It sounds as if your team, if not the whole company, is experiencing a lot of stress in the face of the economic downturn we have all been confronted with. I agree that stress can be paralyzing and going on for too long can cause serious burnout and resignations. What's a manager to do?
I remembered something I learned during my 15th year college reunion. I attended a lecture by Professor Jim Mills, who was one of my psych teachers. He had been working on some research on strategies for coping with stress. Stress, he said, was becoming an increased problem in our society. And. you know, even though this lecture was 20 years ago, it's probably still true today. He said that they found that the same stress demands can feel radically different if you feel you have some choice. So remembered this lesson over the decades and sought to apply it in my management work. Quite simply, in demanding situations, I sought to increase choices for my team. Two ways that were well-received were allowing my team to choose days they would work from home. And also encouraging them to choose their schedule, when they would start their work day. We still had to get the work done, and the demands with shrinking revenue were just as demanding. But the choices helped. And everyone stayed engaged and motivated.
So think about what choices you can give your team, and reinforce that you are serious about this. You may be surprised at the positive results. |