Managing through Crisis

First let us say that our thoughts are with everyone impacted by Russia’s appalling invasion of Ukraine. We hope your family, friends, and colleagues are safe.

In times of crisis, managers (and their employers) often have significant influence on the lives of their employees. When people need help the most, they remember those who went out of their way to aid them. If you’re a manager, you may have an opportunity right now to make a real difference.

So we wanted to collect some of the best advice that we’ve seen to help managers make that difference. These situations are far more complex than can be addressed in a blog post, and not all these suggestions will be applicable to all companies, but hopefully there’s points in here that will resonate and enable you to better support your people.

Here’s some ways you may be able to help.

Prioritize safety and wellbeing, and offer support: make sure your team know that this is your top priority, and think critically about what ‘support’ means in the context of your role, your employees, and your company. For some organisations that has meant making relocation plans for Ukrainian employees. For others, it’s been offering financial, legal, and diplomatic support. For you, it may just mean giving your employees the space and time to process events and support their dependents. Check in with your team, let them know you’re there for them, and find out what they need.

Acknowledge it’s not ‘business as usual’: one of the first steps to managing through a crisis is also one of the simplest - acknowledge to your team that normal expectations don’t apply. Intense stress is placed on employees when they feel they’re expected to perform their ordinary responsibilities under extraordinary circumstances. Saying you don’t expect that creates the permission structures for your people to change their working patterns so they can take care of themselves and others. Be aware that saying nothing is also a choice. If you don’t acknowledge the situation, it’s a signal that it’s not a priority for you.

Communicate clearly and openly: one of the reasons crises are hard to manage is because they create huge uncertainties. Don’t add to them with sporadic comms. Communicate clearly and regularly about what you know, what you don’t know, the actions you’re taking, and the actions you’re not taking (there’s a template for this below). Try and settle into a regular pattern so your team knows they’re being kept in the loop. Make sure your team always feels comms channels are open, and there’s a place they can have questions answered. You may decide to set up additional Slack channels, regular open zoom rooms, or dedicated teams to handle comms to ensure this.

Address workload: part of giving people space to prioritize the wellbeing of themselves and others is likely to mean reducing people’s workloads. If you’re redistributing work, you’ll need to take care not to burn out your fewer remaining team members and be wary of bottlenecks. Communicate early, clearly, and transparently with customers about projects and deadlines if you feel you need to create some slack for your team. Work out what your policy is on waiving PTO requirements so you can give people the space and time they need.

Keep listening to your team: this is a developing crisis, and no-one knows how it will evolve or how long it will run for. The initial support plan you put in place will not be the same as the one you need in a few weeks’ time. Check-in regularly with your team, keep listening to what they need, and adjust as required. Note that there’s no need to be overbearing on this. Some of your team may not want to discuss the issues, just to come to you for support when they need it. Make clear that this is ok.

Take care of yourself: you can’t support others as their manager if you don’t monitor how the situation is also impacting you. Take the time to check in with yourself and how you’re feeling, it’s ok not to be ok. Take time off if you need it, and work out what your own support structure is within your company.

Support the cause: depending on your organisation’s position, you may wish to organize in support of those affected by the conflict. There are some widely-shared lists here and here with options for donations.

A Template for Communication

If you want some more practical help communicating with your team, Lena Reinhard has an excellent framework, which we’ve just reprinted here in full.

She offers the following notes:

This template can be used for all types of messages, from an initial announcement, to keeping teams up-to-date.
If you don’t have everything in there figured out yet, say so and communicate that you’re working on it. Rapid, yet thoughtful communication can go a long way.
Before you start writing, ask yourself: What questions are people likely going to have now? What’s on their minds? — Embed those in your note.

You should include:

What’s the situation?

Some notions about what’s been going on; acknowledge that you’re aware of the situation. Be honest and authentic, don’t sugar-coat over complex and difficult situations. Be cautious with your assessment of the gravity/severity of the situation (e.g.: The events preceding the 2020 BlackLivesMatter protests were initially labelled by white journalists as “surprising”, when for a lot of Black and BIPOC people, those were yet another instance in a very long history of violence).

What do we (not) know?

Share what you know and be explicit about what you don’t know. You likely won’t have all the answers. Be honest and embrace ambiguities.

What hasn’t changed

Share guideposts that you are using for orientation now, and that others can look to as well. This can be your company values, your commitment to your teams’ well-being, or team principles. These can serve as reminders of a) what guides decisions now and b) something to look to as a certain factor in times of change.

What are your priorities?

Your 3-4 most important priorities as a business and leader. This helps people understand what’s important for you.

What actions are you taking?

You may just have heard of it yourself and are still trying to understand what’s going on and how to respond with your organisation, or there may already be a plan in pace (or one in the making). Share what you know.

What resources are available to your team(s)?

Clarify what’s available for folks, from time off, mental health days, medical leave, to employee resources, or leave for participating in protests.

When messaging teams of managers, include resources for them on how to support their teams during this time and how you’re going to support them.

What can your team(s) do?

Many people want to either learn more information or help in any way, if possible. Share some resources like a trustworthy source of information on the situation, organisations to donate to. This may not be part of your first messages as it can take some time to research.

Where can your team(s) ask questions?

Are you setting up a special Slack/Teams channel or doc? There can be cases where different groups need different types of information; help people find the right place for them.

Where are updates going to land, and how often?

This part is important. Establish a communication cadence and stick with it. Avoid vague statements “we will let you know once we know more” and instead use something that adds predictability: “I will check in with you again [an appropriate time, depending on the event]”.

Closing words

Add something that feels authentic to you and your team and your relationship with them. This can be a helpful way to e.g. remind people that you’re there for them if they need you, or just connect with them in a meaningful way.

She also offers some advice for before you hit send:

Review: How is this going to land? What questions will this raise for people? What reactions, questions, concerns is this going to evoke? Is this aligned with my values as a leader, and our values as an organisation? — Address as many of these as possible.
Get a second opinion: Ask someone you trust (your manager, a peer, or someone on your team) to review the content.