With crisis comes the challenge of making hard choices and keeping the priorities clear.
The current pandemic situation may be coming to an end. However, the impact it has left on the world, that’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Until the world gets back to normalcy, managers and leaders need to adapt to the new normal; they need to learn how to manage their people amid a crisis situation strategically. There are several strategic leadership training courses available online that can help you do just that. However, till you decide to enroll in one, here is a guide to give you a kickstart:-
- Create New Norms
Be it the watercooler conversations or the morning meetings, whatever you are used to has gone down the drain due to Covid-19. Several organisations are still going to function remotely even after the current crisis has averted. So better prepared than sorry. Help your team adapt to the work from home model, address their concerns, and get everyone on the same track to achieve organisational goals.
- Attend to Your Physical and Mental Health
A crisis, any crisis can wear down your health.
Answer this – how many of you have lost it at least once during the lockdown? How many of you are baffled with the current lifestyle? How many of you need a change or escape?
The Covid-19 pandemic has influenced not only our physical health but also our mental conditions. During such dire situations, managers and leaders need to keep their employees on priority. They need to make sure that their team is taking enough breaks, not working long hours, and is getting enough exercise. You can launch an exercise group wherein employees can get together virtually and maintain a physical exercise routine. You can ensure that they are taking enough breaks by keeping a 10-15 minutes breather session after every couple of hours.
- Informal Conversations Can Work Wonders
This tip is an extension to the previous point. Small talk or informal conversations can play an important role in employee satisfaction. However, these casual conversations can go missing in the virtual environment. So establish opportunities for informal conversations to avoid weary employees. This can help you keep your employees motivated, happy, and avoid exhaustion.
- Learn from Other Leaders Best Practices
The business world is yet to discover the best practices amid a crisis. However, there has been a great deal of experimentation during the lockdown. So make a conscious effort to learn from other leaders’ failure and successes. The failure stories can give you tips on things you should absolutely abscond and success stories, well, these can undoubtedly help you discover new growth opportunities.
- Confront the Unknown
Every day there is a new policy, a new regulation that needs to be complied with. Everyday leaders struggle to break the bad news to their employees. So before you have your employees tackle with it, tackle the situation at your end. Understand the unknown, accept the uncertainty, figure out the level of impact it is going to have on your team, and devise strategies to respond to these unknowns.
Several Edtech platforms offer up-to-date strategic leadership training courses that can help you make plans, embrace change, and take focused steps in a rapidly evolving and dynamic business environment. One such array of online courses that are providing such knowledge is the strategic management courses by XLRI. Offered on the Talentedge platform, the strategic management courses by XLRI can help you embrace agility and create an operating model that focuses on long-term goals of your organisation.
- Protect the Core Business Values and Build New Ones
The Covid-19 crisis has created a high-stress situation for employees and companies alike. However, it has also offered the opportunity to examine current business practices, identify inefficiencies, and innovate for the sake of surviving and thriving long-term. It is time to protect the core business values and embrace new opportunities. Consider employing creative exercises, adjusting expectations, generating and analysing customer insights, and adjust deliverables accordingly.
- Tailor Your Strategies to the New Reality
Be it marketing, sales, or communication, a crisis calls for new actions, new strategies. Considering the changing environment, organisations need to update their current strategies to include the impact of Covid-19. The way they used to interact with customers has changed, the channels through which they used to reach their target audience have been shut down, and the way customers buy or explore products has changed too.
So your organisation needs to tailor current strategies to deal with the severe pandemic-related challenges. Start identifying key processes and systems that need alteration, identify the improvement areas, and devise robust strategies to benefit your brand.
The strategic management courses by XLRI teach professionals how to diagnose a problem, follow it back till the root cause, and work your way out. You can also learn how to develop your own leadership style and strategy with the online course from Talentedge and Jack Welch Management Institute. Either way, your goal should be to get up-to-date knowledge about strategic leadership amid a crisis.
- Reward Your Loyals
Loyal customers are the silver lining of a crisis.
Organisations offering special considerations to their customers are creating more loyal customers for the long term. For instance, Netflix has set up $100 million in funds to help actors, producers, and writers whose jobs were affected by Covid-19. Walmart has decreased its payment terms and is now paying its suppliers quickly. Supermarkets are offering special shopping hours just for senior citizens. These are all out-of-the-way steps organisations are taking to keep their customers loyal.
There is No Rulebook for a Pandemic
The global business community is in ruins right now. Agility, productivity, and loyalty are what most organisations are targeting. If you are too, consider enrolling for credible strategic leadership training courses. These courses can help you identify problems and devise robust strategies to overcome these challenges. One such array of online courses you can rely on are the strategic management courses by XLRI. Offered in collaboration with Talentedge, the strategic management courses by XLRI teach valuable lessons to help you protect your employees’ and organisation’s wellbeing.