Overnight, in the blink of an eye, COVID-19 has made you a virtual organization.

Perhaps you have some flex in your organization. Perhaps employees can work from home some days. Perhaps you have a remote-work plan on paper

Now however it’s about to be Monday, and your team is isolated.

This is an opportunity to grow and improve.

We’re virtual. We’ve worked at it. We haven’t arrived. I asked our team members “If you had to quickly become completely virtual, what are the top 3-5 things that an organization should do?”

The results were fascinating. 

As you would expect, the answers range based on the different responsibilities people have, to the state of our own organization’s maturity and culture. 

Yet three threads ran through their varied answers: Culture, Support, & Care

CULTURE – it was top-of-mind.

We all know our culture is built every day. Our beliefs and attitudes, especially about people, show up in the stories we tell, the symbols we embrace, in our routines, in the meetings we hold, and the reports we require.

COVID-19 will make you want to keep business as usual as much as you can. And you should. But don’t miss this opportunity. Perhaps much of the way your culture is reinforced relies on physical presence, and even space. Ask the question, “What culture are we driving for, how are we explicitly seeking to build it, and what new measures should we take? 

Make sure you know your big culture driver. For us it is prayer. We have a weekly prayer call, and we protect it. 

This virtual situation can actually be an opportunity for you to advance your culture.

SUPPORTIING THE TEAM – every one of our team brought it up. They offered specifics which split into three areas: Tools, Targets, and Training.

Before you were forced into this virtual world, you no doubt had a sense of which processes and systems were working, and which were not. 

This new virtual world is going to put a strain on many of your processes and systems. Don’t underestimate the impact. 

1.    Tools: These are obvious, remote access to files, virtual meeting software, communication tools, etc. When one of your systems didn’t work, you walked down the hall. That has been eliminated. 

2.    Targets: Make sure people know what is expected. You’ve lost the opportunity to clarify needs through the myriad of unscheduled moments. You won’t be bumping into anyone as you grab some coffee. You will become painfully aware of this when you are grabbing for your phone, again, and realize you’ve called the person way too much. 

How to combat this situation? We have a three-pronged approach. First, everyone has Key Performance Indicators. Second, they are connected into a work-flow system that their teammates can see and communicate through. Third, there are structured interactions/meetings at the right frequency.  

We don’t want anyone sitting at their desk wondering about a question, and not knowing how to move forward.

3.    Training: There are all sorts of new norms that need to be established. For virtual meetings are cameras on, or off? Is it normal to take a meeting while driving (when before this moment you expected people around a table)? The reality is that not everyone will make the transition. 

The question is “What do they each need to be successful?” We have one team member who for the first few months would leave his home, drive and get a cup of coffee, enter his home by a different door, and then start work. Does that sound strange? It is what they needed to do to “throw the switch” that they were at work.

CARE

It starts with keeping lines of communication open. Our virtual meetings start with a 5-minute check-in. When you were physically together, you naturally learned what your teammates were facing in life. There is a tendency for some folks, that when they switch to virtual, it becomes all business.

Before being thrust into the all-virtual world you trusted your team. When you’re not face-to-face, and you don’t know what they are facing, it becomes too easy to assume the worst. 

Life happens. Be patient. Be flexible. Put grace first. And keep your sense of humor. 

In the end, with some thought, you can take the anxiety and concern of your folks and transform that energy into a real advantage to drive to the next level of performance.