Don't Neglect The Mental Health Of Your Team During COVID-19

We’re now several weeks into the COVID-19 crisis, normal life as we know it has drastically changed, and everyone is feeling the strain. 

Knowledge workers in particular are well positioned to keep working during a crisis–the type of work we do lends itself more easily to remote work and collaboration via technology. We are fortunate to work from our homes safely while others are on the front lines of this crisis.

We’ve discussed the importance of working well during a pandemic, how to adjust your working pace and how to support an entire team navigating telework for the first time.

But none of this will make a difference if you aren’t paying attention to the mental health and wellbeing of your team. 

Stress, burnout, and other mental health concerns are not new to the workplace. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, as many as one million people per day missed work because of stress. Studies suggest that employee stress translates into a loss of anywhere from $150 billion to $300 billion annually for U.S. employers. 

That was before we were worried about our loved ones getting sick and the global economy crashing. That was before we were suddenly yanked out of our workplaces, physically distanced from friends, family and colleagues, and trying to work in makeshift home offices alongside spouses and children. 

Prioritizing the mental health of your team isn’t just the humane thing to do–the future of your organization depends on it. 

Our knowledge economy is mired by institutional problems of expectations. Expectations to be attached to your smartphone, ready to respond to an email at any hour. Expectations to work 50, 60, or more hours each week… while also being a present community member, spouse, parent, and friend. Suddenly, we’re all expected to do everything–all at the same time.

A recent Gallup survey found that only 48% of employees feel well-prepared to work during the COVID-19 crisis. We’re guessing those numbers are dwindling as the weeks of physical distancing continue. At the very best, half of your team isn’t prepared to work under these new conditions. 

Here are a few principles we’re implementing with our own team and helping clients adapt to their unique organizational needs that can help you come out the other side of this crisis with a stronger, healthier team. 

Prioritize Kindness Over Productivity

We’ve always believed that kindness and productivity can co-exist. But during COVID-19, especially in these early days, we’re prioritizing kindness and connection over productivity–at the very least in the near-term, but likely for the duration of the crisis and through the recovery process. Yes, work needs to get done, AND, this is a critical time to learn how to balance and promote compassion as well as productivity.

We’re not just facing new levels of anxiety and fear. We’re all grieving, too. We’re grieving what we’ve already lost, what we could lose (both lives and financial security), and simply the loss of how we normally do work and life alongside each other. If you entered this crisis with a trust deficit among your team, now is the time to establish trust by seeing and valuing your team as people with complex emotions and needs. 

One powerful tool to help you do this comes from a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill in the form of a Statement of Principles for how your team will work together and support each other during this crisis. We’ve adapted Brandon Bayne’s statement (below) to apply to the workplace–please consider tailoring this to your own unique needs and sharing it with your team. 

Prepare for the Personal Impact of COVID-19

At least one of your team members is going to know someone who contracts COVID-19. It’s even possible one of them will get it themselves. Have you anticipated how to respond? We’ve got a quick suggestion:

• Do you [or your loved one] have someone to care for you [them] while you [they] isolate and recover? 

• Do you [they] have a plan to get food and other basic necessities while you isolate and recover? 

  • Offer to help if you can, like a grocery store gift card. 

• What specific things can we take off your plate right now? (This will be an ongoing conversation - as health and energy levels change). 

Focus On Your Own Mental Health

Finally, but truly most importantly, you need to take care of your own mental health. Whether you’re leading an organization or team or you’re a supporting team member, this is a critical time to lead by example: be open about how you’re prioritizing your mental health. Share where you are drawing your strength from - therapy, your faith, your community.

Above all, we need to know we’re all in this together, no matter how dark things may get. Reassure your team that they are valued and supported, and you’ll come out the other side of COVID-19 stronger. 

Statement of Principles: How We Work During COVID-19

1. Nobody signed up for this.

   1. Not for sickness, not for social distancing, not for the sudden end of collective gathering in the workplace

   2. Not for remote work, not for virtual collaboration, not for technical difficulties, not for working alongside roommates, partners, and spouses, not for working while caring for and homeschooling children

2. The humane option is the best option.

   1. We are going to prioritize supporting each other as humans

   2. We are going to prioritize simple solutions that make the sense for the most

   3. We are going to prioritize sharing resources and communicating clearly

3. We cannot always just do the same thing online as we do in person.

   1. Some priorities are no longer priorities

   2. Some expectations are no longer reasonable

   3. Some objectives are no longer helpful or possible

4. We will foster vulnerable accountability, social connection, and personal accommodation

5. We will remain flexible and adjust to the situation as needed

   1. Nobody knows how long this will last, how bad it will get or all the ways we will need to adapt

   2. Our organizational mission, vision and values remain guideposts for what we do and how we do it

   3. We all must support and offer understanding in this unprecedented moment

Adapted from Brandon Bayne