Preparing your Team for Post-COVID-19 Recovery

While times remain uncertain as we continue to navigate our way through the pandemic, there will come a time when the madness ends and a new era begins. Understanding how to adapt to change early on allows your team to prepare for the inevitable transition back to office life, inspiring employees to remain resilient and continue working at a steady pace to be successful in the workforce.

Helping your team during the recovery phase can be a challenge; you’re all dealing with another round of changes that rocked your world just a few months ago. Thankfully, there are several strategies that you can put in place to prepare your team in the best way possible. Here are some key points to focus on before and during the transition:

1. Ensure safety remains the top priority

Even when cases of COVID-19 reach insignificant numbers, it’s still in your best interest, as a leader, to take precautionary measures that prove health and safety in the workplace remain at the top of your priority list. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some of the steps you should take before resuming business as “usual” in your office include:

• Evaluating the ventilation systems in your facility.
• Keeping windows and doors open as much as possible for increased circulation.
• Speaking with building maintenance about hazard risk caused by other potential health threats in the building such as mold and stagnant water.

Once team members resume working in the building, consider other preventive measures such as encouraging everyone to wear masks, taking daily temperatures and keeping desks six feet apart for safe social distancing.

2. Communicate your plans before the transition and keep the conversation going

Each team member should feel fully prepared to head back to the office days or perhaps even weeks before the transition begins. Make sure everyone knows exactly what your plans during the recovery phase look like so the learning curve remains small and employees can feel comfortable easing back into their workflows.

3. Encourage resilience across the board

Dealing with change and adversity isn’t easy. Whether you’re a business leader, project manager or another administrative professional, it’s your responsibility to continue leading teams to be resilient, encourage positivity and get used to the new normal. To ensure you feel confident as a business leader during the transition, check out ICML’s Dealing With Change and Resilience Training learning course for stress-coping strategies you and your team members can benefit from before, during and after the transition.

4. Let ICML lead the post-pandemic recovery process

When it comes time for the transition, leaders like yourself may feel a little overwhelmed, and that’s normal. To ease the pressure that comes with leading a team of professionals after a global pandemic, ICML has the perfect learning program for you: the Change Agility Training course.

The more change agile you – and you team members – are in the present, the better you can all cope with the change and take advantage of new opportunities that arise when the pandemic comes to a close. Once you complete the course, you and your employees learn how to deal with the uncertainty, take more ownership in situations, remain calm and inspire positivity while identifying strengths that will better prepare you for a crisis in the future.

If you want more assistance coping with the stress and pressure that comes with the COVID-19 recovery process, contact ICML to schedule your tailored training course today.