Leading in the New Normal: Part 2

This post is part two of two we’re sharing this week — highlighting best practices for individuals and leaders in organizations to support them in navigating the ‘new normal’ we’ve all found ourselves in during 2020 — as discussed by world-renowned leadership experts from Fisher College of Business and its connected community.

Read part one

Best Practice #3: Manage your meetings

Has your calendar been filling up with more meetings than you had pre-COVID? If so, you’re not alone. According to a 2020 study that included 3.1 million people from 16 global cities, there has been a 13 percent increase in meetings since the start of the global pandemic and large-scale shifts to remote work (DeFilippis, et al.).

So what can you do about this? Examine whether or not your meeting is truly needed.

• Are you gathering others simply to communicate information? If so, maybe choose another means to share your information like an email, group chat or memo.
• If you’re gathering others to share insights and ideas, make sure your meeting is focused with a clear purpose. This way, once you accomplish your meeting purpose, you can conclude the meeting.
• And finally, if you have a routine meeting that you can’t eliminate, mind the time. Don’t fall prey to Parkinson’s Law, which states that work expands to meet the time available for its completion. In other words, if you accomplish your tasks, it’s OK to end the meeting before the meeting time has ended!
• Read more meeting management tips

Find best practices and data offered by Dr. Tracy Dumas, associate professor of management and human resources at Fisher College of Business, during the 'Leading in the New Normal' conference.

Best Practice #4: Reevaluate your Team Norms

Just because you’ve been doing something for nine months (or longer!) doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. ...And here, I’m directly referring to the ways we’ve gone about doing business since our shifts to remote work.

I know our team hastily established a few practices for working remotely at the onset of large scale remote work — some which worked well, and some which... well, didn’t work at all.

It’s not too late to change course to create team norms that really include and work for all. Have team members reflect on these questions, and then discuss your collective responses and ideas:

• What were our rules for interacting? How might they need to change?
• How connected is the team to a shared purpose and meaning?
• Are expectations clear? How is feedback being provided; is it adequate?
• Is recognition taking place?
• Are the necessary challenging conversations happening?
• Does the team receive critical updates on projects or other initiatives?
• How might our meeting cadence need to change, and what new touchpoints could be necessary? How do we need to run our meetings differently?

Questions offered by Dr. Bethany Klynn, president and owner of Insight Leadership Consulting, during the 'Leading in the New Normal' conference.