It is difficult to write about post-pandemic planning and actions without first giving some recognition to the terrible pain and loss the world has, and continues to, endure. And within our organizations, our families, and ourselves, we have struggled. In that struggle we have found new perspectives, surprising innovations and have even broken through some rigid barriers. Folks that know a lot about resilience tell us it is good, during difficulty, to find the positive and to focus on what we have learned. We will rebound; bounce back. What is interesting to me is that as we bounce back, we find ourselves in circumstances and environments that are new to us and even perhaps, dis-orienting. What our organizations and people need from leaders now is help finding the positive, learning from our struggle, and orienting to this new place and these new circumstances that we find ourselves.
I have a conversation to share based on some tried and true organization development theories and practices. Although there is much to do right now to take care of our communities, neighbors, friends, and family, it is time to also begin to think about what comes after we get through the work and worry of the pandemic. William Bridges tells us that as people transition to new beginnings leaders can help them see what is before them, what comes next. We can help our organizations consider what processes will be staying, what technologies are worth keeping around, and what about our workforce will be different? And then, Bridges tells us how to do this – bring people together to talk about what has changed, what is different, and what we are aiming for next.
Here is a conversation for leaders to first have with their leadership team. I may also be a good conversation for program or operational teams that are ready to begin to bounce back and to orient themselves to our new environment.
A Conversation for Checking in and Looking for What Comes Next: this conversation is for smaller groups of 4-6 people, scheduled for about 1 hr. The objective of the conversation is to begin to bounce back. The result will be an early list of ideas describing changes within the work environment that may be worthy of keeping.
o Going around the room, allow time for everyone to share something that is different for them now than before the pandemic and also how much it has impacted them, on a scale of 1 to 10.
Start by posing the question and then give folks a few minutes to think about it. They may privately write down a list of items and circle the one they want to share.
Before sharing their circled change, ask folks to assign it a number from 1 to 10 that tells how much this something has impacted their lives. Where, due to this something different, 1 = “there has been no impact - I am carrying on the same as before”, and a 10 = “my world is 100% different now, everything about it is changed”
An estimate of time for this question is about 20 minutes, about 2-3 minutes per person. The key to keeping this question to 20 minutes is to provide the group with the objective of the meeting and the agenda with time estimates of each question prior to starting. NOTE: If this is the first time this group has shared together, what is different for them, then this question may take up to an hour and a second meeting to continue the conversation should be scheduled within one to two days.
o Ask the people in the small group to think about the work they do and what they would like to see remain in place following the pandemic crisis.
They can think of this in general terms, given the work they do every day; what is something new that has been particularly useful or helpful.
The something, may be a process, a tool, a procedure, a policy, a method, or an approach, that they would like to continue to use or have remain in place following the pandemic crisis.
Give folks a few minutes to think about this question and ask them to write down a list of ideas. Then circle 2 or 3 they want to share.
Go around the room asking each person to share their 2 or 3 ideas. Record each idea on a shared (virtual as needed) whiteboard or flipchart, creating a list.
At this point it is better to record all of the ideas even if they are similar from one person to the next.
Estimate time for this question to be about 20 min. The trick in keeping this question to 20 minutes is to hold folks back from debating each person’s ideas and stick to simply listing them out. Also ask folks to resist problem solving how to implement an idea and stick to simply listing them out.
o With the list of ideas recorded and in full view of the group, ask the group to identify those ideas on the list that are of particular interest, being more helpful and providing positive impact to their everyday jobs.
There may be a few than can be combined. Be careful to not change the intention or purpose of the idea when combining. It is better to have more than less.
Ask individuals to place a mark next to the 2 or 3 ideas that are most important or most impactful. They may simply identify them verbally and you make the mark, or if the virtual environment allows, use an annotate function that allows people to make their own marks.
It is better to keep the marks de-identified by individual at this point. This allows the group to understand each other better without assessing the decisions through a formal or informal hierarchy.
Estimate time for this question to be about 10 minutes. The key to keeping this question to 10 minutes to hold folks back from debating the worthiness of each of the listed ideas. You can assure the group that this is a starting point not an ending point of the conversation.
o Ask the group, given this list of ideas and how we, as a group, see the priority or significance of the ideas on our work, what are possible next steps to ensure these ideas are integrated into our work going forward. This is a quick brainstorm question to capture immediate thoughts and to help jump-start the next conversation.
On the shared whiteboard or flipchart, record thoughts about next steps.
The results of this Next Steps discussion will be used to start future discussions that focus on selecting specific actions and developing plans for implementation or execution.
Estimate time for this question to be about 8-10 minutes. The key to keeping this question to 10 minutes is to remind the group that the goal of this question is to capture our immediate thoughts to jump start the next conversation. No decisions will be made from this list of possible next steps.
Identify who will initiate the next meeting and schedule it on calendars.
o In the last few minutes of the meeting, ask each person to share with each other, something about this meeting that they experienced or will take away with them.
o Thank everyone for their participation.
I would love to talk with you about how I may be able to help your organization consider what comes next. Please send me your questions or a note to kap@bettertogetherkw.com.
Best to you,
-Kap
This approach is SPOT ON. Culturally, to remain "professional", we don't address our personal experiences, but to ignore that we have all endured a tremendous amount of strife over the past year, is not only foolish, but will result in robotic-like responses that don't quite hit the mark for our customers and our staff. Thanks for these helpful suggestions, Kap!