6 Steps to Effectively Lead Into the Next Normal

In the age of COVID, we’ve seen offices upended, workspaces rearranged, and the traditional rules of management thrown out the window.?Face to face?contact has?turned into virtual?meetings,?handshakes?have?turned?into awkward waves?over a screen, and?professional attire has?been replaced with gym shorts and yoga pants.?

While I’m all for comfy clothes?at a ballgame or?the gym, boundaries between work and home have?become?blurred. As leaders,?it's?our responsibility to establish?the?next normal, and that?starts by putting a stop to pajama management.??

It is more important than ever to open the office and encourage your teams to step through the doors once again.?If your?staff is?bucking the return?to the office?and relishing in their work from home status, here are a few reasons why returning to the workplace is so vital:?

1. Culture:?Sure, virtual happy hours and birthday celebrations took some creative liberty?during the pandemic, but culture cannot be genuinely created and?maintained?through a screen.?Culture is imperative to a healthy work environment.?In fact, according to?research by Deloitte,?“There is a correlation between employees who say they are?‘happy at work’?and feel?‘valued by [their] company’?and those who say their organization has a clearly articulated and lived culture.”?Culture trumps strategy?every day of the week, and that can only be created?when we’re?together.??
2. Collaboration: Strong collaboration requires strong?communication.?According to?Cisco,?there are six keys to successful communication:?engagement and focus on shared content, tone of voice, facial expressions, words someone is using, subconscious body language, and?conscious movements or gestures. In fact, four out of six of these?attributes “cannot be achieved without the power of in-person, which requires a rich communication environment.”?
3. Productivity:?To harness the power and potential of your team's productivity, you must be in a shared space.?According to Indeed,?“Working as a team not only drives greater productivity, but it also fosters healthy relationships between employees. Often, when employees work together, they’re more effective and efficient than those who attempt to manage the same projects alone.”?

Most?leaders?agree with?the importance of?in-office?culture,?collaboration,?and productivity. However, the question?remains, how do we lead out of?pajama management and into the future? Here are the?six?steps our organization has taken to?successfully return.?

Open the Office?

It’s that simple. If you’re hesitant to set?in-office expectations, your staff will be hesitant to return.?Communicate?clear expectations—instead of?hard and fast rules—and offer?flexibility?with your teams.??

We need leaders who are willing to start small...but just start.?Cast the vision to return to the office and give your?team?room to trust your leadership.?When we reopened our office, we?started?two days per week. Once our teams adjusted to this, we requested that entire departments?return?together?three days a week. Today, our office is open four days a week, and Fridays are reserved for remote work.?

As our?team has?returned to the office, we have remained committed to communication, always offering an open door when life gets upended.?We’re?determined?to listen and offer solutions for?individual situations, and when?circumstances arise, staff have the flexibility to work from home without it returning to?the norm.?

Experience Life in Relationship—We’re Better Together?

Humans were created?for?connection, and this?happens?in?its most?genuine form?through?in-person community.?According to a Forbes survey,?“Business?executives?overwhelmingly?agree that face-to-face meetings are not just preferable but necessary for building deeper, more profitable bonds with clients and business partners and maintaining productive relationships with co-workers.”?

Recently, a group of?our?franchise owners from all over the United States flew in to take part in a two-day National Marketing Meeting. While we had shared dozens of?Teams?calls, phone conversations, emails, and messages?sent?by carrier pigeon over the past year, I?didn’t?realize how much our entire organization had weathered. Being together again, sharing a meal, laughing, telling stories, catching up about kids and careers—it was life giving and a poignant?reminder of the importance of experiencing life in relationship.??

The reality is that?we’re?all?buying?the?lie that we can and should be isolated. Get people in a room. Look them in the eyes. Shake their hands?or bump elbows (as some do nowadays). The next normal demands connection to flourish.?

Learn From the Past?

Prior to the global shut?down, we lived?with Tetris-style calendars, every task and meeting neatly (and tightly) stacked one upon the other.?We have since learned?how to protect priorities in a highly productive world.?We have had to?regularly refine?and?acknowledge?when schedules are resuming their?pre-pandemic craziness.?However,?when returning to the office,?we must do whatever it takes to avoid snapping back into the past.?

