working from home and social distancing …….

Business and Government are attempting to accommodate daily to the changing scenarios presented by the Corona virus pandemic. Here in Australia there have been decisions around making workplaces and individuals safer by requesting that people work from home. Remote work policies are hardly anything new for Government departments or corporations. There are however large groups of Managers and employees who have been office based all of their working lives. They have no experience of working from home or supervising their staff remotely.  This crisis and the level and number of personnel being asked to work at home is unprecedented in Australia. Both employees and Managers have challenges in this new zone of work and life. The issue with the recent Virus is that we are all responding on a weekly if not daily basis. For many working from home is novel. It comes with benefits and a new way of operating. For others it is a scary scenario with its unexpected but developing new challenges.

People are faced with working away from their predictable office with its predictable characters and supports and small encouragements. It also involves not having the presence or direction of a Manager. In remote work scenarios employee’s and leaders are separated physically from each other. For leaders and employees alike it will require adjustment and patience.

Some of the positives for leaders and employees alike .

• There can be a flexibility about working off site or from home. It can potentially make people more productive. It will be different from the daily rituals associated with travelling and working in an office.People can have the liberty of developing their own work routines and comforts and styles of working. Providing they are completing their daily work tasks and know what is expected of them in any one work day or week. Potentially, it can lead to not only minimising getting the flu, but may also be a less stressful environment to work in. I think with a clear understanding of what needs to be done and how employees must operate with clients professionally, it follows that employees can then have liberties. They have the freedom to take responsibility and be mature. How will they meet their targets ? How will they achieve outcomes and deal with clients? Leaders and employees can professionally work that out together. Otherwise the rest is up to people working remotely from their home office. What they wear, when they make coffee, what music they play,when they go to the fridge or play with the dog.

Some of the challenges

• Not everybody wants to work at home. Working in this arena of employee assistance as Inwit Consulting does we often recognise that the workplace, not home, is the safe place where people want to be. Sadly some people don’t look forward to going home. Home is to be endured and can be full of arguments and strife with partners or children. Partners can be reluctant or even refuse to cooperate with a spouse making a work space, even if it means maintaining an income. They can be disruptive or even sabotage in extreme cases.

  • People are social creatures and they will want to talk and tell stories and they will want to to ensure that things are as normal as possible. There is a personal dynamic in the workplace that can’t be easily duplicated on line . Face to face interaction is different from contact via a mobile phone or screen to screen contact. Team members can keep in touch once remote work practice is introduced. Keeping a focus on work related conversations will be a element of the adjustment that needs to take place that every one will need to practice. Of course team members can phone one another in the course of a work day or a week.

  • There are non verbal messages as well as verbal messages conveyed face to face that are not communicated as clearly via screen or talking on a mobile. With text or email there can be the challenge of words expressed in a civil or humourous fashion being translated without satire or good humour.

  • Managers will be concerned that employees won’t work as hard or be on task If they are working at home. There is considerable evidence that this is not the case and that generally people work just as hard at home as they did in the workplace.I have referred to the Hong Kong experience in recent weeks. Productivity once working from home was introduced, declined, mostly for the first 2-3 weeks. But this was due to acclimatisation of new circumstances and calibration of work based systems with home systems. Also limited space in family housing in Hong Kong.

  • Having said that, employees are likely to struggle with the reduced access to leaders. Some employees are very sure of their role and ability to work independently.They enjoy being left alone. Other workers need the affirmation or presence of their leaders or even of other team members. It is clear that leaders need to adapt and navigate to their work groups and the idiosyncracies of individuals with it. Perhaps they also need to make sure there are screen to screen seminars or regular phone conferences to keep people in touch with each other.

  • It is easy for those working remotely to feel isolated or alone especially those who are outgoing. They will enjoy the company and interactions of their team and interactions with Leaders.

  • Over time and depending on how long the social distancing is in place for, people can become more removed from their connection with a company or a team. This again presents a challenge to leaders who need to recognise the need for not only being available, but showing initiative to ensure the network and fabric of a team is maintained.

