I was attempting to send a regular newsletter this week, but with so much going on in the world, nothing felt right. So instead, I’m going to turn things around this week and tap into the unique community that’s grown around this newsletter to create a space for us to help each other out during this trying time.
Question of the week: What are 1-2 things you’ve done to help your teams stay productive, focused, and in high spirits during this uncertain and unstable time?
1) We started daily standups across all teams over zoom.us + Fellow.app so to give everyone a touchpoint to see each other and talk about their day + obstacles
2) More frequent all-hands meetings
3) Getting on calls more frequently using Slack's call feature vs just typing away
We're a fully remote company, so making sure we're still social distancing, but sharing a couple vetted resources (podcasts & medium articles) that are relevant to our internal channels so everyone is updated on what's correct information. Continuing hard work as usual, with lots of items in the pipeline.
Being extra-sensitive to team members who are sick and focusing on a health & family first perspective.
Staying off of normal news channels for the most part.
Keeping my subscriptions active for businesses that are going through a slow-period, and supporting my local restaurants doing carry-out.
In the Labs incubator space in Miami - daily zoom calls are awesome! The startup space is an interesting place to be right now! Our "Labs Manager Pedro" has been great in keeping the momentum going - we have a WhatsApp chat group that helps keep things light, as well as providing a great means for us all to communicate, share info, feedback, etc. Still a great space- now it's just a virtual one!
Created a shared wellness calendar - each event with a zoom link so folks can find opportunities to connect outside of meetings “organically”. My favorite event is the team stretch in the afternoon.
We are sharing a lot about our home offices - and our cute pets and kiddos that are running around, causing the cartoon-like crash noises in the background. It's a good way to tap into the common humanity of the situation and makes us feel like we have to learn to make do.
1. Show empathy and compassion. Ensure that each employee feels safe. Talk through life issues and being prepared outside of work. It's been over a decade since we've faced any collective hardship. No one is an expert here but as a leader, you need to be able to show you care and help them work through these situational problems outside of work.
3. Bring your team into the battle room. I see two scenarios playing out (6 months and 18 months hardship). Both paths require their own battle plans, which I'm starting to bring together. I give my team daily updates on how things are unfolding and where the can help in determining our course.
Our company went fully remote starting this week, and everyone has been sharing resources (podcasts, articles, apps) to help with productivity, mental health, fitness, etc. Regular check-ins to see how everyone is feeling and if anyone needs some support throughout social distancing and isolation.
We've also set up a 'watercooler' type Zoom link that anyone can pop into if they need a bit of virtual face time, positive space for open conversation, company while working, and reassurance.
We're an agency working for several clients that are/will be suffering during these times ahead (I think all economy will suffer - except toilet paper!!). We're trying to find alternatives and exchange one service for another (ex: stop google ads and start SEO, as it's more a long time investment, and also SEO ranking will change a lot during this time). For some other clients we're creating functionalities trying to line up clients for after this crisis... We're also doing the same in-house and focusing on long term.
Thankfully, ours is a small team and everything each of us does has a direct impact on the business we’re building, so we’re all pretty motivated to keep doing what we’ve been doing. That said, it certainly feels like we’re talking to each other a lot more, which is producing lots of fantastic new/innovative ideas to ensure we do right by all of our customers and we ride out this storm as successfully as possible. I’m the Founder/CEO.
The hardest challenge for a lot of folks has been feeling socially disconnected. As someone who's been in a bi-coastal long distance marriage for the past 9 months, the power of saying a simple "good morning" to start your day with each other can't be understated. We translated that to our Slack team channel with a new workflow where everyone starts the day with a social check-in (sharing something we learned; a funny movie or show we watched...whatever).
We're also having virtual lunches via Zoom (complete with absurd backgrounds & costume themes!) that are purely social. They're totally optional and folks can join them if they want - but that bit of a social touch really helps to stay connected -- which has translated into greater productivity.
1. Communicated the severity of things that may come to entire team early.
2. Changed focus to short term revenue over long term strategic investments. Focusing on helping our customers (restaurants) and suppliers (wholesalers/producers) get through this together. Choosing one or two strategies that will have most impact and having team together to try move needle with those.
Our company is like Adsense for event sponsorship....so not a great time here. Most of the spring events on our platform have been cancelled. Luckily our buyers have been awesome and are accepting credits to spend in the future instead of refunds.
Since it's not a great time to facilitate transactions, we are instead focusing on product. Engineering team is business as usable. Buyer side acquisition is building out a playbook for when we expand into new markets. Supply side is focused on building content and reworking our supply side onboarding funnel and customer journey.
Just because transactions are down, doesn't mean we can't be improving the product and experience each day. So that is what we are focusing on right now and there is plenty to do!
using the virtual background feature on zoom is a must...
I share funny Covid-19 memes and videos with my team. Let me know if you want in on the fun.
