Challenges are a normal part of business and every company is bound to face hurdles from time to time. Unfortunately, difficulties aren’t always easy to navigate so it’s important to have strong managers who can lead their team through tough times. Business leaders need to be flexible and adaptable and they also need to make tough decisions about how to improve the situation. Furthermore, they need to pay attention to team morale and how such challenges are impacting their employees. For these reasons, it is critical that managers practice consistently during difficult times in order to keep their team on track. If employees don’t have confidence in their leadership team, they may become fearful about the future of the company and they might start looking for a new job. Employees need to be heard and they need to feel understood during rough times and that starts with a motivating manager. Here are a few ways managers can maintain consistency and morale even during difficult times.
Communicate Often
During difficult times, communication is essential in order to keep everyone moving forward. Your first instinct might be to shield employees from what’s really going on but this can actually be much more harmful in the long run. Employees deserve to know the truth and difficult times are no exception. It’s important that managers continue to be open, honest, and transparent even in a difficult situation. Therefore, continue to hold regular meetings and encourage employees to ask questions. Commit to communicating the truth so your team knows they can trust your leadership.
Keep Up the Momentum
It’s easy to get discouraged during difficult times and managers fall victim to discouragement as well. However, your team is looking to you for positivity and encouragement so you don’t want to let them down. Just as you would motivate your team during the best of times, it’s equally important to remain consistent in that motivation when times are tough. You don’t want to lose all of the momentum you have worked so hard to build so it’s important to maintain that positive attitude even during low points.
Provide Regular Feedback and Maintain the Same Expectations
Just as you would monitor employee progress during good times, it’s still important to do so during difficult times. Your employees need to know that they are still held accountable even if those goals have changed. For example, if your employees have moved to remote working, make sure you are consistent in your expectations for them. They are still required to be working each day and completing their tasks on time. Be sure to check in them as you would under normal circumstances and provide feedback on what they are doing well and where they could improve.
Celebrate Success
When your company is going through difficult times it can be easy to dwell on everything that is going wrong. Unfortunately, this can lead to low morale and decreased productivity. Remember to celebrate large and small wins just as you would during normal times. This will help to keep morale high and let your employees know you value their hard work.