What managers can do

• Checking in with employees should be on a daily basis. You and the team need to have clear goals and expectations. Whatever has happened in the work place you need to be clear about what the expectations are in the home space. That should likely be at predictable times. The “touching base” is not always about what is being achieved and goals or targets. It’s also about being available. Leadership in a time of crisis is about being available and being predictable in a time of unpredictability. The most important feature is that the calls are on a regular basis and are seen as one of the more important functions of your leadership. Their own leadership also needs to be aware of when they make calls so the leader is free to do their job. Don’t harass people all the time. Leave them to be responsible.

• Be aware that if you do contact people at home their children or partner might be within earshot. It’s not just about confidentiality of work material. A manager may need to tick some one off. The Manager should be careful not to do that in the vicinity of a child or a family member. That will have a gravity that goes beyond a routine enquiry or even a seemingly gentle nudge to pull ones socks up.

• Emails alone are not the only way of communicating. Video conferencing or face time or just keeping in touch via the phone will be important. If its a complicated matter or a bit sensitive or requires some decorum, speak on the phone first or use video. Then you might want to follow up with a email.

• Managers will need to be available from the perspective of employee’s being able to access them. Employees need to know when and how best to contact Managers from their home sites.

• The intention to contact and the predictable contact times for all team members on a daily basis needs to be shared so that everybody knows that all team members will be treated the same and that some will not be contacted less frequently than others. There will of course be instances where a team member may want to be, or it is needful that they be contacted more frequently.

Some other challenges for leaders

• The corona virus brings many worries and anxieties into the work place. It brings the unpredictable future, it brings fear of sickness, and it has already brought financial dislocation and in some cases disaster. These are difficult times and people look to leadership. Its time for acknowledging the anxieties and worries that go with this time and their life circumstances. Also to have a pair of ears that listen empathically and with an ear to understanding if they are coping well or not so well at this point in time. As a leader you are not there to have your concerns aired nor to think aloud about the next potential disaster. Lift your load. Take responsibility. Be mature. Take your leadership seriously. You are not there to share your pessimism. You are there for this time in history to remind employees that we will get through this and we will demonstrate that we don’t give up and we will get to the other side of this as a team. The biggest contagion at this time is anxiety and fear. Not the Corona virus. Always remember, that the Employee Assistance service operates 24/7 Inwit Consulting.

For employee’s

• Be responsible is perhaps the big statement to be made in working from home. On the other hand it can be a really enjoyable experience for some. One of the hard bits may be that once we have passed through these current times, it might be very difficult going back to working out of an office.

• You won’t get to see your colleagues as much as before except through video link or what’s app or face time. It will be somewhat unreal for a time. Keep in touch with your colleagues and if its work time keep the conversation chiefly on work subjects.

• Let family and friends know that you're at work. These are the times you work and normally you wouldn't have them visiting you in your workplace for a half an hour and a cup of tea. If you do want to take the liberty while working home and grab a coffee with a friend or family member, be aware that you will need to make that time up. So best to let friends and family know early in the piece. Also let friends and family know that working from home is not an opportunity for a holiday. It’s work. Your employer has boundaries and expectations. Your workmates also have expectations of you completing tasks within time periods.

• The first weeks are going to be difficult and there will be lots of adjustments to the new regime of work from home and communicating with work colleagues. Initailly it will be adjustments for family and friends but also digital tweaking or incompatible technical systems or NBN issues.

• Duplicate what you would do in the office and communicate your moves. If you're going to lunch or dropping a family member off at an appointment, share that with you leader or your team as you would normally do at work in the office. Be clear about what you're working on and communicate that with colleagues . In an office or work station you can have an easy conversation about finishing a project or some work assignment. Working from home you will need to be more deliberate about communicating what you’re doing and when a task is finally done . What used to be done with an announcement and a casual heads up at work a work station needs a bit more now by way of email or text.

Some observations from Hong Kong...

This weekend and indeed the work week has understandably brought about a range of conversations in the Inwit Zone about our ongoing response to the impact of the Corona Virus on companies. I want to make some comments about Hong Kong where we have done business for some years.

Australia faces 3 issues as of Mid march 2020. One of which is the ASX crash which began from last week in January.The escalating of morbidity rates, and a small number of deaths. The third issue is the intensification of Government directives and warnings concerning public events, gatherings and quarantines with more interventions likely to continue.

