“I believe that every crisis presents a unique opportunity to rise to meet it.”
Co-founder and CEO of SnackNation
One of the earliest and most apparent effects of the COVID-19 health crisis is that a record number of Americans are working from home, many for the first time.
Almost as many are learning that working from home… isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. Remote work has many benefits, but it comes with its own unique set of challenges. If left unaddressed, employees can feel isolated, disconnected, and even burned out.
This dynamic presents a particular challenge for leaders, one that feels contradictory: We must on the one hand establish a sense of calm, normalcy and business-as-usual, while inspiring and empowering our teams to rise up to these extraordinary circumstances on the other.
The fact is, these are not normal times. There is no aspect of society and life that the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t touched. We all face unprecedented disruption and change, and the future is anything but certain. But as in any time of crisis, the present moment presents us with an opportunity… the opportunity to rise up to meet it with courage and decisive action.
As the CEO & co-founder of SnackNation, my team and I are in direct contact with thousands of Member offices in all 50 states. We’re learning firsthand about the challenges they’re experiencing, and what they’re doing to solve them. Likewise, my leadership team and I are developing a toolkit to help us rise up to the challenge.
Here’s what I believe every business leader can do to stay connected to their teams and ensure that their business is able to not just weather this storm, but emerge stronger on the other side.
Tips For Business Leaders
1. Set Curbs and Parameters.
This is probably the most important thing, and something you must call out for your entire team: you have to create curbs in your day, time blocks at the beginning and end of the work day when the only task is to rejuvenate or decompress.
If you’ve worked from home before, you know – it can be so easy for everything to bleed together, and that’s a fast track to burnout.
In practice, this means your calendar should be more planned out than ever. Without the natural rhythm of the office work day, your calendar is one of the only things keeping your day from falling apart!
- Stick to the morning routines that worked for you in the past – exercise, shower and dress as if you were going to work, and start your work day at the same time you did in the office. Give yourself a hard stop in the evening to practice active rejuvenation.
- You should also create a dedicated workspace. Don’t work on a couch, your bed, or the kitchen table (if you can avoid it). Give yourself a mental, physical, and temporal barrier between work and the rest of your day.
- Be sure to take breaks (get outside!) including a lunch break. But beware – one of the worst things you can do right now is to eat lunch in front of the TV news. It won’t serve you, but it will create needless anxiety.
