From Resentment to Co-operation Through Courageous Conversations
The situation
I was asked by the CEO to help him manage the transition back into the workplace of employees who had been on furlough during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The employees who had stayed on at work were exhausted from six months of working relentlessly to secure funding to keep the organisation afloat. Many of the employees who had been furloughed had expressed resentment that they hadn’t been asked to stay on and help.
The CEO felt that the potential for damaging conflict was high and was anxious about creating the right conditions to successfully bring the two groups of employees back together.
Determining the Challenge, Identifying Strengths
I worked with employees to find out:
What they were hoping for the team going forward
How they had experienced the last six months and how they were feeling now
What would help them, and the team make the transition back into the workplace
Deciding the Changes Needed
The two half-day conversations took place over Zoom and were robust, rigorous and productive.
The team were able to:
➝ talk together about their hopes going forward,
➝ discuss how they would manage the transition back into normal working
➝ identify the strengths they could build on and how they would handle challenges going forwards
➝ work through conflict constructively
Delivering the Action Plan
The team agreed how they needed to behave to ensure that they were able to work together as effectively as possible going forward.
Over the next 2 months I coached the CEO as he facilitated the team to put into place the agreements and behaviours they had identified.
Several months later the CEO told me that the team are much better at listening to each other, working through their differences of opinion and are working much more effectively together.
There are still challenges along the way, but the team now have the confidence, tools and skills to have conversations where they balance collaboration and constructive challenge.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you so very much for the work that you have done with us over the last few weeks. I have really enjoyed working with you, and having you guide us through what was inevitably going to be a challenging process has been invaluable. Thankyou Liz, I really cannot tell you how much your input has made a difference.”