Welcome to the “business as unusual” edition…
The Jaybird team started working from our homes in the NYC area about two weeks ago; at the moment, we and our families are all well, and hope yours is, too. On the one hand, many things go on as usual – on the other, everything is irrevocably changed.
Personally, things were already challenging – Tracy had been unexpectedly hospitalized (she’s fine now!); my Dad received a cancer diagnosis (treatment postponed due to COVID hospital closures, yes, it sucks); and my family moved into a smaller apartment to start renovating our old one (which is now stalled mid-way through demolition). In some ways, transitioning everyone to work at home has been the easy part!
As Erica Gruen said in the NYU Steinhardt Entrepreneurship course that I assist with last Thursday, we’re all operating on a pretty basic level of the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs right now in our concerns for health and safety, and we need to bear that in mind in all our interactions. In That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief for the Harvard Business Review, David Kessler, the co-author with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross of the famous “Stages of Grief” books, reminds us, “This is a temporary state. It helps to say it. I worked for 10 years in the hospital system. I’ve been trained for situations like this. I’ve also studied the 1918 flu pandemic. The precautions we’re taking are the right ones. History tells us that. This is survivable. We will survive. This is a time to overprotect but not overreact.”
In that spirit, I thought I would share a few pieces of my own advice, and share some other reading that I’ve found helpful and inspiring this week, in the hopes they give you some direction, support, and comfort as well.
Laurie’s Tips
– Set a clear beginning and end to your workday – Even if you normally work from home, your typical routine has probably changed, and it’s easy to let the work seep into everything else. For my team, we start with a group call, and end with everyone sending me brief recaps. I’m finding it helpful to close my day writing a list of accomplishments.
– Write that Procedures Manual – Write up every single core function so that anyone could do it in an emergency if the person that usually performs that duty is not available. I first learned this after September 11, and Tracy’s hospital stay reinforced it. And if you work by yourself, designate a buddy that can step in if you’re suddenly not available. It’s a general good practice, not just for pandemics!
– Make documents accessible – Along those lines, make sure that people are in the practice of saving all documents they are working on, even drafts, into a shared drive of some kind that the rest of the team can access. Again, it’s a good practice all the time – laptops get stolen, people leave the company – you don’t want a key work file stuck on a computer or Google Drive doc that no one else can access.
– Keep communicating! – We can’t meet in person, but webinars, newsletters, social media, blogs – these tools are all available to you and people may have more time to read, participate, and react.
Words from industry leaders…
Leading a Business in the Midst of a Crisis: ‘It most always gets worse before it gets better’ – by Tracy Maddux, AVL Digital (CD Baby), in Music Business Worldwide
A crisis means having a series of not-great options, and having to choose… Even as you’re being a realist when appropriate (and likely a pessimist in private), be an optimist in public whenever you can. The people around us look to us to set an example for their conduct and attitude in trying times.
Leadership in Uncharted Waters – by Michael Dorf, City Winery
But who knows, nobody really knows how long, how far the economic sacrifice needs to go to save precious lives. Yet, I need to get back on the phone, provide leadership, and make tough choices. Listen to their feedback, but ultimately, as the decision-maker, be more decisive and more clear than ever as to what path we need to take, even as that path changes daily… as stormy as the seas are right now, I guess this is why I am the captain, the CEO, why I am the one who is leading the others on this adventure, navigating through the storm without a compass, without knowing how bad it might get or where or when it might end. Part of me is scared shitless, for sure (I’ve been taking longer walks and been very regular with my Calm app to meditate), but I know that after 30+ years, there is no one better to make the decisions to save our company and captain our ship to calmer seas. I think, I hope, I got this, and I certainly will be the last one on board going down with the damn ship if need be. But I don’t plan on that.
The Coming Fight – by Lenny Beer, HITS Daily Double
This is our test, our moment. We can—and will—beat this. We will, as a nation and as a global community, be back—in six months or a year, or maybe two. We’ve overcome adversity before. We’ve brought our industry back from all manner of destruction. We must prepare to do so again. Now is our time.
Business advice & resources…
How to adapt your crisis response for COVID-19 and beyond – PR Daily
Though this crisis might feel different, traditional crisis communications best practices, like the TACOS method (Transparent, Authoritative, Consistent, Over-communicative, Social), are how communicators can best serve their communities.
LMHQ list of resources, jobs/gigs, government relief information, volunteering opportunities, and online education links: https://hello.lmhq.nyc/resources/
… OK to keep those packages & food deliveries coming!
Don’t panic about shopping, getting delivery or accepting packages – Washington Post [subscription – in short, “detectable” ? contaminated]
Can you catch COVID-19 from food? – LiveScience [spoiler: highly unlikely]
From the poem “Imagine” by Lynn Ungar, dated March 20
“… Imagine that each of us
Felt suddenly called to wonder
In this moment, what does the world
Need from me? What are my gifts?”