What We Can Do to Keep Up the Good Work (Webinar Recap)

During a pandemic, every day brings something new.

A new urgency. A new learning. A new need.

We’re all stepping up to answer the challenges presented by this virus. And as leaders of impact and cause-focused businesses, there is extra pressure to keep up the good work and illuminate the way forward.

We recently spoke with community leaders, clients, friends and strangers about the status quo and the road ahead. You can watch our full conversation here.

In this talk we explored critical ideas at this moment in history. New ideas. Risky ideas. New ways of looking at old ideas. And what quickly became clear was that everyone is struggling. That this is something we are all figuring out together, and it demands new ways of thinking. 

We feel that. Right now, every move seems a little uncertain. Every answer a little hazy. But that’s alright. As long as we practice empathy with a community that shares this uncertainty and as long as we keep making strides, we’ll get through this.

All our aggregated COVID-19 thinking, resources and plans of action are currently living in one place. To stay on top of this conversation with us, see upcoming events and share input, bookmark our coronavirus landing page.

Some learnings from our last talk:

Inaction isn’t the answer. We’re inspired by the action everyone is taking, and we’ve made that our clarion call. “Action over worry.” Strides over stalemate. Even when we can’t predict the path in front of us, we can keep walking it.

Practice radical transparency. Your people are people. Don’t let your fears get in the way of that. How can you take good care of them now, in these circumstances? And over-communicate. People are very anxious right now about their jobs and livelihoods. The more structure and communication there is, the better.

Get the machine running. Files. Remote access portals. Video chat software. Slack channels. Project management systems. Coworker phone numbers. Update all teams on who’s responsible for what, how approvals should work and what to be sure to update everyone on along the way. 

Keep up the rituals. People crave stability in times of rapid change. Try to keep the workplace rituals you have going as much as possible. Humans first. Employees second.

We have to be flexible and forgiving with employee schedules. Think beyond what is traditional. Your people may need to work around their kid’s nap schedule or on the weekend. Trust that your team will do what they need to do to get the work done. Everyone knows the show has to go on.

Take a pause. Now is NOT the time for automated messaging. Slow down your cadence and communicate with great feeling, putting context over content. Don’t underestimate the power of honesty, vulnerability and raw communication.

Support other businesses. Do email wrap-ups with resources. Promote businesses on social. Recommend them to people in real life. Be uncompromising in your willingness to help your neighbors.

Push your event thinking. Your event plan is not ever going to get back to what it was and shifting your event to digital may not be the right answer. Before you make any announcements, put yourself in your audience’s shoes and try to reconnect with what you were trying to accomplish with your event in the first place. 

We should all be trying new things. Shed the mindset that everything has to be perfect at a time that is everything but. Authenticity and humanity feel more resonant now than ever before. With our fundraising, our events, our content: experiment.

The conversation is ongoing. We want to learn from you and continue to have the most meaningful discussions possible. Sign up for our newsletter. Let us know what you’re thinking about. What we missed. What leaves you hopeful in all of this. Email heyaimee[at]theblacksheepagency[dot]com with thoughts. We’ll respond.