How to be more supportive to your boss during lockdown

All the leaders and managers out there are involved in firefighting, taking calls, preparing for when the lockdown lifts and managing their own responsibilities at the same time. That is not all. They also have to guide and help out their employees who may be experiencing difficulty with the new way of working. It is a new experience for everybody and the situation has not been lenient on anyone either up or down the ladder.
This may be a chance for employees to help out their managers, and lessen the load on their plate.

Remain positive and be wary of false rumours

The first thing for all employees to do is to try and remain positive and refrain from making incorrect assumptions or spreading rumours. Managers are trying their best to keep up the cheer and leaders across organisations are on calls every day assuring their workers about getting through this difficult time. Employees have to do their bit too.

With complete freedom to work according to one’s time and pace calls for a lot of self-discipline to remain productive. Only people who are organised and focussed will find it easy to perform

Babu Thomas, CHRO, Shalby, says, “At this time, a leader’s expectation from the employees is that they remain positive and spread no false rumours. If employees can do this, it will be a great help for the boss.”

Maintain discipline

Working from home means no close monitoring and no constant supervision while working. However, many employees are not used to working like this. They are used to performing only when there is pressure from above.

“With complete freedom to work according to one’s time and pace calls for a lot of self-discipline to remain productive. Only people who are organised and focussed will find it easy to perform,” says Ganesh Chandan, CHRO, Tata Projects.

Look beyond own function

Employees who are under less pressure than others in the organisation can be proactive and ask their managers if they can help out in any other capacity. While they cannot really step beyond their function, they can certainly help out in related or adjacent roles. They can think of contributing beyond their normal tasks. For instance, the sales teams in most places are underworked right now. With their spare time, they can help out in branding and digital outreach, which has become immensely important today.

At this time, a leader’s expectation from the employees is that they remain positive and spread no false rumours. If employees can do this, it will be a great help for the boss

Reskill, upskill

This goes without saying. Learning is the common expectation managers have from their employees at this time. However, it is also true that employees may not be in the right frame of mind to start learning right now. Burdened with the uncertainty of the future and anxiety regarding job security, health and personal commitments at home, employees may argue that this is not the best time for them to focus on learning.

Even then, employees have to push themselves. After all, it is a way of staying engaged and preparing for the future once work resumes as normal.

At the same time, there are also a few sectors where everybody in the organisation’s core team is busy, simply trying to keep the business running. It cannot get any more proactive than this. However, the others can probably give the above points a thought. It may help ease the burden on an already overburdened boss.