June 23, 2020
Furlough

The ONE thing you MUST do with your team as you return from furlough

If you’re bringing furloughed employees back to work soon, have you planned on how you recalibrate your team? To maintain and even boost your OrganisationalHealth, long-term employee engagement and performance,  it’s crucial to do this after what for many has been an emotional journey.

 

The journey has not been the same for all: from fear to elation, from boredom to busy-ness, from initial enjoyment to more recent frustration and vice versa,it’s been a cocktail unique to each and everyone of us.

 

As you bring your team back, either face-to-face or remotely, you need a shared understanding of your individual experiences before launching into the work that needs to be done. Miss this step and you risk more team misunderstandings, conflict and poorer long-term performance. Take the step and you build a stronger team with a greater level or trust and mutual understanding that helps you weather future challenges together.

 

Be transparent with your team about why you want to have the conversation before launching into regular work. Your motives need to be clear. Create a safe space for the team to have the discussion. As a leader, one easy way to do that is to show your own vulnerability: share some of the things you’ve found most difficult about lockdown and furlough for example. Just don’t hog the airwaves.

 

On the recent Furloughed Leader webinars we ran with our colleagues at TwentyOneLeadership, we suggested a selection of questions to explore with teams,helping them voice their experiences. Have a look through, steal a few and add your own. Just be clear that each question will take the conversation in a particular direction.

 

·     What did you find most challenging about lockdown?

·     What did you miss most from pre-lockdown times?

·     What unexpected benefits did you discover?

·     What are you most looking forward to now?

·     What are your biggest concerns right now?

·     What else should we know about your lockdown experience?

 

Remember:keep an open mind. Don’t challenge or get defensive about things people may say. Your goal is to listen deeply and understand everyone’s experience.

 

We’re currently working with some remote furloughed teams to help them reset and recalibrate, setting them up for an excellent next chapter. To find out more about how we can help, contact us

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