Page 189 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

176B RE-ENGAGE

about impending layoffs. Keep the team informed, and
keep meeting with team members one-on-one to clarify
roles and expectations. Ask how they are feeling and re-
spond to their questions.
: Refocus the team on its mission, which may have changed
based on economic and market conditions and retooling
of internal processes. Eliminate work that may no longer
be necessary or critical.
: Emphasize the setting and achievement of smaller, shorter-term
team goals.
: Recognize and reward the achievement of team goals as soon
as they happen. Don’t overlook the need to give special
recognition to team members who are making dispropor-
tionate contributions.
: Plan team off-site meetings or inexpensive team-building activi-
ties. Consider starting new team customs, such has “pizza
Thursdays” or brown-bag book reviews that contribute
to team morale and capability.
: Challenge the team to consider a broader range of strate-
gies for meeting customer needs, creating new revenue
sources, and cutting costs.
: Go to bat for your team with more senior leaders, especially
with regard to training and resources.
: Reassess team members’ talents in the light of changing
priorities.
: Rethink team composition, and add or remove staff where
appropriate. Implement new proactive “guerilla recruit-
ing” tactics if you haven’t already, especially those in-
volving social networking.
: If team members have been laid off, focus the team on ways
to take up the slack, eliminate work that is not critical, or
reinvent the way the work gets done.
: Communicate emphatically how much you value the talents and
capabilities of remaining team members.