A Step by Step Way to Keep Your Company Aligned When You are Working Remotely During This Crisis

 I was talking to one of the startup founders I coach about how to handle the COVID-19 crisis while everyone was remote. 

Since I’ve coached startup founders as well as Fortune 500 companies, I regularly support my clients in thinking through crises and working remotely. As the world faces this pandemic, both of these topics are critical for everyone. 

Right now, as a leader, you have to proactively keep everyone on the same page to ensure that the business is moving forward as well as it can. The best way to do that is to carve out a daily meeting as a “virtual situation room.” Here’s how to do that:

Choose who you want in your situation room. If you have an established leadership team, those are probably the right people. Some of the CEOs I coach have sprawling leadership teams that extend into the double digits. If that’s the case, you probably have a subset you turn to for their judgment because they have the largest scope of responsibility. Keep this group to less than 10 if you possibly can.

Have a mandatory daily call at the same time. A daily check-in keeps everyone feeling connected and on the same page. Ask everyone to prioritize this time and work other things around it. Having it at the same time daily keeps it simple and makes it a ritual. During times of anxiety, rituals serve as a touchstone to calm anxiety and create community – both sorely needed right now.

Get personal. To build community, you need people to share personally. Use video. Start with a simple check-in. Everyone should take 2 minutes to say how they’re doing or to share a personal story. It’s grounding and it ignites team spirit.

Updates. Next, have everyone share any information they have about your team, your company, or the events unfolding in the outside world. The events related to the pandemic are unfolding rapidly. Pooling data will help everyone stay up to date.

Plans. All leaders need a clear written plan that is shared in a centralized place. Some plans reflect business as usual; many will focus on pivots related to the crisis. 

Given the dynamic nature of this crisis, looking at the plans every day is a good practice even though they may not change much day to day. Everyone can weigh in with a simple status: green – on plan; yellow – off plan but with a way to get back on plan; red – off track with no way to get back on track.

 Don’t trouble-shoot now. Each leader should just give a brief explanation of problems and ask for help from the people who can give it. Then they can connect after the meeting.

Further discussion. Is there anything else critical that you haven’t covered? Discuss that here.

Close. Once again, use ritual to create community. Leaders also have to convey hope. End this meeting the same way each time with an inspirational quote or a specific phrase that resonates with your whole team, like “we got this” or “keep going and keep learning.”

Post-meeting. Everyone should leave 30 minutes after the meeting free. You may have uncovered a specific problem to solve or talk through. If the entire team leaves the next 30 minutes free, they can all use that time to connect with each other immediately. Having that block of time set aside is also important in case the meeting goes over.

Cascade information to others immediately. After that hour, it’s critical for your leaders to pull their key team members together and communicate with them. Their meetings can have a similar format and the daily cadence should be the same. This way everyone will feel like they know what’s going on. When people are all working remotely, especially during a crisis, it’s essential to keep them up to speed. 

Debrief and adapt. How is this process working? Things are in flux right now, and your business and personal situation may change. Adapt this meeting so it works for you.

Use these steps to create your situation room as you adapt your business and your leadership style to the new normal.