As Hong Kong Adminsitrative region was one of the first to be hit with the Corona Virus, we have an experience of the the Virus which sits roughly 5-6 weeks ahead of Australia. As a reference point for us here, the home isolation and quarantine in Hong Kong lasted for about 3 weeks from the 8th February. Schools are still closed. With a culture that takes education very seriously that in itself is a very strong indicator as to how serious Hong Kong is about quarantining the community. Face masks and hygiene are taken very seriously by Hong Kong citizens. If someone in a family got sick the whole family was quarantined further..

Australian society is very different from Hong Kong in politics and cultural attitudes. People in Hong Kong and China are used to doing as they are told. Conforming to regulations particularly quarantine or visiting or shopping restrictions in Hong Kong is imposed from above. Comparatively, in Australia, you are not used to complying easily. Australian’s will find regulations imposed during this episode that more difficult.

Hong Kong worker’s in finance and banking and Insurance and Human Resources and commercial sectors were sent home to work for a period of about 3-4 weeks.

We just want to make the following comments from a Hong Kong perspective.

• In Hong Kong employees were sent home when it was apparent the Virus was not abating. Managers observe that people are not as productive in the first 2-3 weeks and there is little activity or at least reduced activity. This is the other aspect to out-of-office work. Decrease in productivity resulted from the simple fact that people are not used to it or the regime of working at home has lots of distractions initially and IT was not fast or efficient enough or required tweaking. It’s not in the majority of cases turning work at home into holiday. It is simply the adjustment to new circumstances and accommodation at home which might include 3 generations and the usual electronic and digital issues that accompany working in the digital space. There are also functions in modern workspaces that still require manual attention such as some legal documentation or mortgage or banking documentation. Some older people will still continue to use snail mail.

• Speaking with Australian friends working in similar arenas in Adelaide and Sydney, the biggest concern right at the moment appears to be their financial security e.g. “I’m glad we were savers and have cash in the bank”. And the view that people are thankful they have a job which pays a regular salary. The Bourse and market crashes cannot be underestimated in relation to the angst of employees and the possible trajectories of consumer confidence. You have also just gone through devastating bushfires.

• A large fear speaking to younger Australians  is that they will actually get the virus. The balance of probability appears to be around 70-80% will get it in some form. That it will be similar to a bad cold with flu symptoms and then gets better. Given its mortality rate, the vast majority of people will survive and get on with life.  

• An important strategy recommended by Multi-national companies in Hong Kong allows people to work from home and its also very socially responsible during this time. This has a medium long-term effect in that it affirms employee engagement and loyalty because employees need to know they were looked after during the crisis and that the company cared enough to ensure their health. 

• Another note that needs detailing is that customer loyalty was bruised in the initial stages of the virus quarantine period as they were not interested in getting a call. They prefered face to face contact or just didn’t return calls. 

Bottom line. Working from home due to Corona quarantine can be managed. It requires leadership who are available and flexible and supportive. Those leaders should be aware of individuals and their responses to being self-directive or dependent on instruction. Some people work better at home than others. There may be home circumstances that are not conducive to working easily at home.

In the workplace and in branches where people can’t work from home, people will work in office accommodation regularly deep cleaned. Some matters emerge. One of them was the idiosyncratic response to hygiene that some people will have. Some people need to wipe a doorknob 27 times. Some are very sensitive to people coughing, or keeping a distance, or snorting away, or blowing their nose. They get agitated. Others could not care less. This has caused causes issues in offices or sites. In Hong Kong there are even specific cultural offences. For example, conducting seminars without a face mask offended Chinese. Or not wearing masks in public transport is considered very bad form.

Mid-March..the low hum of anxiety

It is now mid-March 2020, here in Australia the impact of the Corona virus has not quite taken hold in comparison with what appears to be taking place in places such as France and Italy. Their social legislation would be, at other times in western Europe, considered draconian. Restricting assembly and even walks in the park according to some sources.  The UK is not much different with their recent laws implemented around social and community and sport gatherings. .

These are difficult times with the massive nosedive that has taken place in relation to the ASX over the past 3 weeks since the end of February and the impact this makes on people’s savings or investments or strategies around housing and getting on with life. Added to that is the fear of potential job instability as well as potential income. Schools are very likely to be closed which will add additional issues to families. Certainly a worrying season in particular for some and not to be taken flippantly.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has all sorts of implications for you, your colleagues, family and friends on a daily basis.

