This YouTube video (Johnny Campbell, uploaded March 23, 2020) provides practical guidance for managers on responding compassionately during the COVID-19 pandemic. Part 3 (Compassion) emphasizes emotional well-being, clear communication, virtual celebrations, continued development and cross-team collaboration, and respecting employees' home constraints (e.g., childcare, homeschooling). The video directs managers to a Resources section on the creator's website for tools and free classes, and ends with a call to share the video.
Chapters
Lastly is part three, Compassion. But guys, this is really tough. This is emotional. We are each fearing for our personal health, the health of our loved ones and of our community at large. But we are all in this together. We just need to keep communicating this through both words and actions. As we get used to this new normal of working from home, it's important we don't lose sight of what we each see as personal fulfillment. So find a way to celebrate successes virtually with your team. Continue to have individual development, plan conversations with your team and enable them to seek out learning opportunities and ways to stretch themselves. When you're on all hands calls with your fellow managers. Speak to those managers about opportunities and projects their teams are working on and relate those to your team if they could lend a hand or join that team on a project basis. But more than anything, look out for the emotional well being of your team and respect the constraints that they are under. If their one year old is on their lap while they're on a conference call, instead of thinking that that's unprofessional, maybe just say hi. If a team member had a separate team in their home that between 9am and 12 is homeschooling time and they're not going to be online, then so be it. Showing compassion as a manager will get the most from your team. For further resources and helpful guides for managers on everything from video conferencing tools you can use to task management software and even health and well being classes, go to our Resources section of our website where we'll keep everything in one place for easy reach and completely free to access. Share this video if you think it'll be helpful for your fellow managers. We will get through this together. Thank you so much.
