Who could have predicted less than a year ago, that we’d be facing the biggest disruption this country has faced in decades?
The effects of the Coronavirus pandemic have caused the devastation of businesses and unprecedented change in the way we work and ways of working for leadership teams.
Many employees have created makeshift offices at home and it looks set to stay that way for the unforeseeable. Managers meanwhile have had to get to grips with having remote staff and are hopefully tackling ways to recover from plummeting budgets and perhaps, redundancies.
Tip-top communications
If anything, the pandemic has been an accelerant for digital communications. With an office once full of staff suddenly empty overnight, internal communications needed to be top-notch – or improved rapidly to help ways of working for leadership teams
Reliable technology such as modern-day intranets has proved vital for online collaboration and engaging staff through these testing times. Being able to link remote workers with members of staff in the office is possible thanks to systems like an out-of-the-box intranet, Attollo.
Leaders should show they are advocates for your intranet because after all, they set by example. When your leaders consistently use your platform, they’re showing that this is the way to communicate now – the ‘new normal’.
Cohesive culture
Leadership teams will need to change their approach to looking after staff. For example, managers may need training on dealing with mental health. It’s so much harder to recognise the signs in staff who you can’t physically see in an office. Working from home can leave employees feeling isolated and demotivated. So, it’s time to find new ways to re-engage with those staff to ensure you maintain a good cohesive culture.
A good intranet allows leaders to connect with people more personally. Short messages, comments on articles, small polls and chats on forums allow bosses to reach their employees regularly in a meaningful, streamlined way.
Remote teams
While there may have been a great deal of grumbling about working from home initially, it’s widely reported that employees have preferred working away from the office. A recent study by the Institute of Directors showed that of 1,000 companies, more than half planned to reduce their long-term use of communal workplaces. IOD’s director Roger Barker, reported that remote working could be here to stay for many businesses as it had proved to be one of the most tangible impacts of covid-19 on the economy.
However, hands-on bosses will find having dispersed teams particularly difficult when collaborative working is essential. Working from home doesn’t suit all individuals and so staff must be supported to ensure their mental health is in check and motivated. Keep up their spirits with gamification, acknowledgement and reward systems. These can be publicly displayed on the Attollo homepage, to see higher rates of productivity.
Improved employee experience
It’s likely that because staff have had to manage themselves more being at home, that they have become more self-sufficient working away. They may have enjoyed the freedom to work in a way that pleases them.
Leadership teams should be looking at better ways to measure productivity. While you don’t want to be ringing your staff all day to find out what they’re up to, you do need to be able to track what they’ve done and whether they’ve set goals. While it’s good to show you trust your staff, you need to see this trust repaid in productivity rates.
A central system to store documents, staff can log their time so everyone can see where a project is up to. A modern-day intranet like Attollo is great for collaborating and is fundamental when it comes to team building. It also acts as a central communication hub for staff to meet.
Keeping in touch
Letting staff know what is happening is crucial. This can easily be done via the news centre on your intranet homepage. Weekly or even daily updates are a great way for leadership teams to keep in touch with staff. Especially regarding any local or industry-wide news. This gives staff the impression of transparency and openness, which are good ways to reinforce your company values.
Leaders should use a variety of messaging options including Microsoft Teams. This is a great way to give and receive instant feedback and help solve queries. They could also look to improve content making sure it is regularly posted. It’s also important for it to be relevant and up-to-date for those who are reading. Resources should be at the fingertips of those who need it. Especially when there are no HR teams available to search around for copies of the latest policies.
Get back to your best
Resilience is going to be the winner in workplaces up and down the country. As leaders look to bring the businesses they have built and nurtured, back to full strength. Does your business need a cost-effective, out-of-the-box SharePoint intranet designed to help your organisation get things back off the ground? If so, Attollo can help. Contact our experts for your free demonstration today to help understand ways of working for leadership teams.