Mental Health for Managers
Being a people leader requires additional emotional labour on a good day; during a pandemic it is particularly challenging, to say the least.
I was facilitating a webinar today for managers on how to support remote teams and employee wellbeing during a pandemic and I received this question:
"I am feeling pretty stretched myself and struggling to find the emotional bandwidth to offer any additional support to my staff. How can I find "extra" in my well?"
What an important question. It's one that I hope organizations are spending time considering.
My suggestions for managing mental health during this stressful and anxiety-filled time, regardless of whether you are an employee or manager, are to create a routine, take frequent breaks, practice mindfulness & gratitude, eat healthy and move your body.
If you are someone who leads teams, here are some additional ideas:
Create a peer support group with other managers where you can talk about the challenges that you are experiencing. Share ideas and provide moral support to each other.
Consider speaking with your manager about what you are feeling and experiencing. Just as you create space and opportunity for your employees to talk about work and wellbeing, so should YOUR manager.
Make a plan for when you might feel stretched to the limit. Use "If" and "Then" (IF I feel anxious, THEN I will take five deep breaths. IF I start to feel down, THEN I will write down three things that I am grateful for).
Ask for a vacation day, care/sick day if you need it. That’s what they are there for so use them!
Set team agreements that will not only positively impact your employees but also help you to manage your time and energy. An example of this might be an agreement that nobody responds to email outside of office hours or that everyone takes their full lunch break - no working through lunch like you did in the office!
Consider setting “my office door is open” hours when your employees know that they can call or email. The flip side of that is holding time in your calendar when you are unavailable – use that time to go for a walk, listen to music, or make a cup of coffee. Or use the time for a project or report when you need to work uninterrupted.
Ask for help when you need it! This might mean reaching out to a fellow manager, your boss or even speaking frankly with your employees. Employees are drawn to leaders who display authenticity and vulnerability. By telling them that you have challenging moments through all of this, you send them an important message that they don't have to have it all together every moment of every work day either.
Most important of all is this: know that you are a human being having a human experience.
To go back to the question posed to me I would also add this. At this moment in history, when we are experiencing a global health crisis, does anyone need to find anything "extra" in the well? Some days that might be possible. Most days during this temporary time it won't and that is OK.
Be gentle with yourself. You are doing the best that you can.
