The five faces of return to work – do you have the management band-width?
In my article, Five steps to keeping your team positive, I promised to look at the emerging issue of unlock-anxiety. Step one in that process is to look at the human reactions which need to be managed.
In every corner of the business world, leadership groups are making plans for social distancing, limiting numbers, PPE availability, hand sanitisers, elevator etiquette – and the list goes on. But how many businesses are strategizing for the spectrum of psychology which will impact their business? Because there are five likely faces of return and all need a different management approach.
1. Excitement. There are many who are itching to get back to the office and have a team around them and no cameras. Many are die-hard office-lovers who think that the past few months has been a dreadful failure of agile working – because it did not suit them. The danger here is that they will gravitate towards team members who are ‘all present and correct’ in the belief that productivity is a factor of presence and marginalise those who stay at home. They will need training in multi-media management to ensure teams are not split into perceived returning heroes and stay-away slackers.
2. Resentment. Many people have enjoyed lock-down working. They have had more time with family, more time for self, been self-managed, productive and have not been squashed into transport for 20% of their day. Business can expect an increase in work-at home requests, agile working demands and flexible hour contracts. Again, leaders need to be trained in how to balance a genuine personal need with the demands of getting business back on track.
3. Shock. Until reality hits, few have a clarity about what return to work will look like. Already people are making plans for training, meetings, working spaces. But without training in Covid risk analysis how can they be expected to think about basics such as getting ten people into a room and still enable them to reach the door without breaking social distance? They will need assistance on staggering team presence, ensuring communications, managing work-flow – everything which is not even conscious when your team is in the office.
4. Fear or anxiety. Unlocking an office door does not unlock the fear of a virus which has no cure and no vaccine. Business can expect a surge in work-place anxiety, stress, demands for greater protection and complaints about risky behaviour. Social distance infringement will become the new harassment. Managers will need to police and manage the spectrum of motivating people to comply while actively performance managing those who persistently fail in protecting their colleagues.
5. Anger. Imagine travelling to work, masked, distancing – all the right things – and someone selfishly sits next to you. Your central brain will go into alarm – part of our survival response – and then anger. Our brilliant brains will stay on alert – resulting in you noticing every person who comes too close. You get to the office and a colleague inadvertently walks past. Your natural response will be anger. So managers will need the EQ to manage people who are behaving apparently irrationally when really they are behaving naturally.
Then the double-bind – leaders and managers have feelings – so they will be managing their own reactions as well as those of others.
The journey out of lock-down is emotional as well as logistical. So two questions for all return strategy teams:
1. Does your strategy have a large section called psychology?
Are you training your managers in the bandwidth of management skills required to manage the new normal?
