Be a better communicator — even with a mask on

Because masks hide our facial expressions, they make communication more difficult. Think of all of the nonverbal ways we unconsciously convey sincerity, trustworthiness, good intentions or confusion. And while they’re critical in combating the pandemic, masks make it hard to pick up on those subtle cues. How can we build rapport with colleagues even when half of our face is covered? Start by using your “mask voice.” Speak louder than normal, and convey emotion with your cadence and inflections. Next, practice active listening by giving verbal cues, such as a simple “Mmm hmm” or “I hear you,” to the person you’re speaking to. Use other body language, such as nodding or gestures, when you otherwise would have used your face to communicate something subtle. Finally, smiling is perhaps our most important nonverbal communication tool, so try your best to smile with your eyes. It may seem uncomfortable or unnatural, but be intentional about wrinkling the outer edges of your eyes. Masks will be part of our lives for the foreseeable future, but with a bit of effort you can overcome the communication challenges they present.

(This tip is adapted from “How to Build Rapport … While Wearing a Mask,” by Dustin York.)

Protect gender equality during the pandemic

The coronavirus crisis represents a major threat to gender equity. Women comprise 39 per cent of global employment, but account for 54pc of overall job losses since May 2020. You can counteract this trend by taking deliberate action. Start by tracking the data and being transparent about the trends in your company. Are job losses or requests for leave higher among women? Have their promotions rates slowed? Then, take action on the needs that are revealed in the data. Put policies into place that grant flexible work arrangements and adjusted performance reviews for all employees, and provide resources that help combat burnout. Because women are disproportionately tasked with child care responsibilities, these policies will be especially important in ensuring that they aren’t disproportionately penalised for juggling those responsibilities in a work-from-home environment. And, if your company is hiring (or rehiring), actively work to achieve parity in your organisation. This is an urgent moment: it’s up to business leaders to stop this crisis from setting back gender equity for generations to come.

(This tip is adapted from “Don’t Let the Pandemic Set Back Gender Equality,” by Deepa Mahajan et al.)

Help your team innovate with urgency

The pandemic has shown us how crisis can lead to rapid innovation. Just look at all of the companies that quickly pivoted to curbside pickup or adapted their services to new health regulations. How can a leader help their team retain this agility and sense of urgency even when there’s no crisis? Here are three tips. First, engage in small experiments. Think about change not as a big project, but as a series of tests that help you quickly learn what works, what doesn’t, and what it takes to execute an idea. Next, challenge your team to set goals that are short-term, high-priority and challenging — and that are completely unrelated to their existing tasks and projects. The point isn’t necessarily to achieve those goals, but to see what possible innovations may come of it. Finally, lean in and get personally involved. For an innovation to take off, leaders need to be actively invested. Don’t wait for the next crisis to motivate your team; set the conditions for proactive — not reactive — innovation now.

(This tip is adapted from “Innovate With Urgency — Even When There’s No Crisis,” by Ron Ashkenas.)

Just breathe

If you’re managing higher levels of stress these days, there’s a tool we all have immediate access to: breathing. It might sound simple, but when done properly, breathing can make the difference between panic and resilience. Research shows that different emotions are associated with different forms of breathing. For example, when you feel anxious or angry, your breathing becomes irregular, short and fast. When you feel joy or relaxation, your breathing will be regular, deep and slow. And believe it or not, when you follow breathing patterns associated with different emotions, you begin to feel those corresponding emotions. So next time you’re feeling stress start to bubble up, try changing the ratio of your inhale to exhale. When you inhale, your heart rate speeds up. When you exhale, it slows down. Take a few minutes and breathe in for a count of four and out for a count of eight — this will calm your nervous system and keep stress at bay. By tweaking your breathing, you’ll start to feel a bit better.

(This tip is adapted from “Research: Why Breathing Is So Effective at Reducing Stress,” by Emma Seppälä et al.)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, October 19th, 2020