As the world is stuck inside, your brain is working on overdrive. You’re dealing with sudden changes in your business, and you have a lot on your mind.
What’s the right move for my business? How do I decide? What do my employees need?
What do my customers need?
You have made some hard decisions in the last 2 weeks- no doubt
You’ve had difficult conversations with your employees, your vendors, your bank, some conversations that you thought you would never have.
You have either furloughed, laid off or even terminated. You may have guided your team through the unemployment process and you may be running your business at 20% capacity or none at all.
The only comfort that you may be feeling is that you are not alone. Everyone is dealing with this whether you are a business owner, manager or a team member.
The reality is that the coronavirus has sent people to work from home, which means many of us in leadership positions are having to do so from a distance.
Leading a company remotely is certainly doable and can be highly effective when done in a strategic way.
So today Let’s explore 4 Tips for Leading a Company during Covid that will help you to be a stronger leader, no matter how far you are from your team.
Learn to delegate
Delegation can be a scary thing for business owners, especially if they’re used to shouldering all of the responsibilities in the company. Take some time to learn the strengths and areas of improvement of your team members and allocate work to them accordingly. Once you start to let go, you’ll realize that most people are more than capable of picking up the reins and achieving success.
NEXT, Elect a second-in-command
It shouldn’t become an “every person for themselves” type of situation in your office. Choose an employee that you’re confident will step up and make sure the wheels don’t come off. Pick carefully; you want an employee that has shown you that they can and will step up to the plate when called upon. Not only will this person assist, but they will also be your main point of contact while you are busy dealing with insurance companies, vendors, banks, and the SBA.
Create open channels of communication
Just because you’re not physically present doesn’t mean you can put your head in the sand and disappear. Your team still needs you, don’t forget their world has turned upside down as well. Many are with children, homeschooling, taking care of relatives and just the uncertainty of what’s happening all around them. So make a point to connect with them as much as possible. This could mean setting aside an hour or two for status meetings every day or it might mean using an app like Slack and Zoom to keep communication lines open in funneling the most important messages to them.
Be transparent
Assure them that you’re still overseeing the business, explain what actions you’re taking. They are watching the news- they see what’s happening, so hear out their questions and ease their worries as needed.
Leadership is not an inherent talent; it’s a skill, which means it can be honed and developed with practice. When leading a company remotely, communication is the name of the game — stay connected, remain transparent, and always be prepared to step up when needed most.
