Leading Through Our Collective Trauma

My inbox, like many of yours, is currently overrun by self-improvement advice -- How to Work Out at Home; How to Become a Master Chef at Home; How to Turn Your Kids into Productive Coworkers. I’m being bombarded by targeted ads for language-learning services and virtual masterclasses teaching every skill under the sun. And yet, these messages are all falling on deaf ears. Quite frankly, I don’t feel like using this time to improve myself! 

Being immersed in corporate America’s hustle culture, this sentiment made me feel like something was really wrong with me. After all, if Isaac Newton discovered calculus during a quarantine, then I should be able to write up a quarterly report. So, I did some research into the psychology of it all. As it turns out, much of the workforce is feeling this aversion to productivity. 

In a Facebook post that has now been shared over 55,000 times, trauma psychologist Alaa Hijazi shared her anger and bewilderment at the barrage of motivational pressure to learn something new, start a business, or otherwise “maximize” this time in a profitable way: 

“We are going through a collective trauma, that is bringing up profound grief, loss, panic over livelihoods, panic over loss of lives of loved ones. People's nervous systems are barely coping with the sense of threat and vigilance for safety, or alternating with feeling numb and frozen and shutting down in response to it all.” 

Let’s look at the situation from the popular motivational framework of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which looks something like this: 

(simplypsychology.org)

In short, the coronavirus pandemic has us lacking in basic and belongingness needs, which leaves us lacking in motivation to go after those esteem and self-fulfillment needs that the ‘use this time to be productive’ camp wants us to aim for. We’re stressed -- overwhelmed by the fact that we are somehow busier now than before the quarantine and simultaneously processing the loss of thousands of Americans and the uncertainty of the situation with which we’re faced. Our bodies are responding by stripping us of motivation and telling us to sit down and take a break. But, a business can’t just take a break, can it?

Alaa Hijazi’s post concludes with a prescription of empathy: 

“What we need is more self compassion, more gentle acceptance of all the difficult emotions coming up for us now, more focus on gentle ways to soothe ourselves and our pain and the pain of loved ones around us[.]”

So, how can leaders use empathy to keep their teams motivated and meeting deadlines? Here are five tips:

Be available for non-work related support. I like to tell the leaders I coach that if they leave with one key insight it should be: Leaders set the tone. This is especially true in times of crisis. Your team will be looking for you to center them with calmness, empathy, and transparency. Remember that each team member is responding to this in a unique way and is dealing with a unique set of pressures -- maybe they have their kids at home, are worried about a parent living in a nursing home, or simply can’t find what they need at their local grocery. Make sure to check-in with them at more than just a surface level, both as a group and on an individual basis.

Measure success in results, not hours. It’s difficult to manage productivity from afar. It is even harder to verify hour-logs. Virtual teams have more success when team members are given some latitude with how they reach the desired results. After all, managers don’t really have a choice. Virtual teams are the nightmare of micromanagers. Get your team involved in the timeline and deadline-setting process and schedule regular check-ins, but don’t hound them over not working enough or working too many hours. If you tell them they need to work 8 hour days, but they know they can get the work done in 5, they will spend a lot more getting sidetracked rather than simply getting the job done.

Set clear roles and expectations. Clarity is key. Ensure that each team member is clear on their role and its importance. I like to end all phone calls with a question - Who is doing what by when? That way, the entire team is clear and individuals feel a sense of accountability towards their peers as well as the team leader. Tasks should be framed as steps to reach a common goal -- be clear on the direct line between the two. 

Be accessible for work-related questions. If a team member can’t reach you with a question about a task, he is more likely to ‘give up’ and become distracted with less important work or his YouTube recommendations during the time it takes for you to get back to his meeting request. Think of all the hours that can be wasted if you don’t make yourself available to answer a 5-minute question. 

Share praise often. Remote workers are more likely to feel undervalued. Teams can’t see each other staying late at the office or having extra meetings with clients. They can’t high-five each other after wins or share a laugh in the hallway. Positive feedback can be a tool to motivate remote workers and ensure that they feel connected and valued. It can be as simple as starting conference calls with time for members to share wins or praise for colleagues. You may also consider starting a slack channel for peer-to-peer shootouts: #YouRock, #MVP, or #GoodJob. 

While following these tips, remember that sometimes deadlines need to take a back seat to employee welfare. Use common sense and empathy to determine the correct balance for your team. And remember that the world is watching. Consumers are looking to see how business leaders respond to hardship. Are you being empathetic with your workforce? Are you asking them to work in unsafe conditions? Which CEOs are dutifully foregoing their own salaries to keep their companies running? And which businesses will survive? Mark Cuban commented: “how companies treat workers during the pandemic could define their brand for decades.”

For more practical ways to lead your team and build trust and connection in a remote workplace, download my free Digital Body Language toolkit here.