Meetings are a prime example of potential mayhem that must be?monitored?in the next normal.?One of my favorite authors, Patrick Lencioni, says it this way in his book?Death?by?Meetings,?“Even if people had nothing else to do with their time, the monotony of sitting through an uninspired staff meeting, conference call, or two-day off-site would have to rank right up there with the most painful activities of modern business culture. And when we consider that most of the people struggling through those meetings do indeed have other things to do, that pain is only amplified.”?

We have an opportunity to shift the dynamic of meetings in our organizations, and that shift needs to happen today. When invited to a meeting, ask yourself these simple questions.??

• Is it necessary for me to be there???
• What am I expected to contribute???
• Does this meeting need to happen???

Moving forward, a new meeting should only be scheduled with a written purpose and expectation.?

Lead Through Boundaries?

As a leader,?you’re the pioneer who paves a new way forward.?You set the tone for work-life balance with your team. If they see emails coming through at 8:45pm?or on the weekend—even if they?aren't required?to respond—they?become?aware that you’re working,?jeopardizing?your own work-life balance.?These little habits send a “do as I say, not as I do” message.?

According to?the Society for Human Resource Management,?“Research shows remote employees are working longer, spending time in more meetings and having to keep up with more communication channels.?Nearly 70 percent of professionals who transitioned to remote work because of the pandemic say they now work on the weekends, and 45 percent say they regularly work more hours during the week than they did before.”?

Instead of a healthy 40-hour work week, teams are spending 50 and 60 hours in the confines of their homes.?This takes a toll on their mental and physical?aptitude;?it robs their family of focus?and their soul of rest.?Create space for recharging and rejuvenation.?Each team member will be more productive?for?it.?

In fact, productivity is only productive when?it’s?done in the rational confines of boundaries.?It’s?time to stop rewarding workaholic behavior;?there is no honor in overachievement. Create a culture of shutting down and?promote?the real-life priorities of faith,?family,?and?vocation?(in that order).??

Turn Off Notifications?

You read that right. Turn off the dings, chirps, chimes, and?beeps. We?live?in a culture driven by the dopamine rush of the next?notification, and unless you are on call and responsible for saving lives, very little demands?your?immediate attention.?

A couple of years ago, I turned?off?the?toggle?on all notifications, and do you know what happened? Nothing. Busyness paused.?Priorities realigned. I?was?able to be present?in?each moment?and resume work during working hours. Here?are a few?ways?I encourage leaders to?accomplish?this seemingly daunting feat?as they establish their next normal:?

• Set focus time on your calendar daily.?This gives you the opportunity to review?anything that would traditionally?notify you electronically.?
• Check email on a schedule. I prefer?to check messages?before?going?into the office,?mid-morning, after lunch, and before I leave for the day. Respond to messages during those times or flag?them?for?follow-up.??
• Set communication boundaries?and expect the same for your leadership. If?you’re?able to turn off your notifications, respect?others’?boundaries to do the same,?and give them the freedom?to respond?in a timely manner. Unless there is an emergency,?don’t?track down your team members through?any?other means of communication if?it’s?taken longer than 15 minutes for them to respond to your first message.?
• Remain available via phone call. If a true emergency presents itself, the phone is?almost always?within arm’s reach.???

Loosen the Reigns?

The longer I lead, the more I realize that the mark of a successful leader is when things can run without their involvement,?like a well-oiled machine gaining momentum.?I would much rather celebrate winning from the sidelines than losing on the field.?As you return, loosen the reigns so your leaders can lead, refine the process when necessary, and jump in to do the heavy lifting when needed. Kick micromanagement to the curb and understand that it devalues your leadership and under equips your team.?

The next normal is waiting for leaders like you and me to step up and pave the way, and that way leads people back together once again.?

Paul is the co-founder, franchisor and president of Aqua-Tots Swim Schools. He also serves as the brand franchisor for KTR Centers and Uncle Bear’s Grill & Tap as well as the co-founder of The Scuba Shop and Legacy Adventures. Connect with Paul on?LinkedIn.

?