How to best manage the shifting new-normal. Some thoughts from May 2020

It's nearly two years since we wrote this piece. It'll be good to review where we are in a year's time. How will things have settled?


How to best manage the shifting new-normal
 
Bill Lowe. UK Consultant for Master Trainer Institute, Switzerland.
 
As the curve starts to flatten and even drop in some parts of the world, people are heading back to work, in some way or another. Like us, a lot of companies are just trying to keep any level of business going at the moment and hope to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic at best bruised, not broken.
One thing is certain. We are in an unusual place. It is a state of limbo between lockdown and the ‘new-normal’. A place we haven’t quite reached. Businesses are tentatively opening up but managing this will be difficult. It is an unprecedented and unexpected phase.
It’s clear to see an unparalleled shift in how a lot of us feel about work. As Arity’s Gary Hallgren  says, we are realising that working from home “really is work”. We are seeing clients getting used to the fact that working out of the office could become an expectation.
This is giving leaders a new set of problems to solve.
Our owner and MD, Richard Bradley, has reliable sources in a range of organisations. They say that from their in-house research, as many as 75% of workers want to keep working from home after things have settled. I have colleagues in tech based firms who have settled well into working at home. They are highly productive and can focus on their work without the distractions that they have in the office.
There are employees who have realised that they might not need to live in expensive city properties in order to be close to the office. Working from home is cutting commuting costs as well. The overall financial savings can be substantial. 
So it’s understandable that a good number of companies are planning to arrange a rota system so they can cut office space. New guidance is being issued and Hilary Brueck and Shira Feder cite the latest World Health Organisation guidelines. This sets out advice for distancing in offices and the type of products that will be needed as the return to work increases.
These recommendations are important, but they put added pressure on management. This is where the challenges start.
How do you persuade employees to get back in if they are scared? How much persuasion will they need? A significant point is the WHO’s concern about places like elevators and public bathrooms. Also, Hilary and Shira are right to ask about the questions people will have about breathing re-cycled air. Workers will be worried. Convincing them that guidelines have been followed will be difficult in some places.
How ‘fairness’ is perceived will be a challenge. Managers need to think carefully about rota allocations or deciding who will be allowed to stay away from the office. And for how long. Getting it right to suit everyone will be virtually impossible.
What about those who find it difficult working from home or who prefer to be in the office?
A radio phone in last week had several callers saying how less effective they were at home. They reported much less enthusiastic engagement in the creative side of their work. Zoom can’t match the buzz of a round-the-table meeting.
And let’s not forget that some of our homes might be alright for short term home working, but permanently? We have asked - do our people have the right equipment and skills for being home-based long term?
In a recent Business Insider article Ryan Serhant said how important it is to keep connected during the lockdown. This is very important during this transition phase. The best leaders are keeping their teams informed about what’s coming next. They are also showing compassion and understanding. The first question we ask our team members is, “How are things for you at the moment?” Then we follow it up with asking what we can do for them, and framing this with a focus on upcoming developments.
We suggest that although a lot of problems will be new, the ways to address them are established. To tackle the problems we are having during the COVID lockdown limbo period with our own team, we are:

1. Making sure that we know exactly what the problem is. This means gathering the right information. This needs to be precise.
2. Doing our best to understand colleagues’ differing opinions and how they formed them. These are age-old conflict resolution strategies, but very necessary now.
3. Aware that we will need to find an agreed consensus to move forward. This is hard at the best of times, but how will it look with different work settings and attitudes? This needs colleague input. Their perceptions will be different to ours because this is new.
4. Being civil to each other. This Harvard Business Review article says that 48% of people lower their effort at work if they have been on the end of civility. No one wants their workforce to be putting in half the effort as we get through this phase!
5. Not micro-managing. An ex-colleague of mine who is working in administration for a very large transport franchise in the UK tells me that she has only reported to her line manager once since the lockdown. That trust will be repaid.

 
As the new-normal keeps shifting, the best leaders are responding by putting their co-workers first.