A practical guide for leading and working in these uncertain times

March 2020

DRAFT
Most common questions we are hearing

How should we lead our people? • Adopt an open and learning posture vs. closed and protective
• Keep messages simple and brief, start with empathy, use trusted messengers
• Bolster team effectiveness by embracing trust, belonging, shared goals, common good

How can we help people work- • Overinvest in ensuring responsibilities are crystal clear
from-home effectively? • Leverage full functionality of virtual collaboration tools
• Make time to care for your people

How can we help our teams stay • Break down the work in smaller tasks and focus on the most important first
productive? • Implement a structured cadence of feedback, problem solving, and roadblock clearing
• Make work visible across all team members and leadership team

How can we continue to engage • Rethink the meeting – you cannot simply translate an ‘in person’ session to virtual
virtually? • Plan for less time because it’s tougher to maintain the group’s focus and energy
• Master new tools & technologies to make it possible

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COVID-19 is placing new stressors on senior leaders
LEAD DRAFT

Requires “War room” mindset Remote operating model

decision-making • Organizations (and • Isolation requirements are
leadership that is shareholders) are looking testing new ways of
faster, more for a decisive and working that aren’t
aligned, and more New
declarative vision and leadership inherently suited to the
collaborative strategy current business crisis
going forward demands
Requires a
coaching
mindset from
centered leaders
and fosters trust
and a sense of
belonging
Stressed and strained people

• New and intense health, financial, and personal circumstances are affecting how teams
and leaders behave and collaborate

Managing these stressors will require a posture shift from “leader” to “leader and coach”
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 It is more important than ever to adopt an open and learning versus closed and
protective posture
LEAD

Control Advising Posture Coaching Posture Trust

Protective Learning

• Being guarded and less trusting • Being present and presuming trust

• Speaking and not listening; less inclusive • Active listening and asking questions; more
inclusive
• Closing off and interjecting
• Opening up and being vulnerable
• Identifying as a functional leader; less likely to see
the “greater good” • Identifying as an enterprise leader; more likely to
see the “greater good”
• Manage by controlling and providing the best
answer • Manage by trusting and enabling others to solve the
problem
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Leading and communicating requires a different approach
LEAD
What do people hear?
• Mental noise reduces the ability to
process information by ~80%
• Under stress, people have difficulty
hearing, recalling and understanding
information
• Attention span is reduced to 12
minutes and on average and people
retain 3 ideas
• Keep messages simple, brief, with
positive content
• Dialog not monolog whenever possible
How do you reach them?
• People want to know that you care,
before they care what you know
• People judge the messenger before
they judge the message
• They judge in terms of trust and
credibility
• Use trusted messengers
• Start with empathy
• Be open and transparent
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How will they respond?
• Resistance to change is inevitable, but
it follows predictable patterns
• Resistance is not inherently bad—it is
a sign that people are internalizing the
change
• Anticipate resistance
• Help people move through it
• Listen with empathy and state
clear facts
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Senior teams that do four things consistently well are 6x more likely to outperform
LEAD
1 Trust the team
What it is • Management posture
grounded in trust (versus
control)
Best (remote) practices  Practice a decision-making
style that is Agile and
empowering
 Reward learning from failure
 Bias customer/frontline
experience over your own
 Be comfortable with
prototypes
Foundational to leadership team effectiveness
2 Foster a sense of
belonging
• Inclusive culture and
supportive behaviors
 Speak less, listen more
 Set up video one-on-ones
with team members and ask
what’s on their mind, what
you can help with, and how
things outside of work are
going
 Be aware of the posture
team members (and you)
take in times of high stress
3 Share common 4 Make decisions for the
goals common good
• Clear alignment on the • Focus on the enterprise over
mission and strategy individual goals and
objectives
 Conduct weekly, 30-minute  Be consistent in how you
team sessions to clarify: define and apply the
 Short-term COVID business ‘common good’
transition  Communicate trade-off
 Long-term operating model and decisions transparently
ways of working
 Use ad-hoc five-minute
 Avoid re-litigating decisions stand-up meetings to review
 End meetings with your short-term priorities, track
takeaways and next steps progress, and triage critical
you expect from the team roadblocks
Critical for the enterprise and requires an
effective team
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Priorities for “managing-from-home”
WORK FROM HOME

