Taking Time in Tech – Empathetic leadership during, and after, Covid-19

The unsettling effects of COVID-19 on our daily lives, global health, and on the world’s economies has been overwhelming. Now that places are slowly opening up again, most of us are unsure of what happens next, and we’re bracing ourselves for another big change.

Our IT Group Director, Rich Kenny was recently invited to Transition Partners’ ‘Taking Time in Tech’ webinar. During the session, he discussed how managers can best support their team, both during lockdown and as offices open. He was joined by Chris Fawcett, who provides coaching and support for professionals. You can watch the webinar recording below.

Here is a summary of the webinar’s advice about how to alleviate anxiety, whether that’s for yourself, or for your team.

For leaders

There are three critical qualities business that leaders should have, especially during a crisis. These are empathy, awareness and vulnerability.

• Encourage vulnerability. An imperative for leaders in such times is to show empathy and not only accept, but to encourage vulnerability in the workplace. This isn’t easy, but an expression of care is essential in order to connect with people.

• Dedicate a support network. Set up a group of people that will tackle the key challenges that your organisation and employees will face. Issues could include social distancing measures, flexibility whilst home schooling, or how to keep busy whilst on furlough.

• Create a psychologically safe environment. This is more important now than ever as it will help boost collaboration and transparency among employees and managers. It’s important to do this with a top – down approach, so that every employee can benefit.

• Limit pressure. Everybody reacts to periods like these differently. Recognising and rewarding the people who are taking smart risks, and showing empathy towards those who are feeling anxious, is really important. Like Rich says, “it doesn’t take much to send somebody a message thanking them for their hard work, or just letting them know that they’ve done a good job.”

• Take your employees’ opinions into consideration. This is a good time to reflect on what kind of organisation and culture we want within our organisation, so that we can make the office as supportive as possible. For instance, checking in with who enjoys home working is a good start for making behaviour changes after the pandemic.

For employees:

• Embrace your feelings. This is the most important thing in moments of stress and anxiety, when we tend to soldier on, and push ourselves to the breaking point. Taking the time to analyse what is going on in your life will help you slow down and avoid this outcome. Accept that stress is a feeling and it will pass. It may help to give yourself a time limit – e.g. ‘I will feel frustrated for 2 minutes’ – and then remove yourself from that emotion for the rest of the day.

• Change your mindset. It seems cliché, but the phrase “change your attitude and your problems will be gone” is actually scientific. According to a study conducted by the Harvard Business School, when individuals feel anxious, they tend to try to “calm down” because that is assumed to be the best way to cope with performance anxiety. However, there is a more effective, alternative path, where you reappraise anxiety as excitement. Individuals who opt for this solution through self-talk i.e. saying “I am excited” out loud, adopt an opportunity mindset rather than a threat mindset. This improves their subsequent performance.

• Assess what matters. Chris Fawcett suggested an interesting method called The Rocking Chair. This helps to deescalate problems simply by imagining an older version of yourself. When you are 90, thinking back on your life in your chair, will the stress about an upcoming project still plague you? This helps to assess how much of your energy to dedicate to certain tasks.

• Will this matter to me in 30 days? Rich Kenny recommended asking yourself whether what you are stressing about will matter in 30 days. This is a simple way to outline priorities, and reduce stress.

• Speak to your manager. If something is still worrying you about going back to work, initiate a conversation about it. The chances are that this will alleviate some of the anxiety you are experiencing.

• Slow down. Ease back into normality by bringing with you the new habits that kept you safe during lockdown, such as more time with family, or daily walks to clear your mind. Not everything has to change all at once, and some habits may be here to stay.

• Leave guilt behind. This applies to work but also in life. Remember that you run at your own pace, and that good competition is healthy competition, which doesn’t create feelings of worthlessness or failure. The pandemic has shown that embracing vulnerability, showing empathy to those around us, and keeping in touch with others is crucial. We hope that these tips help to cope during this time of transition.

Techbuyer is an IT specialist with sites across Europe, the USA and Asia Pacific. We help thousands of businesses and organisations across the world to maximise their budget with our new and quality refurbished server, storage and networking equipment, laptops and PCs. We also contribute to a range of events and webinars about business management, sustainability and the circular economy. Check out our products here.