I think it’s reasonable to say that the actions we are seeing being taken around the world by governments, businesses and communities in general are unprecedented in our lifetimes and need to be acclimatised to. Few, if any of us here in Australia, will have experienced anything like this, and so it is understandable that many are naturally feeling anxious or confused. My observation is that there is a low hum of anxiety.

Within companies we partner with, some good and calm leadership has been shown. Leadership at a senior level have made themselves available. This cannot be underestimated in times like this.  People & Culture teams or Human Resources, whatever such departments call themselves , have been active in relation to the strategies that need to be put into place, especially as the responsive doctrines of isolation and containment are asserted. Its in this space where you see leadership exercised.

The positive situation with companies in Australia seems to be learning from the experience of other companies overseas and predicting the course of government and business response. We have the advantage of a window of time Perhaps 2-3 weeks a month ago its now measured in days. Things change and adapt on a daily basis, which is rapid beyond our usual considered Australian pace. But this is there new reality. The issues that impact working families, such as childcare and schools and of an older cohort with ageing parents or of disabled family members will further need to be addressed as the Corona episode continues. 

Many companies have implemented intranet which can be accessed from home and provides reliable information. Employees need to be reassured that Management are constantly monitoring this fast-moving situation and are evolving policies and organisational response to the virus at all unit or team levels. While the rule book and procedures are not thrown away, flexibility and new ways of dealing with work will be put in place. Working from home scenarios, or having emergency B teams will likely be put in place. It’s pretty obvious that larger companies have been rehearsing and working on worse case scenarios for months. But even then, the implementation is impacted by daily variables. Insightful questions from staff or conundrums that evolve are all useful to be dealt with and translated in to working solutions.

The bottom line with leadership at times like this, from Inwit’s perspective, has to be the primary one of taking all necessary steps to protect the health and well-being of employees and secondly to take measures that will ensure the survivability of the company so that people will have jobs to return to when this epidemic has passed.

Management and employees need to do everything they can to keep their business running in the best way possible given the unsettling circumstances. If companies have had business continuity plans in place, they are in a good position to survive. 

For some industries such as mining, construction, demolition, and logistics, remote working from home is obviously not possible. Common sense will have to be applied to those sites. The same rules apply however of ensuring the safety and health of those who work for them and followed by the continuity and survivability of their company or product.

The next season of time will see people breaking away from office-based work. This means some of us may well be doing our jobs in a different way for a while if we cannot access our normal place of work. From my own experience living and working in during the 9/11 attacks with the SARS virus back in the early 2000’s, and the GFC I never lose sight of the fact that what we are currently dealing with, will pass. We just don’t know when, but it will.

Finally, a lot will unfold over the next few weeks. It may well bring a degree of disruption into our lives, we may be doing our jobs in different ways for a while, but with the right attitude and even keeping a sense of humour, we will get through this.

Living with the unpredictable

This is mid March and there are daily reminders of the measures that people are required to attend to in response to the Corona Virus. These measures are activated by the direction of state or federal government. It is likely that more legislation and restrictions and directives will begin to take place over the next weeks. Already social distancing is taking place, albeit on a ad hoc basis. Community gatherings, large social gatherings and sporting events are already cancelled or restricted to specific numbers of people. Flights curtailed until the end of May. Schools and child care centres will likely be shut down in the next weeks. Universities have already gone on line in the delivery of lectures and tutorials. The next phase will be work places and employees working from home wherever that is possible . Or if it is not possible because of the manualised nature of the work in for example, mining ,construction, energy and shipping what will happen there ? Australia is at a certain advantage in this global pandemic.  As foreign governments make advances at containing or make mistakes, so Australia can learn from those actions. We have had perhaps time windows of 3-5 weeks to prepare from what is happening overseas.

We also know the the virus has and is going to disrupt family and community life and work life.  It will also unsettle our liberal democratic ways of operating with community and government. We have never liked the idea of government direction or interference or exercising any monitoring over our family lives or wider activities. And  we will need to keep a short leash on government in relation to taking back freedoms voluntarily surrendered in this season of crisis. 

