Let’s face it: our communication patterns have changed since the first quarter of 2020. Particularly in the business-to-business sector, the pandemic – and its accompanying restrictions – has disrupted many of the ways we have been accustomed to building relationships. Here at the L M Thomas Group, we had to rebuild significant parts of our sales process starting in March 2020. 

What disruptions have you seen? What have been your solutions?

Let's look at 10 pandemic disruptions to communication and 5 approaches to resolve those disruptions.

Let’s look at some of the disruptions we have seen:

In a year defined by hardships and uncertainty, constructive working communication is as important as ever. It can be the backbone in fostering and maintaining morale, keeping production at a necessary pace, and preserving a positive workplace culture. With so much to do and worry about, “checking in” with staff may not be high on the list of a leader’s priorities right now, but it is imperative to keeping the ship afloat. At LM Thomas Group, we regularly help organizations conceive and sustain the practice of communication for the good of the entire company. Given the current climate, we have put together a quick list of easy tips to keep your workplace communicating, collaborating, and achieving.

“We and Us.”

In the final year of my rugby playing career, my team’s head coach was sacked after the second week of a twenty-week season. While an 0-2 start was inauspicious, it was not the death of our postseason aspirations – especially given those losses were at the hands of the two best opponents in the competition.

Why did the organization’s executives can the coach in the infancy of our campaign?

SportsCenter presenters love to use the phrase: “The coach has lost the locker room.”  It usually describes an irreparable breakdown in the trust players have in their coach. This coach destroyed our confidence in him.

He accomplished this with a catchphrase. Any time the team faced adversity – in preseason, in practices, in games – his message was, “Boys, you just got to want it more.”

It takes courage to lead, especially when you get to lead other people.

Most people tend to not leave their emotions out of the work they do.

Sure, there are tasks or job roles where objectivity is desirable and achievable. However, assuming that everyone has the ability or even should lock up their feelings in order to focus on getting work done is a recipe for disaster.

Have you ever been a member of a group, working towards a common goal, yet the same issue hindered progress because no one wanted to say anything to the person contributing to the problem to avoid hurting that person’s feelings?

You might have heard the phrase, “everyone is a leader because everyone has influence”. Keep that in mind no matter who you are or what you do. You are a leader.

Too often, leaders can allow fear to drive interactions with others. Have you been in situations where you decided not to provide feedback for fear that the person on the receiving end would think one of the following things:

• You are being too harsh.
• Why are you so critical of what I do?
• You think you are so much better than me, that you want to tell me what to do?
• Did you want to be the supervisor?
• I am not the only one you should be concerned about...and the list could go on!

In her book, Dare to Lead,  Brené Brown shares these two incredible statements: