3 Ways to Effectively Manage in Uncertain Times
Investing in a strong relationship with your team has never been more important
Management seemed like the perfect next step for my career. I can easily build rapport with others and I like to help people grow by coaching them through challenges. However, I didn’t plan on my transition to management to coincide with a pandemic.
Becoming a new manager in this time of change forced me to grow rapidly to meet new challenges. The lessons of building understanding, trust, and authenticity have taken on particular significance at a time when navigating uncertainty is a constant.
Build Understanding
I’ve remotely onboarded several new employees to my team in my time as a manager and a list of first 1-on-1 questions has never been more important to understand what they need from me. I recommend taking the time to understand their work style preferences and personality. How do they like to receive praise? What frustrates them? What signals will they give when they need help? Lara Hogan has a wonderful template for the first 1-on-1.
Weekly 1-on-1’s have been critical to both understand what people are working on and the challenges they’re dealing with at home. These are things you can’t see on Webex. Life changes fast from week to week, and now the changes are more emotional and impactful than ever.
To understand my direct reports’ challenges while respecting their privacy, I use the open-ended question of “how’s it going?” to open the conversation. This lets them decide how much they want to share.
I use the time to catch up and talk about what they need from me to do their best work. Sometimes that involves coaching them through a challenge; and sometimes it’s a need to take time away so they can address what’s going on at home. It’s my job to drive results but not to the detriment of the people on my team. Deadlines can move or help can be given to ensure my direct report is in a place to focus and do their best work without worry.
This goes both ways; I’m open about my struggles and I talk about my coping strategies. Sometimes a person isn’t in a place to open up and be vulnerable, and that’s ok. However, if they do want to talk, they know I’m here and I’m a human struggling with the same things.
Build Trust
Trust develops from the rapport you build in your 1-on-1’s. Maintaining that trust over time requires honest feedback about performance and transparency.
Conversations about performance are difficult in normal times but are now compounded by so many outside factors. Is your direct report struggling because they don’t understand expectations? Do they not have the proper skill set for the work? Or is there a third factor, such as a challenge at home, that you’re not aware of? This is why it’s important to continue to have 1-on-1’s so these kinds of questions can be explored and mitigated through informed coaching.
Transparency is also a critical part of building trust. In particular, my direct reports often have questions about company policy that I don’t have the answer to as circumstances constantly shift in response to the outside world. We’re in an unprecedented time that presents unique issues for modern management. Be vulnerable and transparent that you don’t know but you’ll figure it out together. Being direct and open will reinforce trust.
Be Authentic
The next part was a scary one for me: letting my team know I am a human being with thoughts and feelings.
Starting out as a new manager, I thought I had to imitate the leaders I had encountered in my career. These people understood Business and Numbers. They were confident and seemed infallible.
This was not completely jiving with who I am: a designer and researcher, at heart, with a sense of humor that can be a bit goofy. Was it ok for me to crack a joke so my team and I could laugh together? That didn’t sound very Business. Was it ok to let them know I was upset when disturbing events were cropping up in the news? That didn’t seem very Business, either.
If I had not opened up to them about feelings of fear and uncertainty in the world, I risked coming off as bizarre and robotic. When I opened up, they felt like they could open up, too. And passing up a good opportunity to make a ThunderCats reference during our team brainstorming session would have been disingenuous. While I need to be aware of what I say, given the power dynamic of the position I’m in, pretending I didn’t feel what I felt would have damaged my credibility and rapport with the team.
You are a leader now. It’s time to think about what your values are and how that comes into your leadership style. We’re not all Jack Welch, and that’s 100% ok because the world needs different types of leadership.
The value of a strong relationship with your team
Building understanding, trust, and authenticity are not the first things that come to mind when becoming a manager. You’re there to drive outcomes, right? Yes, and you do that by building a strong relationship with your team. You need to invest the time and not treat it as a box to tick. These practices become a particularly important investment during a time when there’s so much uncertainty in our personal and professional lives.