COVID-19: “Business is a player not a spectator…”

Business is a player not a spectator… These were the words shared by Dr David Nabarro, Director-General Special Envoy on COVID-19 at the World Health Organisation (WHO) as he shared top of mind thoughts on a webinar hosted by Microsoft and Edelman yesterday.

COVID-19 has in a short space of time changed the personal and professional lives of millions across the UK and indeed the world. I wanted to share my thoughts, both from yesterday’s session and more broadly, reflections on leading in this unprecedented time.

Trustworthy Insights & News: To start with COVID-19 felt far away, and many watched from a distance. It’s now very much on our doorstep and as the Government continues to introduce tighter measures, it’s a challenging time to lead your business & people and make the right judgements on what and when. This is compounded, when seemingly reputable sources share vastly differing opinions. My approach has been to use a blend of sources, so I can understand the facts, science, as well as the social and human implications of what has been reported. Dr David Nabarro gave a factual account of the current situation, the importance of trusted sources and the role technology will play in the global response, as well as the importance of leaders needing to respond and act with a sense of urgency.

On the topic of trusted sources, I have found WHO a great starting point to keep yourself up to date. I’ve started each day with their daily press briefing and their situational reports and was interested to see the addition of myth busters and getting your workplace ready added.

Separately, Dr Nabarro has written a number of thoughtful COVID-19 narratives which provide very useful strategic advice and insights, to help coordinate the global response around the world. They help raise awareness on the role of business and have Dr David’s reflections and leadership lessons. Of particular note for the business community is a narrative targeted at business leaders.

Responding to employee needs: Against this backdrop, employees are looking to their companies to lead and support them through what is an incredibly challenging time. I’ve learnt from supporting our own employees at Microsoft that transparent, honest and frequent communication is key. Many are grappling with the challenge of working from home, for some it’s a new experience and with the recent announcement of the planned school closures, many parents are now anxious about how they will balance work and home. Context is everything here, and what might be a great opportunity for some, creates unique challenges for others. Strong leadership at this time is about showing humility, respecting the uniqueness of the fact every employee will have a different context, concern or motivation in this new reality. We have stepped up our approach to communication, mobilising new and fun ways to keep engagement high and information flowing. ‘Virtual Afternoon Tea’ is now a thing, along with Friday ‘Virtual Happy Hour’, ‘Favourite hats’ for group meetings via Teams and a hackathon on how best to support our customers, with growing participation from all around the world. Keeping a strong and connected culture, I believe will be key to navigating whatever the next few weeks and months may bring.

Keeping customers top of mind: In times of great challenge, it can be easy to adopt an internal focus. The very finest of plans have now been knocked off course. It’s hard to forecast and simulate what might happen and to think through the longer-term implications. Without stating the obvious, now is the time to stay close to how you can support your customers. Having the right listening mechanisms to hear real time feedback from your customers is vital.  At Microsoft we’re looking at the many signals and how we focus our response to this. Top priority was the urgent areas of working remotely and on-line learning for schools, but one of the others areas we had to take a quick response on was turning all our physical events to virtual, to ensure we continued to support our customers and partners. Business leaders need to act with speed to respond to the most important needs of their customers, but it’s also often the small things that matter at times like this.

Seek out & celebrate the positive: As we all are immersed in the severe consequences of what COVID-19 brings, I make a habit of seeking out the good news stories and a focus on how to keep morale and motivation high. There is incredible work that is happening to mobilise a community response, from taking care of the elderly and those that need it, to collaboration across industries focused on how to help. This reminds me that in the toughest of times, we also get to see some of the best of humanity and community.

The importance of trust & learning from others

Dr Nabarro talked about China being a good example of the involvement of organisations with a strong community response, who worked in partnership with Government to reduce the spread and scale of COVID-19, as well as the leadership from employers who mobilised support. Working for a global organisation, I’ve had the opportunity to learn from other countries, including colleagues based in China who have shared their experiences.

The 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer showed that “my employer” was the most trusted institution, finishing 27% higher than government and media. In a follow up special report on COVID-19, employer communications are seen as the most credible source of information, with 63% of people stating that they would believe information from their employer after seeing it once or twice, versus 58% for a government website and 51% for traditional media.

It was a privilege to hear from such a trusted source as Dr David Nabarro, with wise words and advice on the importance of the role of business leaders. I started with a quote “business is a player not a spectator” and in times of adversity, our teams are expecting the best from the leaders they trust. 

Wishing all of my network the very best as we navigate this together.