Don't settle for uncertainty
There is a lot of uncertainty around at the moment. Politically, economically, in our employment, in our teams.
I can see how it’s playing out with my clients, as well as for me in my small business. It’s stressful, it’s taking up a lot of time, energy and headspace. A lot of people aren’t feeling like it’s getting them anywhere either, despite all that effort going in. That’s a double dip when we feel like we’re working hard, simply to stand still.
I’m no neuroscientist, but I know that our brains hate uncertainty. What can we rely on at the moment to navigate through this period? What will lessen the impact, create some certainty wherever possible, and make us all feel like we are moving forward?
1. Communicate more
When things are unclear, a lot of us wait until there is clarity before we pass on any key messages. Although this is an understandable decision, try the opposite. Communicate even more than usual. What’s worse than bad news? No news at all! If you’ve got nothing of substance to say, then make that your message. The absence of a message leaves a vacuum. The vacuum will be filled, many, many times over, with so many scenarios, some of which you’ll end up trying to manage later. If you want to manage the vacuum, make sure you’re the one filling it.
Go out of your way every day at the moment to let your teams and your stakeholders know what’s happening, even if you think it’s not enough to warrant the update.
2. Predict when you will know more
Giving people updates that don’t have a lot of substance can feel uncomfortable. When you’re communicating, let them know when you expect to know more. Perhaps there’s a meeting coming up when you anticipate key decisions will be made. Let them know when that meeting is scheduled and how long it’s likely to take to know the outcome. This provides some ‘certainty about the uncertainty’, which is critical to reducing its impact.
3. Focus on what you can do
When things are uncertain, it’s better to focus on something you can create yourself. Take the reins on something that doesn’t need any permission, or when forgiveness is likely to be granted, at the very least! Rather than feeling like you and your team are reacting to everything thrown at you, what can you focus on together that will create some positivity?
One thing I’d recommend is creating more productive and healthier ways of working. A recent poll I did on LinkedIn found that are current ways of working are most likely to be driving burnout, rather than something positive like cohesion or innovation.
Driving better ways of working can only be successful at the team level. If anyone higher up the chain tries to get heavily involved in the finer detail, it will inevitably be less effective. The people closest to the work will have the best ideas for making their work better. With burnout risk as a real threat to the health of our teams, why wouldn’t you look for better ways to be healthy and productive?
Take a look through my other blog articles to get inspired about how to run some of these sessions in your team. Or reach out and I’ll run a one-off session to kickstart your efforts with direction, purpose and some much needed positivitiy. It might be just what you need right now!
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