As work life for most of the world has shifted to home, our lives have become a series of video and conference calls to keep the wheels of progress turning. In our conversations with many colleagues around the globe since the shelter-in-place rules went into effect a few short weeks ago, we’ve noticed how leaders are translating their compassionate leadership style to the virtual environment. Along with our own experiences teaching, facilitating, and convening on Zoom since its debut, we share these observations and ideas for weaving more compassion into your new regime of leading by remote connection.
Just as in real life, compassionate leadership starts as an inside job with you. The Center’s model of Compassionate Leadership moves from the inside out to reflect the importance of the leader standing firmly in their own foundation from a grounded, centered place. Here is where leadership presence is cultivated, and only then can it be felt and shared by the team.
Before getting on a call, check in with your own emotional state. Are you calm and clear? Do you have clarity around the agenda at hand? If there is uncertainty, are you comfortable sitting with the unknown? Where is your attention?
Without the benefit of the conference room as the “container” for an in-person meeting, it is important to get the team into the virtual room. Creating palpable energy and connection in the room means that participants need to really tune in, to pay attention wholeheartedly. Absent the physical cues we see in the office, it takes extra measures to bring people in fully, keep them focused, and engaged. Utilizing the technology that is available, like breakout rooms, polls, and whiteboards, is very helpful. Additional prompts and techniques may be useful:
Formally center the group at the outset, instruct them to put aside all distractions and intentionally bring all their attention into themselves, the group, and the larger mission/agenda.
Be clear about the session agenda and your intention for the meeting. Review your expectations for their participation. While much formality has gone out the window with kids and cats showing up without notice, it’s still helpful to set boundaries and shared agreements on how you choose to lead the group. Can folks pipe right in or do they need to raise a hand to speak? Phones down? No texting? Lunch? Make sure everyone knows what appropriate remote behavior is for the situation. As Brené Brown reminds us “Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind.”
Allow space for people to check in, to calibrate their emotions, and to share with each other. No one has ever dealt with the crisis we are now facing, and each individual is responding to their circumstances in their own way. Expect differences in the way your team responds. If you notice that someone is really struggling, move swiftly to speak with that individual privately, and get them the mental health or other support they require asap.
Be inclusive. Use your platform to recognize and encourage each individual. Let them know they are respected, heard, and valued. You may even find that the online format allows more introverted colleagues to engage more comfortably, through chat responses, or in smaller breakout groups where they do not feel as threatened as speaking in person in the traditional conference room.
Engage the team with lots of participatory activities – Q&A, round robins, exercises, ask for takeaways from activities, small breakout conversations, and encourage them to recognize and support each other with positive comments on the chat.
Re-center the group more often than you might in-person. Call their focus and attention back into the room. Remarkably, people still get distracted :)
Just as you might bring handouts into the office conference room, have any handouts or reference materials available as PDFs with links that you can share in the chat. Make them simple to access in real time.
As you begin to master juggling the technology and managing the virtual room, it is often helpful to tag team with another colleague to help monitor/manage/and share from the chat area, so that you can keep your own attention in the room.
Set up the calendar and Zoom links for the whole series of meetings up front, and ask participants to honor the schedule. People find it easier to bail from a virtual session vs. an in-person meeting, and you want everyone to do their utmost to keep on track. Especially now as everything is starting to blur, we sometimes don’t know what day it is!
In summary, translate the best practices of your compassionate leadership to the Zoom room, as well as in one-on-one meetings. Stay on course with your own practices and steadiness, so that you have capacity to support your team with these skills of a compassionate leader:
Deep listening
Trust
Respect
Transparency
Effective feedback
Clarity
Caring
Remember we are all human, sharing our human experience together during these challenging times.
Image Credit: LeoPatrizi/iStock.