Prepping Your Remote Team for Crisis

Hiring and building the right team will sustain your organization through many challenges

A leader’s true character is revealed in times of crisis. And that same principle applies to teams as well. As your team faces the myriad impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19), what are you learning about its collective character?

Are you finding certain members struggling with new experiences like remote work? Are some members handling it like a champ? Are some challenged by the discipline necessary to work from home? Granted, the current circumstances are extremely unusual and stressful, so you’re bound to see some employee stress reactions that normally wouldn’t surface. It’s totally understandable that your team will need some extraordinary tending to right now.

As you consider the future of remote work for your team (whether you’ll continue doing it in the future, or want to expand flexible work as an offering for your employees), there are some important ways you can prep your team for any future crises.

Hire talent that work well in a remote office.

This is an obvious point to make, but some people hire employees with the best intentions, thinking they’ll be fine working remotely, only to find that they aren’t really ready for that level of flexibility. I’ll soon be offering a training course that can help such employees make that transition more easily.

In the meantime, make sure during the interview process to talk about their work patterns, their experience working remote, their need for connection and direction. It’s important for remote employees to be self-motivated, disciplined, and excellent communicators. If any red flags about these issues arise during the interview process, you’ll need to evaluate whether their talent and culture fit is worth the investment in training them for remote work.

Remote team coaches like me can help, but some people may never be cut out for remote work. It’s important to know your priorities and whether you want to make that investment in a potential employee.

Build a strong, resilient team.

As you build your team, consider which character qualities you want for each team member. What kind of culture do you want to create? (Yes, virtual teams have distinct culture as well!)  Once you’ve assembled the right team, focus on team building—both for the entire team and individual members.

One great way to build the team is to have fun together online. Have a virtual happy hour, hold weekly team meetings video conference where you can inject some humor into the conversation.

Another excellent team-building exercise is doing something like the Energy Leadership Index Assessment. This powerful tool assesses each team member’s attitudes and perspectives, which impact how they work, the decisions they make, and how they interact with their teammates. I offer this tool as part of my coaching and have found it to be an invaluable tool for coaching individuals and teams.

Plan for crises.

There are many situations for which you cannot plan (usually referred to as a black swan event), but you can plan for how you team will operate during crisis. How will you communicate? Who will make key decisions? What skills will your teammates need to develop? How can they manage stress and pressure? Many of these abilities can be learned and developed before an actual crisis hits.

I am fortunate to work with a strong virtual team that coaches nonprofits towards greater impact. Over the last week that team has risen to the occasion and continues to impress its leadership and its clients by its resilience, positive attitude, and can-do work ethic. Every team member is highly motivated to do their best, to shift gears as things change rapidly, to produce more work product on short timeframes, and do it all with a smile and how-can-I-help-you attitude. It’s a beautiful thing to observe and be part of.  And it motivates everyone that works with that team to level up and match that positivity and productivity.

This current crisis is a great opportunity to assess your current team. To see where you may have some talent gaps. And to see where coaching could help each member and the entire team work better together. This too shall pass, but your team-building and staff development will continue. Now is your chance to engage in the team building necessary to thrive through future potential crises.