1 2 3

Ensure responsibilities are
clear
• Establish Team Working Norms
• Commit to a daily team ‘huddle’
• Create visibility of the “what, who,
when”
Use virtual collaboration tools
to enhance communication
and co-creation
• Use group chats, screenshare,
video and other interactive tools
• Define a virtual meeting code of
conduct
• Ask and listen; summarize and
commit
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Demonstrate care for your
people
• Schedule 1-on-1 chats
• Create opportunities for team to
socialize (budget more time during
meetings, weekly ‘coffee breaks’)
• Spot the signs of stress and get
help where needed
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1 Ensure responsibilities are clear
WORK FROM HOME

Establish working norms

• Expectations for when team members are expected to be online
and responsive
• Meetings are not just about work—also a chance to connect
personally
• Acceptable dress codes for video

Commit to a Daily team “Huddle”

• Each teammate shares progress and planned next steps
• Identify roadblocks; reprioritize as needed
• Opportunity for “turn on the video” connection

Create visibility of the “what, who, when”

• Tools like Trello can help ensure next steps and ownership are
crystal clear
• Manager needs to invest the time to own this

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2 Define your Virtual Meeting Code of Conduct
WORK FROM HOME
Presence during the meeting
• Do we all have to be on video, or just on the platform? Will we default to “video always” or
“announce specific meetings are video-based”? Always announce name before speaking?
• Do we expect everyone to be fully connected by the meeting start time? (vs. still getting
audio/video set up)?
Interruptions / speaking
• How will we signal when we have something to say without speaking over one another
(e.g., with a virtual or video-conferenced hand wave, a message in the group chat)?
Focus
• How will we hold another accountable for not multi-tasking? “Cold-calls” allowed?

Inclusion
• How will we ensure our full team feels included, respected, and valued in each
conversation? (Round-robin check-ins? Group chat input accepted?)
Taking breaks
• What is our standard practice for taking breaks if we plan to collaborate for a long session
over video?

Meeting follow-up
• What type of meeting notes will we distribute? Screen captures of real-time “what, who,
when?” Follow-up email summarizing notes?
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2 Hosting a virtual meeting: best practices
WORK FROM HOME

Before the • Send reminder email to attendees with tech info and virtual meeting norms
meeting • Live rehearsal with team members using the technology
• Ensure proper environment (brightly lit room, no clutter from the frame, laptop lens at eye
height)
• Prepare a simple slide to capture next steps ready for screen share
• Open the room early and welcome participants; let them chat with each other
During the
meeting • Structure the opening: (Welcome, objectives, key tech tools)
• Ask questions frequently & pause for response
• Use names to draw attention back in
• Give verbal directions to guide audience attention when sharing content
• Keep vocal energy & eye contact (at the lens)
• Apply engagement tools when appropriate, e.g. poll, annotation, chat, etc.
• End early and summarize next steps (What, Who, When)

After the • Share relevant screenshots and next steps with participants
meeting
• Debrief with team members
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3 Demonstrate care for your people
WORK FROM HOME

“Watch out that you don’t focus too much on the

“During daily huddles, don’t just talk about work.
work and forget to socialize. Remember in a
Share some stories from the day. Open the
normal work environment we can chat over coffee
camera, see each other’s face. Ask everyone to
or in the elevator. We need to actively keep this
speak.”
up.”

“Useful to have virtual social events—get your
team together on video with a coffee or snack.
Share about what has happened recently:
celebrate a birthday; commiserate about school
still being closed and recognize each other’s
contributions.”
“In meetings, spend a few minutes sharing about
what else is happening at your company, so
everyone feels informed working in a remote
environment.”

“Book time 1-on-1 regularly with each team

“Reinvest the time saved from not commuting into
member: cover work issues but also how they
connecting with your people 1-on-1.”
are doing personally.”