I have been speaking to work groups recently and it’s only in verbalising aloud you really find yourself realising how much Australians have gone through since December 2019. Christmas and New year were about the devastation of bushfires in the Eastern states and South  Australia. These matters were reported globally and were not simply some local annual event. This was followed by the rising tide of information about the corona virus.  It moved from China and Hong Kong. The epidemic spread. The massive downward spiral of  the ASX late in February and its emerging devastating impact on business and employment and many Australians superannuation or share portfolios. . And  then the first deaths here in Australia. And the infection rate increasing. There is, in talking with people, only what I can describe as, a low hum of suppressed anxiety.

Again, I want to emphasise that the unpredictable ,has entered our lives. The unpredictable disrupts our internal sense of what stabilises and what anchors us in a positive way to life. A positive way of life is mediated through our usual social activities and interactions with friends and families and workmates. We have a belief about the world and the way things operate and the way people act in it. In Australia ,we have got used to life operating in all facets of life in predictable ways. This series of events since December have disrupted that predictability.

In our normal lives we have a range of  predictables. Predictable interactions in the workplace. Predictable issues and travels and rituals in any one day that we would hardly notice unless someone pointed them out to us. We also have other constants that are on the home front or in the work arena. They will be about school drop offs or friendships or how we waste time or use time. All civilised stuff usually. They will also be about goals and future plans . They could be short to medium goals. They could be long term financial goals or family or goals. Plans to get married or have children or retirement or beginning a career goals. All these are disrupted in some way. Simple plans locally of gatherings with family or friends. All predicated on the basis of a life that can be planned and in some shape or way will happen without disruption and we can participate in these without thinking too much..

So much is thrown by this virus and its attendant damage to the commercial world we have thrived in. Our families future health. Our own health and mortality. Our freedom to live as we want to. And the liberty to travel and congregate and work in a predictable venue with our predictable work mates. And then the issues of my income, my savings, my investments, my future goals and in this country our freedoms to make decisions independent of government interference or prescriptions from a range of bureaucrats or medicos. These people would not normally be able to exercise control over our lives. This is the unpredictable and even the unwanted but necessary, entering into our lives.

We can have intelligent or considered views of what is next and time frames. But we don’t know precisely. We can but have a reasonable guess. We may speculate. But there is likely to be more disruption in family life to come. There will be issues with child care and physical absence if work from home becomes mandatory.

Again the question might be raised for how long?  Answer, a season. 

But assuredly not forever. 

So what needs to happen to return to some predictability . There are numerous answers . The first is that this is a season of time and the one predictable is that things will get increasingly annoying if not painful before they get better. Having got to the other side of what must be endured , things will then become better. Two people, yesterday, spontaneously said it was like the end of the world. I think they were joking. But I think there was an edge to their tone. This is not the end of the world or of history. We have been here before, many times if you read history. And we will emerge as we have before.The virus will be contained . The stock markets will return to their pre Corona levels and life will go on. The time frame of this season is as yet unknown and it does no good if we speculate.

I will say this however. The intensity of an episode and any crisis can usually be sustained for about 6-8 weeks. House flies buzz about for 3 days and then die of exhaustion or plain boredom. The media is a bit like a house fly. People actually get exhausted with the level of intensity of any critical episode. Also as humans we have limits. It cannot be sustained. It does not mean that in this case the virus goes away. But there is sociological moving on, as well as a psychological one.

Practically, allow me to suggest some possible ways ahead.

• As we have said previously in the Practical mental health tips Blog on the Inwit site. Never make major decisions or choices or part with cash or your income or relationships in a time of crisis. Step away. Wait for a safe time. In this case wait patiently for the storm to pass. As it will.

• • . What is it you cannot change, and what do you need to adapt to in this season” The changes to your world or mine may be upsetting or maddening but very little can be done by way of protest. Realistically they are not other peoples intention or fault to annoy or disrupt my life. Everybody, is is in the same boat.

  • If you have children ,show leadership that reflects an optimism and be available to them. Children require you to be available and to provide a security and safe space for them to talk. Children pick up anxiety and worry and anger from parents. Choose at this time to behave sensibly and choose language that is not doom and gloom.

  • The human temptation in critical times can be to turn in on yourself and shut out the world around you. Within family you might have people who look to you for some sense of hope or continuity. At some ironic level there is a dominant narrative out there from Government. Self isolate. I would suggest that while all of us have friends and family of some description ,now is the time to do the opposite of self isolation , safely. Pick up your mobile, talk to people. Text people. Be predictable in being available, be deliberate about reaching out to people in your immediate family or friendship group. If we are restricted from meeting then we can certainly do this via the phone or text services or what’s app or Skype.

