As a graduate of class 2019, I came back to Hong Kong proudly with my diploma, ready to work in my family business of interior design and furniture production. The economy was already taking a downturn as the Hong Kong protest movement triggered by the introduction of the Fugitive Offenders amendment bill became more intense and frequent, followed by a steep decline when the coronavirus outbreak first hit Hong Kong.

Over the past 20 years, my parents created a loyal customer base that is now supporting the company during this difficult time. However, I realized sticking to the status quo is no longer sufficient for my family business to survive during this pandemic. It became more and more apparent that a drastic change must be implemented to keep this company relevant in the current market.

I thought to myself, "we need to change the way we do things in this business and we need to make the change now. Time for an intervention!" So I spent weeks researching how I can bring about this change as a leader to improve my business during this difficult time.

1. Create a Purpose

External changes like COVID-19 threaten our present and our outlook of the future. The uncertainty of the future paralyses people from taking action, since their goals are becoming more opaque. To counter the effects of these external changes as a company is to prioritise people's needs and recenter their focus.

A purpose is a common goal everyone on the team aims to achieve. This is a crucial start to bringing the team together. Think of it as planning for a road trip. To know what routes to take, you must first know where the destination is. This destination is the light at the end of the tunnel for your team. It should be lucid enough for them to see, as it will be the sunshine that awakens them in the morning and urges them to put in their best work on every task.

Especially during this difficult time, re-defining your team's purpose of their functionings in the company will give them a sense of belonging. Consider this study in Harvard Business Review,

Establishing a common purpose with your team will refresh their desire to be a part of something bigger, and this desire will be the foundational adhesive to your team.

2. Keep Everyone on the Same Page

Keep the team informed about what is going on with company matters, how the company is doing and if there are any problems the company could be facing. By no means does this mean tell every one of your employees every minuscule detail about what goes on, but simply maintain transparency with the team regarding any aspects of the company that may concern them in any way.

For example, I addressed the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on our monthly sales with my team, and explained why it is critical for us to make some changes now. By bringing this company data up, it allowed my team to see the urgency in the situation, and opened the floor for their involvement in the issue. Solving a problem together with the team will bring about a sense of direction, which will facilitate consistent discussions with a clear, unanimous intention.

3. Make Use of Online Tools

After getting everyone on to the same page, understanding what changes are being implemented and why these implementations are important, empower your team with the tools they need to make these changes.

For example, my team and I concluded that we need to focus on making a stronger online presence during this time since the current trend is #stayathome. To work on this project while working from home, we turned morning briefings into emails, weekly meetings into weekly video conferences, organised workload and kept track of our progress on Notion and Trello. There are also specialised tools that are specific to the field of interior design that tremendously helped us do our jobs more efficiently, such as SketchUp and VRay.

Some of the online collaboration tools you could consider using is Office 365, Slack, and Asana, depending on what your team's organisation style is. These tools will provide conveniency in updating everyone on their progress as well as holding each person accountable for their assigned workload.

4. Encourage an Environment for Continuous Growth

One might say that seeking out knowledge is the most valuable thing about being human. It helped our society grow from flat land to skyscrapers, parchment paper to recyclable paper, notebooks to iPads, letters delivered by owls to emails that fly through the Cloud. Fostering a continuous learning environment can ensure a plethora of knowledge, which is exactly what we want as leaders to grow as a corporation. So, how do we do that exactly?

The answer is to develop a growth mindset! This is a theory found by Professor Carol Dweck, whose research focuses on the field of human motivation. She suggested that human mindsets are on a continuum with one end as "fixed", and the other as "growth". The fixed mindset sees our ability as innate and unchangeable, leading one to view improvement as unnecessary, which unfortunately foreshadows that they are only willing to stick to their status quo. Whereas, a growth mindset sees our ability as something that can be improved through practice, leading one to be more open and receptive to change.

Interactive Collaboration

Instead of picking the easiest task to accomplish with minimal effort, encourage employees to embrace more challenging tasks and working together to improve their efficiency. Interactive collaboration is a support system used to help workers overcome their urge to give up in the sight of an obstacle, and instead encourage them to view obstacles as a chance to experiment and solve problems. Failure is not permanent, it is simply a chance to learn and improve for the future.

Appreciation

One of the biggest problems in a workplace is unhealthy competition. This often stems from focusing too much on self-gain for employees and not enough recognition and appreciation for their efforts from leader figures. To avoid this, be clear on what you value by rewarding people who are doing the right thing. For example, when an employee demonstrates a skill or behavior that you want the team to make a habit of, give them recognition and show them appreciation in front of the team. This will create a social incentive for others to follow their example.

New Ideas

Just as no question is a stupid question, no idea is a stupid idea. There must have been something that prompted the thought of the idea. Even if the idea itself is not plausible, try breaking it down and finding the logic that built it up as it could turn out to be inspiring one way or another.

5. Check In with Your Team

Effective leadership is also coming up with a sustainable plan for your team to communicate with you about their progress during changes, to provide feedback on what needs to be improved, and to address any potential problems that may hinder their performance during any given time. Check in with each person on the team, and specifically ask them to give feedback on how they feel about the leader figures and their guidance on the team. The ability to accept constructive criticism will not only help bring about overall improvement in the way the team is led overall, but also strengthens the team's trust in its leadership.

Help the team embrace any changes they could be going through and show them that change can lead to positive outcomes, even if it may shake the foundation of the ground the team has been standing on, it will urge us to build something greater through collaborative effort. Encourage the team to think big and reach for the sky. Creativity is the main ingredient in making something that hasn't been created yet.

Reference

Akhtar A. 2019, Bosses, take note: Workers say lack of engagement is a top reason they'd quite their jobs, Business Insider, viewed 19 April 2020, <https://www.businessinsider.com/the-main-reason-an-employee-would-quit-a-job-2019-6/>

Akshay 2018, Creating A Learning Environment In The Workplace, Collar Search, viewed 18 April 2020, <https://www.collarsearch.com/blog/creating-a-learning-environment-in-the-workplace/>

Spencer J. 2017, Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset, YouTube, Viewed 19 April 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1CHPnZfFmU/>