It’s only been a few months since the first case of COVID-19 was reported here in Sweden, but for many, it feels like half a lifetime ago. Just like in most countries, Swedish businesses are asking their employees to work from home and remote working has quickly become the new norm.
At our company Mentimeter, which is a Stockholm-based scaleup making interactive presentation software, we’re well set up to run our business from home and the transition has been smooth. Our team is working just as hard from their kitchen tables as they would be in the office, and I’ve been impressed by the incredible morale and positivity every single employee has shown over these past few weeks, despite the unsettling new circumstances unfolding around us.
In fact, speaking to fellow business leaders around me, this seems to be the standard at many Swedish companies, and while proud of their teams, they actually don’t seem too surprised about how well they’re managing in this regard.
In Sweden, we have a long tradition of flat hierarchies and horizontal organizational structures, and in a way, you could imagine this would lend itself terribly to remote working. If there is no clear hierarchy and few levels of reporting then why would staff do anything at all when their colleagues are no longer looking, and they can just put their feet up to watch Netflix all day?
I’d argue that it works the opposite way, and that many startups could benefit from embracing new patterns of working to maintain staff morale and motivation in this new and uncertain landscape, brought about by the pandemic. Trust, collaboration and transparency are fundamental Swedish values which are deeply ingrained in our population, but also in the way we work. If combined with clear company values, I’m of the strong opinion that these three things can do wonders for the overall performance of your team and that they become even more important in times of crisis.
I’m not asking anyone to turn their organization completely on its head and give everyone matching titles at a time when many companies, and startups in particular, are facing big challenges and ever-changing priorities.
But I would like to share five tips, rooted in Swedish-style team setups, which can be instantly rolled out by any startup founder or CEO, and are certain to have a positive impact on your staff during this difficult time.
- Make management available, visible and approachable – However busy they are, it is now more important than ever that senior members of the team make themselves available and visible to other employees. It is uncommon to see a Swedish CEO work behind closed doors and shut away from their organisations but instead, open communication between team members of all levels of seniority is encouraged. When stress and pressure becomes evident within upper management, and day-to-day contact is reduced due to the lack of a physical office environment, many people will shy away from addressing problems or ‘disturbing’ more senior colleagues with concerns that they would normally feel comfortable speaking up about. This can have catastrophic effects on your business and it is crucial that you take the time to listen to the mood of your company and employees, while actively reassuring the team through regular and transparent updates on the situation and your business’ performance.
- Encourage your team to design their working hours around day-to-day needs – I would always encourage CEOs to allow flexible work hours, because people live very different lives and have very different needs. I am a strong believer in trusting employees to carry out the work they’ve been hired to do, without putting any restrictions on how or where they get the job done. The COVID-19 crisis has changed many people’s lives entirely, separating them from friends and family, creating new worries and anxieties and preventing their kids from going to school, making for an even greater need for flexibility. Whether to cater for an afternoon run to sooth stresses, an extra hour of sleep in the morning to make up for insomnia, a midday video call with an older relative, or spending a few hours on teacher duty during homeschooling, you should encourage your employees to design their working hours after their new and likely rapidly changing needs.
- Stop managersplaining on video calls – Creating a working democracy and making sure all voices are heard is important in all meeting contexts, but this becomes extra crucial in a remote environment. As a manager or CEO it can be tempting to step into a team video meeting with an ambition to structure and take the lead, but doing this will hinder interactivity and shutdown conversations. Let your frontline staff set the agenda for calls, minimise your own chatter and sit back and listen. Video calls with big groups tend to get dominated by two or three people, and for more introverted or shy team members it can be particularly hard to make their voice heard. As a leader, it is your job to empower all team members with a view to share to speak up and unmute.
- Drop the micromanaging – Now is the time to put your full trust in your employees. With distributed teams it can feel tempting to keep nudging staff for rigorous updates to ensure everyone’s on track, but this can place unnecessary strains on top of an already pressured situation. Regular check-ins on projects and tasks are important but these should be for the benefit of everyone involved and not act as a surveillance tool. Empower your team to suggest to you how often and in what way they wish to update you. You probably hired them because they can do something you can’t, so be humble about this. By trusting in their ability and encouraging self-responsibility you will also breed dedication, and this is something that has potential to make or break a business in times of crisis.
- Don’t make it all about work – Traditionally, all Swedish companies would have at least one ‘fika break’ per day, where the team steps away from their desk to enjoy a coffee and a sweet treat together while discussing non-work related matters. This is still a tradition enjoyed by many companies but for startups like our own a ‘fika’ break can also take the shape of team yoga, a game of Foosball, or going for a walk. It doesn’t matter what the activity is but taking a break together to do non-work related things is important for productivity and helps bring the team together. Now that our office lives look pretty much the same day-to-day and we are all experiencing a severe lack of social interaction it becomes really important not to give up on these extra curricular activities but to find creative ways to replicate them virtually. You’ll quickly find that catching up with colleagues over a coffee break, having lunch together or even exercising together can be easily done over video call, and it will make a huge difference to keeping up the team spirit and wellbeing of your team.