How to Support Your Team During A Crisis - Part 1

Hey Team, 

Well past the month-marker in a mostly gone-remote world, we have been thinking a lot this week about our extended team.  We’re talking about our Thriftway staff, our Anthem baristas, the folx who supply us with our bottle of Montepulciano at Stink, our taco Tuesdays at Red Star, our Grand Cinema movie nights. The amazing pharmacists at Rankos who took care of us when one of our team members came down with a nasty bout of strep mid-quarantine. Our community-at-large, and our community-in-immediate: our team.

One of our associates also works with a non-profit in town. Even with busier schedules than usual, weekly remote video check-ins with the staff have become standard.  Encouragement to take breaks mid-day to walk and get fresh air go hand-in-hand with reminders to put the computer away at the end of the work day and not letting it taunt you from the corners of your home-turned-office. Establishing a safe space to voice concerns both personal and work-related… Group Hangout streams populated with pet pics share airtime with urgent breaking news stories...  This Leadership recognizes that the mental and emotional state of their team is essential.

Your team is essential.

But then, you already know that, right? (Right?)

For those of us who continue working from our remote islands, from partially closed stores, from delivery hubs... let’s not forget to check in on our team.  Simple “how ya doin’s” before shift, after lunch, a bing to their phone, a Facetime here, a Messenger streamshare of silly content to lighten the load a bit... Spend a moment from time to time in engaging them at their stations -- wherever they may be, from car to counter to computer screen -- reminding them of their value, thanking them for their dedication, lending them an ear or a shoulder if needed, because getting through this #TacomaTogether means All of Us. All of our people with all that makes them who they are.

Need some ideas to get the ball rolling supporting your teams’ emotional needs? We’ve got you!

Try:

• Weekly phone-in or video chats

  • There are loads of forums duking-it-out for the airtime that offer their services for free for small group meetings like Zoom and Google Hangouts.

• Daily chat check-ins

  • A before or after-shift check-in, reminding your team to take time and self-care, take their breaks, take walks, read a book, angst out in a journal, and occasionally spoil themselves. If you can spoil them, so much the better. (We suggest gift cards to local restaurants that are offering take out. MSM, anyone?)

• Encouraging Meditation and Mindfulness 

  • There is a wealth of sources out there right now to help provide good mental health practices at this time. Need a starting place? Try here. And here. And here.

• Team Happy/Coffee Hours

  • Conduct a video get-together with no business on the agenda. Let your team opt in on a Tipsy Tuesday, where you sit and sip and share...like the break room, only tastier.