  • Create some predictable norms in your life that work in the new reality which is likely to be much more family or home based. There will be more time for talking (or learning to have conversations again) of walking reading listening to podcasts or even creating your own gardens or reconnecting with family. Im hearing that a museums are creating virtual tours on line along with art galleries and orchestras. Don’t withdraw. Reach out to people.Be the person that gives in these circumstances, not takes.

Working and living with the Corona Virus...

Its been a punishing week on the Australian ASX and in the last week of February 2020 sellers spurred on by the panic and threat of coronavirus have wiped some $210 billion in value from the Australian stock market. The American S&P 500 endured a 10% correction in the same week. This was historical in that it was the worst trading week in terms of loss since the GFC of 2007-08. The Australian Government has activated the cautionary stages of its pandemic plan. Effectively Australia has initiated plans and strategies around the logistics and treatment necessary to respond if the virus hits pandemic proportions. That translates to hospitals being on alert, preparing the medical workforce , stockpiling medical goods and establishing emergency respiratory clinics. The world markets have been similarly battered and its a twin tsunami which rumbles the world economy and it involves an emergent and strange new virus with characteristics described as wily and intelligent. At a local level it threatens a breakdown in supply chains and travel across multiple sectors and manpower disruption. It also conflates with the fact that this invisible and unknown virus provokes market panic and destabilises Australian commerce. Tax receipts and business alike will be impacted. The Australian Reserve bank is likely to keep interests at low levels or even move them lower if markets continue to fall. In short it will make things unpredictable for a season.

One expert, a Professor MacKay (Uni of Queensland) who is quoted by the Australian PM has said that every one is likely to contract coronavirus, but for most, it will be no worse than a bad cold. Historically minimisation of threat or impact is what Governments do. As yet the morbidity or mortality rate of the virus is still being measured, albeit using Chinese figures, which have to date provoked skepticism.

The virus it seems will eventually spread though the Southern Hemisphere. Some earlier reports suggested at a slower rate and it may be more containable. On the other hand it may not be containable. There are at this stage unknowns about this virus. I will not add to any speculations or fear mongering except to repeat the some alerts that the Australian governments are asking people to practice basic health and hygiene .

In each office

- hand sanitation/washing stations

- protective masks

- frequent disinfection of public surfaces

- prompt removal of rubbish & waste

- flexible working hours & arrangements

- HR support for any employees reporting symptoms of sickness 

If anyone has already travelled to China or other geographies in Europe where there is high levels of infection in the previous 14 days or plans to travel , Companies would prefer that returning individuals work from home for the 2 weeks following ,and consult a Doctor (especially, they add ,if you are experiencing symptoms of sickness). 

If the virus intensifies

Cancel non-essential travel to China and emerging geographies that might have reported an escalation of cases . Avoid crowded gatherings. The UK government is already seriously considering restrictions on large gatherings over 5000 people. 
Reduce non-essential travel on public transport particularly during peak travel hours
You may have to wear a mask when crowds are unavoidable, when around sick people, or if feeling unwell yourself.
Practice hand hygiene (soap and water for 20 seconds when possible, otherwise alcohol hand rub) and avoid touching your mouth, nose and eyes
Consider delaying elective surgery or non-urgent appointments in government hospitals for at least 14 days. Allowing crowded government hospitals to concentrate their resources on sick patients and infection control.

Dealing with the unpredictable and large and loud events of history. An Inwit perspective.

• Our lives are intensified and made louder by 24 hour media and social medias impact. This is definitely a social media pandemic as well. It’s also a first in that public health is just ahead, and on top of the agenda rather than economic drivers at Government levels. It will be difficult to avoid hourly news about this Virus. In itself that can become very wearing. Colleagues in Hong Kong report Corona Virus fatigue. People who haven’t even got it are sick of hearing about it. As far as the plethora of social media comments are concerned, any event like this will have multiple commentators from the informed and reasonable to the deliberately vexatious and sociopathic.