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Agile practices can help boost team productivity and engagement
S TAY PRODUCTIVE

Overview People want to advance important work and feel the satisfaction from making meaningful contributions during these
challenging times. Your team will be motivated by take on important missions and they need your support to deliver successfully.
Agile practices are an extremely effective way to restore team productivity and engagement. Agile rituals bring predictability
into our ways of working and a sense of belonging and collaboration, they offer moments of reflection to re-center us, which is
both calming and re-energizing.

Practical guidance

Teams may or may not already be organized in an Agile way of working; for those that are you may want to retain your practices and enable
virtual tools, for those that are not there are several Agile principles that can be useful:

 Provide a clear and compelling objective: Ensure the team clearly understand what their work should accomplish and why it matters

 Focus on the most important work first, and break it into small pieces: One of Agile’s greatest benefits is the power of focus, avoiding
the switching costs of multi-tasking. A prioritized backlog of work, broken into smaller pieces and reprioritized ever ~1-2 weeks (i.e. Sprints),
provides clarity and focus to combat some inherent challenges of remote working

 Implement a cadence of feedback, problem solving, and roadblock clearing: Agile teams break the work into short Sprints ~1-2 weeks
long and follow a cadence of interactions (see next page for details)

 Make work visible: Transparency facilitates coordination across teams; workflow management tools (e.g. Jira) allow others too see what is
in the team’s backlog, what they are working on and the status of their work

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 Agile Teams establish a set of scheduled meetings and rituals (daily and weekly)
S TAY PRODUCTIVE EXAMPLE 2 WEEKS SPRINT

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Week 1 Plan the next 2 weeks Daily Stand up Daily Stand up Daily Stand up Daily Stand up
A B
9-11am 9-9.15am 9-9.15am 9-9.15am 9-9.15am

Burst/individual Burst/individual Burst/individual Burst/individual Burst/individual

meetings as needed meetings as needed meetings as needed meetings as needed meetings as needed

Team Leader and LT Team Leader and LT Virtual social event

check-in 5-5.30pm check-in 5-5.30pm 6-6.30pm

Week 2 Daily Stand up Daily Stand up Daily Stand up Daily Stand up Daily Stand up
9-9.15am 9-9.15am 9-9.15am 9-9.15am 9-9.15am

Burst/individual Burst/individual Burst/individual Burst/individual Review progress

C
meetings as needed meetings as needed meetings as needed meetings as needed 9.15 -10.30am

Team Leader and LT Virtual social event D

Improve team
check-in 5-5.30pm 6-6.30pm dynamics 2-3pm

Several communication tools can facilitate large group conversation and discussions
Example tools:

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A
Planning for the week/s ahead allows the team to focus on what and how they will
organize the work over the next sprint
S TAY PRODUCTIVE PLAN FOR THE WEEK

• Align on what work from the backlog will be completed Logistics

• 1-2 hours, at the beginning of every sprint
Objective during the next 1-2 weeks and • Attendance: Team Leader, Facilitator, Team
• Align on definition of “done” for each item attendance

How it works Best practices for meeting virtually

• Before the meeting, the team • Use video; seeing each other
leader prioritizes the full helps the team participate and
backlog of activities, with input share input
from the team
• Use a digital backlog tool
• During the meeting, team pulls (e.g., Trello or Jira) to facilitate
in backlog items one-by-one the discussion
and aligns on: – Before the meeting: Each team
– Definition of “done” (i.e. what member should mark proposed
does it mean for work to be items for the sprint
completed) – During the meeting: Use screen
– Plan to complete the work share and live-update what is in the
sprint and the definition of done
– Amount of effort required

• Team continues until the items

fill the team’s capacity for that
sprint

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B
The daily standup allows to build team focus, facilitate effective communication, and
surface roadblocks and interdependencies
S TAY PRODUCTIVE D AI LY STANDUP

• Align on objectives for the day Logistics

• 15 minutes Daily (same time every day)
Objective • Surface roadblocks and • Attendance: Team Leader, Facilitator, Team
• Identify places where coordination is needed attendance

