As the impact of Coronavirus is intensifying by the day, uncertainties are taking over. In this age where misinformation and fake news spread like wildfire, stress and mental duress can escalate quickly. So the first thing that everyone including all the leaders and managers in the organization must acknowledge is that this is a global health emergency and not push themselves or others too hard. While productivity and performance will continue to remain key metrics but measuring them on the same scale as before, would not just be a blunder but also inhuman.

So what leaders need to do?

Learn and Lead is HR Anexi’s call to all leaders and managers across every organization to fold their sleeves and build or enhance their leadership capabilities to lead through this crisis. A significant thing to understand is that leading through a crisis is not the same as leading on any regular day. It is okay if this is your first time with an emergency and/or you are unprepared. We all need some help and inspiration to tackle the daunting challenges of these times – personal and professional. Organizational leadership is the need of the hour.

Show compassionate leadership

Your colleagues need you to be more than a peer or a manager right now. To be great, leaders must have the necessary empathy to inspire understanding and knowledge in team members. Empathy and compassion are crucial especially now. Be patient, render support and offer to solve their problems. Do not demand but encourage. Lead with hope and motivate teams to combine their efforts, skills, talents, insights, passion, enthusiasm and commitment to work together through this crisis.

Allow flexibility

Working from home during this pandemic is not the same as before. Besides the perpetual stress about the health of self and loved ones and the worry about restricted daily supplies, most people are stuck within the four walls with kids who are off schools with no assistance from housekeepers and maids. Therefore, it is highly likely that their productivity and performance will dip. Hence, re-evaluate the priority of tasks and keep a realistic expectation with a buffer in case there are some unprecedented events.

Reassess business strategy

Your 2020 financial year strategy is no longer valid. The Coronavirus pandemic has put a big dent on every business and economy globally. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) director, Kristalina Georgieva, has recently warned that the economic fallout is already way worse than the ‘financial crisis of 2008’. Take some time to understand the repercussions of this crisis and its impact on your business domain and your clients’. The next thing to follow would be to make an inclusive strategy that not only ensures that your business will survive through this crisis but how it will bounce back once the market conditions stabilize.

Communicate with clarity

Communication during a crisis is completely different. Be informed about the developments of the crisis and act as proactively as possible. Create precise and effective communication — internally within the organization, and externally to the public. This implies managing communications for the internal staff and employees, but also for clients, customers, vendors, business partners, and the media. Communication is also inclusive of being transparent and upfront with the objectives and expectations while delegating work among team members. And ask your colleagues and peers to follow the same. It is never too late to either learn or lead. And when you have learned to lead through a crisis, leading on any other day would be a cakewalk. We have started offering virtual learning sessions for leadership and capability building. Know more about HR Anexi Academy of Virtual Learning.