• Rumours and extravagances will be in abundance. Conspiracy theories , political themes , pseudo scientists, religious and secular doomsayers and new age scammers will come out of hibernation for the Corona virus. Anxiety is contagious. The more anxious people are and the more overwhelmed by information , the more vulnerable they can become to the strongest words expressed. Minimise your reading to official government blogs or sites. Choose one or two reliable Government resources for information and don’t google search — that’s our advise.

• When Inwit works following a critical incident its very important that we stick with our strategies and goals. One thing we need to do is to concentrate on what we can do and what we are skilled to do in a critical episode. We assert our competences. We stand aside when others need to work in their own areas of competency. By translation a major episode like this needs to be responded to similarly. Just get on with your job or life task with a focus. Don’t be distracted by the loud stories or ‘what if’s “ or fears that others will talk about. Anxious people think aloud. One portion of showing leadership in crisis and modelling resilience requires filtering unsubstantiated stories and narratives that lead no where and dealing with the escalation of anxieties.

• Despite the current media interest in these Viral matters, it will also pass. Even the media has limits as to how long they can flog a story. Inwit were also involved in debriefing during the Australian bushfires. These matters appear for a season and then move on. That does not discount the awfulness of lives lost . But as a rule every crisis has its own time frames . There are two ways at looking at time frames in these matters. If you ask an experienced farmer when a drought will end ? The answer is usually - “when it rains” . We like to work in time frames and put things in boxes as it makes things easy to predict and plan for. Like a drought finishing. It will happen, sooner or later. But like the drought ,when the rain comes.

• Having said that, Inwits’ observation in 100’s of critical episodes over decades is that intense human episodes can be sustained at heightened pitch for 6-8 weeks. We may well have a series of cycles. Beyond that respite or divergence or reorientation takes place in some form. In this case it does not mean that the virus will go away after 6 weeks, but it will mean that people and the society around it will have made adjustments and adaptions and not be as focussed or consumed. If I’m addressing critical response group or a board I will start by saying something like ‘we are now almost 72 hours in, or we are at the middle of Week 2’ and I will have a sense where on the ’map’ the crisis and the people involved in it are. Inwit will use sets of developed criteria to assess, but at base line, the 6 - 8 weeks time frame has been a very practical way of navigating crisis.

Where Inwit Consulting can respond with companies in the Employee assistance space.

If the virus intensifies in Australia, there will undoubtedly be measures by Companies that will be initiated. These plans are already in place around minimising exposure as well.  At this time of writing we have had conversations in Hong Kong. It is where the virus has been experienced at first hand. There has been a practice to isolate individuals from offices on home leave for 2 weeks at the height of the first China outbreak. If Australia follows similar practice in the near future then similar strategies will likely be duplicated. Initially it can be seen as an imposed respite from work. However, the concerns are that considerable anxiety and isolation takes place in that quarantine space along with the experience of being effectively under something that is obliquely like house arrest. Also this might include children excluded from school after shutdown or partners whose work is also in suspension or who have been asked to work part time. The novelty wears thin very quickly.  Our own role as an Employee Assistance I suggest might be the following.

• The Corona virus is unsettling and patience and deliberate leadership is necessary. As with any crisis or transition through difficult seasons you should never bend to the pessimism or voiced anxiety around you as it crushes the spirit of people. Similarly ,don’t give over to false hope or unsubstantiated or wishful thinking.

• One of the ways ahead is that people know they are part of a community whether it is a work community or a wider community. The employee assistance service recognises its own role in maintaining morale within workplaces in partnership with Management. Unpredictability is part of chaos. Unpredictability breeds uncertainty. Uncertainty in turn creates dislocation and anyone exercising leadership or attempting to assist in a critical episode needs to provide truthful certainty and realistic and calm hope. Keeping in contact with staff and and being available cannot be underestimated.

• Our experience also suggests that when the unpredictable comes some people are just better at coping than others.

• Inwit Employee assistance can be called by participating Company staff at 1300 077 862 a service on the phone will both listen and attempt to resource or support employees under the quarantine circumstances.

• Family tensions and patience is potentially tried  during stressful times so the Employee assistance service is available in that zone as well.

• Times and seasons like this can also be trying. Getting cold or a flu is a time which has to be put up with and can be quite depressing in its own way. Getting flu symptoms and recovering in the context of the Corona Virus might add different emotional and psychological dimensions. We are there to support.