How it works Best practices for meeting virtually

• Each team member in turn gives • Use video; seeing each other
a brief updates of their work helps the team feel connected
– What they accomplished since the
last standup • Beginning of the day is often
– What they plan to accomplish the best time, so everyone can
before the next standup plan their days productively
– Roadblocks to progress in the next
24 hours (if any) • Build in time for “water cooler”
talk and news that impacts the
• Team leader listens and commits team
to actions to clear roadblocks

• Other team members listen and • Encourage team members to

flag where they need to stay on the line afterwards if
coordinate with the team they need to have a follow-up
member discussion

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C
At the end of each sprint the team reviews progress with the LT to showcase
completed work, collect feedback, and reprioritize if needed
S TAY PRODUCTIVE REVIEW PROGRESS

Logistics • 1-4 hours, at the end of the sprint (adjust time depending
• Review completed work and collect feedback on length of sprint)
Objective • Determine what backlog items are now “done” vs. “not
and • Attendance: Leadership team, Team Leader, Facilitator,
done” attendance Team

How it works Best practices for meeting virtually

• Team members take turn • Use video; seeing each other

demonstrating the work that helps the team participate and
has been “done” share feedback

• Team leader and other team • Use screen sharing in your

members ask questions about videoconference platform to
the work share the work
– Helps maintain the feel of an
• Team leader explains what informal demo, not a formal
backlog items are now “done” presentation or status update
vs. “not done” – Keeps the group focused and
collaborative
• Team discusses implications
for next steps • Leverage Sprint planning and
– Team leader shares current spring backlog tools to discuss
backlog implications and next steps
– Team collaborates on what to do
• Agree on an agenda/order in
next, as input into next sprint
advance, to minimize time lost
planning
in switching

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D
At the end of the sprint the team regroups to reflect on what went well, what didn’t
and how to improve
S TAY PRODUCTIVE IMPROVE TEAM DYNAMICS

• Reflect on what well and what could be improved from the

Logistics • 30-60 minutes, at the end of the sprint (i.e. every 1-4
Objective last sprint and weeks)
• Agree on tactical actions to improve the next sprint attendance • Attendance: Team Leader, Facilitator, Team

How it works Best practices for meeting virtually

• Reflect on what went well, and • Use video; seeing each other
less well, in the sprint Continue Doing Stop Doing Start Doing helps keep the discussion
– Each team member shares their constructive
thoughts
• Use a digital retro tool to
– Discuss common themes
facilitate the conversation and
• Identify the most important capture ideas
impediment to the team’s – Many free options, which an
success in the next sprint individual team can set up (e.g.,
FunRetro, Parabol)
• Develop solutions to address – Paid options, with broader sets of
the impediment features exist

– Ideate tactical actions that the team

• There are many possible retro
can take
formats. Experiment and find
– Pick a small number to act on what works for you
(usually no more than 2-3) Several digital retro tools exist

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Doing group co-creation virtually, is hard
ENGAGE V I R T U AL LY

• It is tougher to maintain the group’s focus and energy: There are more distractions to manage (background noise,
incoming emails, a FedEx delivery) and more barriers to good conversation (audio delays, buffering, a bad line). Traditional
tactics to maintain focus such as physical movement or shifting spaces aren’t available when participants are dialling-in from
a makeshift home office

• It is more challenging to build intimacy: Estimates are that over 90% of all communication is non-verbal. In virtual
collaboration, the body language we use to read the room, correct course and build energy (the nodding heads, the folded
arms, the restlessness) are gone. Making do with a stamp-sized image of a colleague on a computer screen can leave us
feeling exposed.

• The (technical) logistics are more complex: Our tools have to change. The trusted sharpie, post-it notes, and sticky dots
are redundant, replaced with Zoom, MIRO, and many others. There will be a learning curve with these new set of virtual
collaborative tools and technologies.

