Building trust in times of uncertainty.

These are gloomy times. There is no smarter way of saying that.

Every new scary message on WhatsApp quietly chips away a little bit of our peace and as the ticker keeps moving to a higher number of confirmed cases, fear looms large.

With the 21 day national lock down, worries are a plenty. From the concern of the country's economy to the panic for the depleting larder.

There is one other thing that struck me, could be of lesser consequence. It would be over a month (at least) that teams would not be huddled togther at work, we would be working alright, but from a distance. Don't get me wrong, I am all for remote working and have no doubts that it can be perfectly efficient during regular times. But these are not regular times.

Everyday poses a new challenge as we somehow manage to deal with yesterday. Each day we are busy working out ways of adjusting to the changed dynamics of the environment... planning for this 'in-between time' before it becomes normal again. At the same time wondering if perhaps we are inching towards a completely new normal.

We are building crack teams, monitoring every move, building plans B and C. We are racking our brains to think of the never-thought-of solutions and pushing the boundaries. What else, what more, how differently, how soon... planning, executing, evaluating.

Amidst all this, there are a bunch of people behind those video conference screens, who are anxious, doubtful, possibly even scared. About the uncertainty of it all.

I am one of those people. I reckon there would be others. Was wondering how I could make a team feel confident, when I'm feeling iffy myself? That's when I remembered Simon Sinek's talk on trusting our happy hormones to build trust! I went back to it and here's what it says.

Endorphins Dopamine Serotonin Oxytocin - EDSO!

Endorphins for endurance: relieves pain and is the our best weapon to deal with this stress and anxiety. Till the delivery apps get their logistics in place, sending chocolates would be difficult. But hearty laughter has the same effect. Let's find time to laugh at things around us, the meme fest on social media makes it easy. We are going through serious times, but we don't need to be serious all the time.

Dopamine for the sense of accomplishment: a neurotransmitter that's part of our brain's reward system. Given that progress on BAU is likely to be slow, we need to work a bit more to keep the encourangement going. Listing out goals, even tasks (yes, like back in school) could be a good idea. Everytime we cross off one item on the list, we cheer ourselves. Might just give us the much needed energising thump.

Serotonin for the pride of recognition: our natural mood stabilizer and comes from feeling valued. It times like these, it plays an important role in getting us to work harder and make change happen. Generating pride of accomplishment isn't easy, especially when the the rate of accomplishment is likely to be slow. Yet involving everyone, asking for suggestions and ensuring that everyone feels a part of this crusade could go a long way.

Oxytocin for empathy and bonding: helps in building trust and strengthening relationships. Unfortunately social distancing bars us from executing the 20 second magic hug or even a warm hand shake. Good news is Oxytocin also gets released through acts of kindness or generosity. Let's be liberal in our appreciations and make an effort to make people feel good. Mails are good, but let's not underestimate the value of a 'you did a great job today' call.

These are testing times. Perhaps things will be back to normal soon. Perhaps they won't. Irrespectve of how the future pans out, we will all adapt to it. We always do.

As we practice social distancing with rigour, let's be careful not to distance ourselves from each other. This is when we need to huddle together, in spirit.