Like you, the team at Centennial just finished “Week 1” of quarantine life. We are fortunate in that more than half of our team was already a remote “flex force”. Even so, there have already been great learnings, and we plan to continuously evolve.
I am sharing what worked for us this past week in the hope that it can help you and your organization. Furthermore, if you have some ideas to share, we would love to hear from you. This blog and our podcast are read and heard worldwide. Accelerating the sharing of best practices will help all of us in the end.
What Worked for Us, Week 1
The entire team met multiple times over the virtual meeting tool Zoom. It was so great seeing everyone – looking at their smiling faces and seeing their expression as they shared thoughts and information. It was even fun seeing their home offices – whether that was in a basement, a bedroom, or a dedicated space.
We had a “team huddle” daily this week over Zoom to address the rapidly changing situation. We were able to brainstorm on how we were going to continue to keep our customers’ needs front and center. We developed tweaks to our delivery process, further evaluating on an as-needed basis. This requires several team members to wear a new “hat” in our business.
Furthermore, our agenda included time to share how each of us is doing in crisis-mode. Just having that opportunity to share our own concerns was helpful.
Last, our C-suite was transparent with us regarding their immediate considerations pertaining to the crisis. We all appreciated that. The freedom to acknowledge that this is a difficult time was—comforting.
2. We enhanced our internal mentoring. I teamed up with a peer colleague. Although I don’t report to her, it was helpful to go over my “to do” list with someone else on the team. We checked in with each other daily to review priorities and discuss the best way to tackle our latest challenges. We both have “parking lot” projects that we are going to get to address now—which is exciting! Other team members have done the same. These casual check-ins are helping everyone stay on track and feel supported.
3. We encouraged each other. There are several “cheerleaders” in our office – what about yours? While this is not a time for unproductive optimism (yes, that’s a thing), it is a time to help each other look forward. We asked each other, what is the next best thing we could be doing? Each of these next best things will start to build on each other. This is most certainly a time to celebrate every win – no matter how small.
While so much has changed since the virus arrived, the basic tenants of business—serving customers and taking care of employees—remains constant. As we all write history together, it will be interesting to see how organizations work creatively to address both customer and employee.
That’s what was happening in “our office” this past week. What about yours? Please share. Let’s learn together.