These challenges mean we cannot simply translate the ‘in person’ workshop, online. It requires us to fundamentally
rethink elements of the traditional workshop format, experience, and journey

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We have identified four guidelines to make group virtual sessions more collaborative,
endurable and ultimately more successful
ENGAGE V I R T U AL LY

1 • Define the (dual) intent 3 • Build a virtual session fit for its
– Design for both objectives purpose
– Emphasize inclusion – Design within tighter constraints and a
different set of rules
– Manage the energy
– Cautiously experiment with interactivity
The four – Rehearse the flow
guidelines
to great
virtual co-
2 • Embrace simplicity creation 4 • Humanize the experience
– Modularize – Acknowledge what’s different
– Plan fewer but larger steps – Encourage visibility
– Get a running start (and quickly follow – Cultivate intimacy
up)

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Guideline 1: Define the (dual) intent
ENGAGE V I R T U AL LY

Overview Co-creation has two overarching goals: a content objective (new product ideas, the 5-year plan, etc.) and a relational objective
(aligning a leadership team, establishing trust, etc.). When both are achieved, the group leaves with a positive energy that
then accelerates successful change. The relational, human outcomes are at least as important as the content goals, yet
in the shift to a virtual experience, often end up taking a back seat.

Practical guidance

 Design for both objectives: Remember your ‘product’ is more than output. It is shifting people’s understanding, mind-sets, relationships,
alignment, and energy. Be clear about what you want people to think, to do and to feel as a result of the session, in addition to answering
the content questions. Have a clear content goal and a human/people goal for the session and use this as your compass for the design. To
get here in a virtual session you will need to dial up the emphasis on the relationship side.

 Emphasize inclusion: Over-invest in understanding who and what you are working with ahead of time; know the connections that exist,
and the ones that should, but don’t. Build a relationship map. Discuss a plan to manage the dynamics with your sponsor. During the session,
track who is contributing, and actively manage participation. The more you role model inclusion, the more each individual will feel important,
and heard.

 Manage the energy: Map the flow of energy across the workshop. Where is energy created and where is it depleted? Where is there likely
to be excitement and where might there be frustration? Shifting energy is different in a virtual workshop – the highs are higher and the lows
lower, and the transition between them takes longer. The energy creation must be longer than depletion – picture it like snakes and ladders
the ladders go up in steps and the shakes are a sudden slide back. Know when you can expect these emotional shifts so that you can
prepare to mitigate and control them.
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Guideline 2: Embrace simplicity
ENGAGE V I R T U AL LY

Overview It is tempting to think you are just swapping the medium. That you can use the existing design that you know and love.
The shift in medium changes how people interact. It’s more complex, so you must simplify. When thinking about the workshop
design, streamline the approach, content covered, people attending, exercises conducted, and duration. You will achieve more
by doing less. Einstein said that “everything should be as simple as possible, but no simpler”. You need to find ‘no simpler’ by
challenging the design. Prioritize topics and tighten time.

Practical guidance
 Modularize: Instead of one full-day, in-person engagement every six weeks, consider a two hour engagement with the group every other
week. Many of the traditional constraints that drive in-person workshop design (time, travel, cost, logistics) have disappeared with the
commute to the ‘home office’ being close and free! In light of this, re-think the format. Where are the new boundaries between sessions?
Where will you benefit from the additional thinking time between segments? Where do you risk people sliding backwards? It is a balancing
act with more options open to you.

 Plan fewer but larger steps: Don’t be afraid to combine steps you typically run separately. Make it a bigger, simpler step. Keep a very
clear, very simple “map” in front of people at all times so they know where they are in the journey and where they are going. Using a virtual
whiteboard you can draw the map or flow of the session on the workspace itself. The journey and destination become one. The simple and
visible path will keep people together.

