We recently wrote a call to action for leaders: despite the challenges we are all facing at work, this is not the time to put employee development plans on hold. It is easy to think that with COVID-19, there is just too much going on to expect our employees to think about their development. But that way of thinking makes development something other than people’s job, and we know at the best companies, employees are always growing their skills, learning new things, and finding ways to have a bigger impact. Learning is not an extra burden, it is actually a key driver of engagement, especially among millennials. In fact, given the conditions we face, this is a critical moment, and dare I say, ripe opportunity, for professional growth.
It’s worth noting that with a few modifications, there is little reason your development plans won’t be successful remotely. In our conversations with leaders at our active clients, they’ve all noted a shift in the communication they’re having with their teams. People are a little more open. Maybe it’s seeing where they live and what their pets look like when they run in the background or maybe it’s just seeing one another in that University of Vermont t-shirt, but conversations are a little different. People are more willing to be a little more vulnerable. Guess what, vulnerability is one of those things that help people grow. Use this openness to the benefit of your development plans, and of the plans of those on your team. Open a dialogue with them about what they think they can handle in this new climate; where they stretch, and what are the areas in which they want to grow?
I encourage my clients to ask their team members what they want to be able to do by the end of the year that they can’t do now? How can they get involved in work in a way that builds those skills? Who do they think they could really learn from, and what strengthened relationships would they like to have? Setting a timer on it, like asking what they want by the end of the year, helps us all get stay focused on actually getting it done.
You can add an element of development to any work activity by working through these questions and creating a plan with your team member. As you develop the plan with your team member, remember to tie it to their career goals. This changes the conversation from one in which you are telling them what to do, to one in which they have a reason to be committed to the goal. Working together to develop this shared understanding of what you’d like to see them be able to do helps avoid confusion that often arises when a task is delegated to them, that is, when they’ve been told to do something. It is easier to have the conversations that hold them accountable to a picture that is tied directly to their goals.
The changed work world in which we find ourselves creates a good deal of opportunity for employee development as teams are tackling new tasks or finding new ways to tackle old tasks in new ways. While it can be difficult to think of the crisis as an opportunity, the novel problems it presents have created distinct opportunities for development, but only if you have a framework in which people are facing these challenges with their continued development in mind.
A recent example from a client: a reorganization that took place at one of our clients just before the shelter in place orders stalled as a result of the unexpected challenges associated with turning over work from one team to another. The result was work that was to be handed off from one team to the next fell between the crack as each of the teams were more focused on organizing how their team was going to function in the WFH world. The tasks in question now were not a high priority for the team that was handing them over, and the team newly responsible for them did not have the work.
Enter Kim, the leader of the team who was taking over these tasks who saw the challenge as something that needed to get fixed, and quick, and as a way to help Marcus, a member of her team, rapidly put a team together, organize an approach, and ensure the details were closely managed. These were skills that Marcus needed to show he possessed in order to be considered ready for more responsibility. Marcus was also a good choice for this project because he is good at making people feel included and like they were on the same team, something important to this project.
By being explicit around the definition of the project: that the goal of the project was important to the business AND was meant to stretch Marcus in a direction that he needed to grow to achieve his ambitions, turned important work into a great developmental opportunity.
Marcus’ project was a stretch assignment for him because he has a more laid-back style and expects people to keep him informed as they see fit rather than setting sharply defined expectations and timelines. Supporting a team member who is developing skills that don’t come naturally to them, while you hold them accountable, works well with a coaching style.
How can you know if you are coaching or just telling them what to do? A good clue is that your direct report works on the plan and believes that it was their idea, and your role is to make the plan better. When it comes to follow up and tracking, allowing your team member to create the best plan, the plan that makes the most sense for the piece of work and then only weighing in to change to plan if you feel like you have to in order to make it better is a sign that you are coaching, not just managing, the situation for them.
Management is important and often gets a bad rap, but managing, or assuming responsibility for tasks, doesn’t allow for as much growth as coaching a team member through a task. Managing is being highly directive; telling your people what to do and how to do it. When a task is urgent, needs to be done the right way and a certain way, you are likelier to be manage the task, even micromanage the task, under these circumstances. Coaching occurs when you lay out what needs to get done and leave the how to your team member.
The current crisis and remote work situation doesn’t mean that you need to create a completely new approach to development, nor does it need to be centered around these new challenges. Take an existing development plan, and select an achievable goal that can been accomplished while working from home. Work together to build a plan (with your team member taking the lead) and set a timeline for showing progress. Giving a shorter timeline for these remote-development projects is a valuable way to get your team feeling active and motivated in the near term.
Show your team that you believe in them and know that they can grow their skills during these challenging times. Tie your expectations for development to the fact that you are betting on them to take on more responsibility in the future. Coach them in support of the plans they build to get there. Treat development like an all-the-time thing, even during times we’ve never seen before.