and dilemmas, and create yet another layer of trust and closeness within the team. Understanding and talking out the new reality within the team will put more emphasis on the role of a team. Supporting the emotional expression of everyone in the team will let us observe fear, anxiety, overwhelm, and unfortunately grief, among many other emotions. Be aware that those emotions will change from day to day, week to week, even hour to hour! Be aware that not everyone is comfortable with expressing their emotions and will more likely try to suppress them, pretending nothing is wrong and they are feeling perfectly fine with the new reality. That might be because expressing emotions at work is a challenge of its own. Many fear that it shows vulnerability, and leaves room for embarrassment or even judgment by others. But, in these times, when that line between private and professional, between work and life, is more blurred than ever, everyone needs acknowledgment and support. How to accomplish that? Being a support to everyone in your team, and finding support in it yourself, does not mean someone needs to assume the role of a therapist or a counselor to hear people out. It means pushing for more meaningful exchange and opening of yourself, beyond mere “How are you?“ — show that you listen, that you understand, and that you value the person you are speaking with. Feeling and being acknowledged really goes a long way.
2. Listen and Be Present
With the pandemic and remote work dictating our way of life, the line between work and private life is more blurred than it ever was. It means that depending on the restrictions you live under, and the safety of your own home and surroundings makes the work-family even closer. Struggling with our own priorities, day by day, we are less likely to have the will or motivation for any outside contacts and socialization. We will simply lack the energy for it. Social distancing can easily amplify feelings of loneliness and isolation. Being disconnected from the workplace means being disconnected from the people — being even more mindful of our employees and teams we work in means paying closer attention, noticing more, building high-quality connections through making the team feel fully seen, heard, and appreciated. Listen to be able to hear, not only to act or obtain information.
Being present to our teams during times like this drains our energy, being present to our families during times like these as well. We all need to be mindful that we need to fill our cups regularly so we can refresh and take proper care of ourselves. Be honest about what you’re feeling and experiencing, let yourself be vulnerable and express your emotions, set boundaries, and practice compassion.
3. There’s a Silver Lining
Many of us dream of a time when the daily tasks of our typical workdays calm down a little so their teams can focus on longer-term, bigger picture projects. This is that time. It’s time to think big, to think creatively, and to think outside the box. Now is an important time to change our perspective a bit. Time to be mindful and aware of all the benefits we gained, not only what we’ve lost. We can consider a shift in our thinking from challenge — to opportunity mode.
What we are going through, is not merely losing a set of skills or workplace benefits — we are in fact gaining a different set of skills that are, in the long run, more than useful. We are building the relationships within our teams; we are creating a deeper sense of trust and teamwork. We are upgrading our profiles and professional selves — remote work & remote learning, delegation and resource allocation, performance delivery, and virtual accountability. We are finding more ways, new and innovative, to get the job done. We have the unique opportunity to try new things, new methods, and techniques of doing our work that will make us even stronger and more prepared for going back to our old normal one day.
Be it as it may, we are inevitably growing and showing, once more, that when the going gets tough, the tough get going!
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