I've been looking at the topic the last 7 days, here is what I have:
https://www.evadimitrova.com/resource-centre/tech-ceos-guide-to-covid-19-market-changes-and-opportunities
1) We started daily standups across all teams over zoom.us + Fellow.app so to give everyone a touchpoint to see each other and talk about their day + obstacles
2) More frequent all-hands meetings
3) Getting on calls more frequently using Slack's call feature vs just typing away
We're a fully remote company, so making sure we're still social distancing, but sharing a couple vetted resources (podcasts & medium articles) that are relevant to our internal channels so everyone is updated on what's correct information. Continuing hard work as usual, with lots of items in the pipeline.
Being extra-sensitive to team members who are sick and focusing on a health & family first perspective.
Staying off of normal news channels for the most part.
Keeping my subscriptions active for businesses that are going through a slow-period, and supporting my local restaurants doing carry-out.
Limit your time on social media and follow one or two sources you trust.
Ease people who are worried about you by showing them that you’re prepared.
It’ll lessen the amount of anxiety in your life and help you stay focused as much as you can.
In the Labs incubator space in Miami - daily zoom calls are awesome! The startup space is an interesting place to be right now! Our "Labs Manager Pedro" has been great in keeping the momentum going - we have a WhatsApp chat group that helps keep things light, as well as providing a great means for us all to communicate, share info, feedback, etc. Still a great space- now it's just a virtual one!
1. Do weekly checkins with people without fail
2. Default to written communication
Created a shared wellness calendar - each event with a zoom link so folks can find opportunities to connect outside of meetings “organically”. My favorite event is the team stretch in the afternoon.
We are sharing a lot about our home offices - and our cute pets and kiddos that are running around, causing the cartoon-like crash noises in the background. It's a good way to tap into the common humanity of the situation and makes us feel like we have to learn to make do.
Three things:
1. Show empathy and compassion. Ensure that each employee feels safe. Talk through life issues and being prepared outside of work. It's been over a decade since we've faced any collective hardship. No one is an expert here but as a leader, you need to be able to show you care and help them work through these situational problems outside of work.
2. Hard talk, not happy talk. Level with your team about the challenges ahead. They can smell bullshit and will appreciate honesty. https://medium.com/craft-ventures/happy-talk-versus-hard-talk-d2b9585597
3. Bring your team into the battle room. I see two scenarios playing out (6 months and 18 months hardship). Both paths require their own battle plans, which I'm starting to bring together. I give my team daily updates on how things are unfolding and where the can help in determining our course.
Sharing happy news to keep spirits up! But it's tough knowing not everyone can keep their job and work remotely.
Our company went fully remote starting this week, and everyone has been sharing resources (podcasts, articles, apps) to help with productivity, mental health, fitness, etc. Regular check-ins to see how everyone is feeling and if anyone needs some support throughout social distancing and isolation.
We've also set up a 'watercooler' type Zoom link that anyone can pop into if they need a bit of virtual face time, positive space for open conversation, company while working, and reassurance.
We're an agency working for several clients that are/will be suffering during these times ahead (I think all economy will suffer - except toilet paper!!). We're trying to find alternatives and exchange one service for another (ex: stop google ads and start SEO, as it's more a long time investment, and also SEO ranking will change a lot during this time). For some other clients we're creating functionalities trying to line up clients for after this crisis... We're also doing the same in-house and focusing on long term.
Thankfully, ours is a small team and everything each of us does has a direct impact on the business we’re building, so we’re all pretty motivated to keep doing what we’ve been doing. That said, it certainly feels like we’re talking to each other a lot more, which is producing lots of fantastic new/innovative ideas to ensure we do right by all of our customers and we ride out this storm as successfully as possible. I’m the Founder/CEO.
Even though I am wfh, still taking time away from the computer for lunch and an afternoon break!!
Video chats with coworkers for a break/to not feel too isolated
The hardest challenge for a lot of folks has been feeling socially disconnected. As someone who's been in a bi-coastal long distance marriage for the past 9 months, the power of saying a simple "good morning" to start your day with each other can't be understated. We translated that to our Slack team channel with a new workflow where everyone starts the day with a social check-in (sharing something we learned; a funny movie or show we watched...whatever).
We're also having virtual lunches via Zoom (complete with absurd backgrounds & costume themes!) that are purely social. They're totally optional and folks can join them if they want - but that bit of a social touch really helps to stay connected -- which has translated into greater productivity.
1. Communicated the severity of things that may come to entire team early.
2. Changed focus to short term revenue over long term strategic investments. Focusing on helping our customers (restaurants) and suppliers (wholesalers/producers) get through this together. Choosing one or two strategies that will have most impact and having team together to try move needle with those.
Our company is like Adsense for event sponsorship....so not a great time here. Most of the spring events on our platform have been cancelled. Luckily our buyers have been awesome and are accepting credits to spend in the future instead of refunds.
Since it's not a great time to facilitate transactions, we are instead focusing on product. Engineering team is business as usable. Buyer side acquisition is building out a playbook for when we expand into new markets. Supply side is focused on building content and reworking our supply side onboarding funnel and customer journey.
Just because transactions are down, doesn't mean we can't be improving the product and experience each day. So that is what we are focusing on right now and there is plenty to do!
Thank you all for sharing. These are incredible.
I took out the ones that most spoke to me shared them out with folks on Twitter (hopefully with accurate attribution): https://twitter.com/lennysan/status/1240004186953011200