How to Be a Good Manager During a Pandemic
When everything goes sideways without warning is when you find out how good a manager you really are.
Doug Yakola, a senior partner in McKinsey rightly says.
“They’re no bad managers really, but they’re good managers who turn bad by often working under a set of paradigms that no longer apply and letting the power of inertia carry them along. And if they don’t realize they’re facing a crisis, they won’t know that they need to undertake a turnaround, either."
That being said, any crisis is a moment of truth for an organization. It’s a time when competent managers prove their mettle and when pretenders reveal their impotence. And there are no handy manuals or help guides out there that can help a manager navigate through a crisis. This is because while there can be certain protocols in place that prevent a crisis from happening, each new crisis is unique in its own way, with its own problems and quirks and will require a different approach from the one used before.
And often, the very unpredictable nature of any crisis means that a manager will have hardly any time to prepare. His actions will be more on the reactive side than on the proactive and in most of the situations, it will be a do-or-die battle with no telling how long the crisis will take to blow over.
For example, when the BP oil spill occurred in Mexico in 2011, it was both a human tragedy and an environmental one. 11 workers had lost their lives and thousands of gallons of oil were continually being discharged into water. One could term this crisis as catastrophic. And yet, the response of the then CEO Tony Howard was found to be very lackluster. In fact, it further hurt the organization’s credibility.
And when you think back to Enron, everyone at the most senior levels of leadership were so embroiled in scandal and wrongdoing that despite the then CEO Kenneth Lay’s many assurances that Enron would pull through, it just wasn’t enough to save the company.
On the other hand, Ford’s dramatic turnaround following the financial crisis of 2007-2008 is a shining example of how a good leader can make or break a company. Following the financial crisis, Ford was close to declaring bankruptcy. But it didn’t happen. In fact, after he came on board in 2006, Alan Mulally led Ford through some of its most tumultuous years, eventually helping the automotive giant post profits, instead of staggering losses. By the time he retired in 2014, Ford had once again regained its former glory and standing within the industry.
But, this time the crisis is a different kettle of fish altogether.
COVID-19 is a humanitarian crisis of global proportions, with hundreds of thousands of lives disrupted. Sadly, we’re not nearing the end of the crisis.
None of us has ever experienced anything quite like before and the World Health Organization has aptly labeled it a global pandemic. Everything is canceled. Malls, schools, social setups are closed. Countries have come to a grinding halt and precautions which seemed like paranoia a few days ago seem common sense now. COVID-19 has become the ultimate test for good and bad leadership.
And while there is no defined path to navigate through this pandemic, here are some practices that can help you as a manager move past obstacles and keep your team engaged, even when you see no light yet at the end of the tunnel.
Be open and honest.
Our natural reaction as a manager during a crisis is to shield the team from the bad news. While our intentions are good but going radio silent on your team when they know the situation very well will turn your office into a churning rumor mill; the very opposite of the productive, motivated team you are trying to maintain.
Yes, at this point you do not know all the answers but communicating all the necessary information to the team in a timely and professional manner will not only kill the speculations but will also help you to get some extra “minds” to think the problem over and get the solution.
Don't pretend things are normal; they are not. Update your team with good information about what's happening, and ask them what they're hearing from customers, vendors, and even from the grapevine. They are often your best source of information, and they need to express their observations and opinions.
Remember, when things are going downhill rapidly, the only thing you can control is information, or more precisely the flow of misinformation.
Be clear and specific.
Have you ever wondered why firemen while evacuating people from fire situations keep repeating phrases like "Keep moving" or "Don't stop" etc.? Aren't these things obvious?
The reason is that, in times of confusion and uncertainty, people go into the “analysis-paralysis” mode and require crystal-clear expectations of what they need to do. The daily pattern has been disrupted. Things which have been working like a charm all these years have suddenly gone kaput. Your customers now need special assurances and expectations from you and anything and everything which was so “take it for granted” is not available now. Redefining expectations in response to a crisis is absolutely essential.
Don’t go ballistic in the jingoistic mode and start telling the team “Do your best”, “We have to break the mountain” or any such meaningless jargon. Give clear cut instructions and follow them to closure. For example,
“OK. Work for bank X is affected as the team is unable to travel to bank premises and the bank has no VPN infrastructure in place. Let us have a meeting with the bank leadership and work out options in the meantime.”
“Go live of Treasury application is planned on April 1st but now the date is not feasible due to this Corona disruption. Let us have an emergency steering committee meeting with all stakeholders and rebaseline the dates”
“Five team members are sick and work is pending for delivery. OK let us talk to the Project Alpha team if we can borrow a few of their people for now.”
And so on…...
Remember, our role as a manager is to minimize confusion and not add to it. Don’t overreact. Be clear and specific.
Lastly, create a centralized list of mission-critical items.
In normal times, we have the luxury to classify tasks into at least three categories.
· Critical items.
· Important items.
· Good-to-have items.
However, in times of pandemic, only those tasks which are really mission-critical can be worked upon. So you need to make hard choices; what to do and what not to do and convey that list to the team in clear terms. Times are difficult for everybody and not everybody is working to their full capacity and productivity. So if you are expecting your team to be “to be efficient, effective, innovative, secure, fast, agile, and high quality all the time”, you are setting up a recipe for disaster and disillusionment.
Remember, your aim at this crucial juncture is to make sure that everything that is going on so far gets the “bare minimum” support to keep things afloat while keeping the situation under control. You need to be a master of trade-offs here; eliminate the unnecessary and focus on the showstoppers. For example,
“Client has three applications that need 99.99% uptime. Can I ensure just that?”
“There is a workaround available as of now for the new super-critical requirement of the client. Can I implement it as of now without disrupting the client’s work?”
And so on……
Remember this is not the time to limit your options to conventional ways of working. You need to brainstorm with the team and think about innovative ways of keeping things running until the crisis is over. Getting teams to be creative at this time not only increases the sense of collaboration and belongingness within the team but also reassures the customers in these troubled times.
Remember good managers facilitate good working. They know how to adjust procedures, policies, and objectives in line with the current situation. And by being dedicated and professional at all times they will inspire and motivate their teams to produce their best even in worst situations. In short, they make things happen, come what may.
As Dave Weinbaum has rightly said.
“Those who let things happen usually lose to those who make things happen.”
Ravi Shankar Rajan is an information technology program director working in Mumbai, India. .He writes on a variety of subjects ranging from programming, leadership, creativity, and even dabbles a bit in poetry. Connect with Ravi on LinkedIn and Twitter. Subscribe to his blog “The Perfect Programmer” for the latest articles on programming, creativity, and much more…...