 Get a running start (and quickly follow up): Explore ways for participants to engage before they get in the room. That will build inclusion
and enable a shorter, simpler day. Have participants do pre-work (not pre-read) so that everyone comes to the table with something already
created. For a larger session start the conversation or listening ahead of the session. Use listening and crowd sourcing tools (e.g. Waggl or
Remesh). Post session, invite people to continue to interact. Virtual collaboration spaces don’t need to be broken down at the end of the day
– there is no room to return back to how it was found. The space is persistent and the conversation can be also. Encourage participants to
drop by the virtual room - to remind themselves, to add a comment, leave a question, or open up a new line of conversation.
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Guideline 3: Build a virtual session fit for its purpose
ENGAGE V I R T U AL LY

Overview Design the session around the virtual environment. Attention is a precious commodity and in virtual workshops time runs
out faster than normal. Adapt the format by shortening engagements (max four hours in a day) and increasing facilitators.
Utilize tools and virtual collaboration platforms to achieve the sessions goals. Set aside enough time to practice.

Practical guidance

 Design within tighter constraints and a different set of rules: The most effective virtual gatherings last under four hours, and individual
activities under 45 minutes. Three core facilitators can harmoniously keep this on track with the first managing overall facilitation, leading the
conversation and guiding the participants, the second managing the energy and correcting course as needed, and the third ‘curating’ the
virtual collaboration space. You may want to add one more for every additional virtual breakout.

 Cautiously experiment with interactivity: Numerous digital tools are available. Conduct virtual breakouts on ZOOM; use virtual
whiteboards with movable “stickies” and voting dots on MIRO, MURAL, Stormboard; hear the voice of the organization with Waggl or
Remesh. Veterans advocate designing the session first, and then picking the tools that will best deliver your design. Avoid over-complicating
the technology; it will take time to get up to speed.

 Rehearse the flow: Plan a detailed facilitation map, detailing who is engaging with who, on what, when. Rehearse in full ahead of the
session and identify any potential trouble spots / issues that may arise. Test how long it will take for the logistics and make sure you amend
the flow / timing. There is more that can go wrong so you must plan and prepare in more detail. For every hour you would have spent
planning a live even, expect to spend two preparing for a virtual session.

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Guideline 4: Humanize the experience
ENGAGE V I R T U AL LY

Overview Remote collaboration is fundamentally different than engaging face-to-face. In traditional workshop settings, it is much
easier to establish human connections. The break-out discussions, the conversations over coffee breaks, and the knowing
glances around the room all build connection and community. When we shift to virtual collaboration, we lose those moments
on the margins, which are such a huge part of traditional, in-person collaborative experiences. Look for opportunities add a
human touch. Foster dialogue and discussion by leveraging interactive features like polling and chat. Anticipate
distractions in the background and openly encourage humor where appropriate.

Practical guidance

 Acknowledge what’s different: Begin the session by acknowledging what’s different and recognizing that this is a new for most of us. More
practically, share clear ‘ground rules’ and establish norms for how to engage virtually. Examples include using mute when not speaking,
introducing yourself before contributing, and refraining from multi-tasking. Expect to encounter – and celebrate – kids and dogs on occasion.

 Encourage visibility: Strongly encourage participants to enable their cameras. Video allows for a some of those non-verbal communication
cues. The ability to observe facial expressions and posture cues creates heightened engagement and fosters team connectivity. It is also a
deterrent against the temptation to multitask. Use grid view with the whole group, and ask yourself whether the slide needs to be up or if it
could be the video.

 Cultivate intimacy: Create opportunities for small group interactions to open up the dialogue. Some platforms (such as Zoom) have built-in
functionality that allows you to easily create “virtual breakouts” for smaller group discussions within the same video conference. Breaking out
and then coming back together for a full group discussion can be a great way to manage the energy and create a sense of inclusion, while
also giving each individual participant a greater share of voice.

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Additional reading on these topics

• https://www.bain.com/insights/coronavirus-how-to-be-the-leader-your-people-
need-right-now/

• How to Make Your Teams Stronger in a Crisis

• Leading effective virtual meetings (infographic)

• A CEO Plan for Coronavirus: Actions to Take Now

• https://www.bain.com/insights/coronavirus-a-ceos-dress-rehearsal-for-the-new-
world-fm-blog/

• Productivity infographic (coming)

• Engage virtually article (coming)

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