Leading a team virtually is a whole new ballgame for many business owners – it certainly is for me. Not only am I concerned about the isolation my team is experiencing, but the added feelings of anxiety and stress that come from these unique times. Like many of you, we begin each day with a morning video call (we’re pretty happy with www.uberconference.com), catching up on client projects, resource scheduling, and the usual business banter.
However, we quickly realized that working virtually – and maintaining our unique culture (and individual personalities) – required a different kind of effort. Heading into this week, an employee suggested that we come to the Monday meeting ready to share a personal, positive experience. He had heard enough doom and gloom in the news, and wanted to flip the narrative. It was a great idea that drilled home for me that it really isn’t business as usual right now, and we shouldn’t pretend that it is. So we’ve reimagined our morning meetings.
Each day an employee offers our “Moment of Sanity” that kicks off the next meeting. It’s light, engaging, and brings a lot of smiles. We’ve also shortened the length of our calls and shifted the focus to just key business/project updates and personal experiences (so yes, lots of dogs and cats on camera). The traditional project updates now happen organically throughout the day by phone, email and Slack.
So far, it’s made a real difference in how we kickoff our day, and maybe it can for you too. I’ll share our Daily Moments of Sanity in this post, but you can see them daily my LinkedIn Page. We’d also love to hear your responses, and get your topic suggestions!
Peaktwo’s Morning Moments of Sanity
March 23, 2020 – Day 1: Enough of the doom and gloom! Share something positive that you have learned or experienced during this past week.
March 24, 2020 – Day 2: Working from home means you get to choose the music. What’s on your @home playlist today?
March 25, 2020 – Day 3: Wednesday is “Show and Tell” day… and you can only show your dog/cat/spouse/baby once.
March 26, 2020 – Day 4: Share a picture of a favorite memory or special period of time in your life.
March 27, 2020 – Day 5: What advice or wisdom has stuck with you? Who told you? What inspired you about it? Share a time you used it or reflected on it.
March 30, 2020 – Day 6: Share something you did in quarantine this weekend that was not something you would normally have done.
March 31, 2020 – Day 7: If you could have one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
April 1, 2020 – Day 8: Show & Tell
April 2, 2020 – Day 9: Name a movie you saw as a child that gave you serious nightmares or scarred you for life?
April 3, 2020 – Day 10: What was your favorite band or artist growing up?
April 6, 2020 – Day 11: Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met and what did you talk about?
April 7, 2020 – Day 12: When the quarantine is over, what is the first thing you are looking forward to doing again?
April 8, 2020 – Day 13: Show & Tell
April 9, 2020 – Day 14: If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be? (…and no superhero powers!)
April 10, 2020 – Day 15: If you could be part of one musical act (band, theater performance, etc.), living or deceased, which one would you be a part of and why?
April 13, 2020 – Day 16: What was your favorite game to play as a child, excluding teams sports like soccer and baseball?
April 14, 2020 – Day 17: What would the title of your autobiography be and what part(s) would make it the most interesting? (has to be fact, not fiction!)
April 15, 2020 – Day 18: Show & Tell
April 16, 2020 – Day 19: Who would you cast in a biopic of your life to play you? Your significant other? Your best friend?
April 17, 2020 – Day 20: Who would you most like to sit next to on a plane and who would you hate sitting next to?
April 20, 2020 – Day 21: If you didn’t have to work another day in your entire life, what would you do?
April 21, 2020 – Day 22: Zoom calls getting boring? Silly hat day was just the remedy!