I will admit to being a very direct person, and to expecting others to be direct with me. For many, especially women, persons of color or individuals who are new to the work force, this can be challenging. Only you know your work environment and know your supervisor’s style. You need to think carefully about how direct is too direct. It is important to remember, however, that your supervisor generally does not know all of the things that you know and cannot know many of these things unless you bring them to his or her attention. The easy example is the remote school situation referenced above. There are many, much more challenging situations, however. For example, if your personal circumstances are diminishing your ability to work it is important that you get help (remembering that in this remote world, many might find themselves in less than ideal home situations). Normal human misunderstandings also can be magnified when we are not spending time together. For example, I recently made a statement that I intended to be seen as an opportunity, but  the employee thought I was criticizing her abilities. When working remote, it is even more critical that we can ask one another, “what did you mean by that?” No, not every manager can handle directness, and yes, it is a risk to raise some issues in the workplace. A failure to raise them, however, might mean that the issue never gets addressed for any number of reasons: because it is unknown to those who can make a difference, because it is perceived to be unimportant, or because it was the product of a simple interpersonal misunderstanding that never gets corrected.

One of the best ways that I have seen to increase engagement and bond a team together is to create their strategy together. Together is the key word here. The strategy cannot be mandated from on high, although obviously it must align with the larger corporate strategy. Coming together to build the future is one of the most optimistic things we can do right now. It allows us to focus on the world post-COVID and on how we can grow our businesses. It allows us to do something with long term benefits, rather than continue to react to one perceived urgency after another.

Celebrate wins, both within your team and within the larger business. Don’t let ‘out of sight’ become ‘out of mind.’ If someone does something great, make sure that he or she gets the recognition deserved. 

Many people are burned out on virtual conferences, and I have even heard people say that virtual cocktail parties with colleagues (as opposed to friends and family) are like going to the dentist. If you want to schedule a virtual event and have the funds, there are some really fun things that you can do – a book club, a virtual book signing where the author discusses his or her motivation for the book, a cooking class, a virtual wine or chocolate tasting (wine or chocolate delivered to the employee’s home) or a pizza party/picnic with food delivered to each employee’s home. Don’t push it, however. Many people seem to prefer to chat one on one rather than participate in group events which seem fabricated and awkward. It is also never too early to plan safe activities for the summer – virtual 5K’s, golf outings (with inclusive activities designed for non-golfers), a meeting or walk in a local park.

Everyone has a lot of questions. Is my job secure?  Is the company financially stable? When will we be required to return to the office? When will a vaccine be available? Will the company mandate the vaccine? What if I do not want to get the vaccine, or cannot for medical or religious reasons? As a leader, you will not have all of the answers, but must try to communicate those which you can communicate. Right now, it is hard to plan next week, let alone the rest of 2021, so give people answers whenever you can. The biggest challenge to communication today is thinking about the questions before they are asked, since we can no longer keep our pulse on the flow of thoughts around the mythical water cooler.