Many leaders are finding themselves faced with the task of managing a 100% remote team for the first time. The challenge is amplified by the fact that remote work is new to most employees, and even getting together for an in-person meeting once in a while is impossible.

Unfortunately, business challenges and process defects don’t disappear because there’s a pandemic. In many cases, they just get worse. That’s why we’ve been getting questions about how to operate tried and true improvement tools in this new reality.

This post offers some things to think about if you are going to hold a kaizen event with a remote workforce. It assumes that you have some experience with kaizen events, if not, we recommend you start with this article.

Here are 10 special considerations for remote kaizen events.

Are you struggling to drive a continuous improvement culture in your organization?

Do you need to revive a CI culture that has lost momentum? 

If you’re like so many others, it can be difficult to know which questions to ask, and where to start.

Jeff Roussel, chief revenue officer of KaiNexus and a true continuous improvement leader and believer, recently joined Allison Greco, founder of Continuous Improvement International, to talk about how you can build a continuous improvement culture. To watch a full recap, click here.

Because so many of our clients and employees are current or former healthcare professionals, a lot of our attention has been on the impact of COVID-19 on our nation’s hospitals. Hospitals belong to the class of organizations called High Reliability Organizations or HROs. (Nuclear energy facilities, airlines, and certain military operations are also on that list.)

When something goes wrong at an HRO, the consequences can be disastrous. Fortunately, they succeed far more often than they fail. That’s because they practice five driving principles that inform every decision and permeate the culture.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve noticed the application of these principles outside of organizations usually considered HROs. Individuals and organizations are applying them, probably unknowingly, to deal with an extraordinary situation and uncertain times.

As we continue to practice social distancing every day, there might be some things that slip your mind when running essential errands. Greg Jacobson, MD has been sharing a lot of great tips and information about dealing with and protecting yourself from the Covid-19 pandemic. He was recently quoted in this article that has a lot of tips from Greg and other medical professionals:

Social Distancing Mistakes That Put You At Risk For Coronavirus

On the topic of masks, Greg said:

"...according to ER doctor Greg Jacobson, MD, "People don't wear a mask and, when they do, they don't take it off correctly. It's a mistake to take off their mask from the front and then touch the 'contaminated' area." To remove a mask safely, "wash your hands (with soap and hot water for 20 seconds), remove the mask from loops, and put it in a safe place and then wash your hands again," says Jacobson." 

The coronavirus pandemic that is currently gripping the globe is unlike any other crisis that we have seen. It will directly impact the lives of those who are exposed and their families. It will indirectly change the lives of everyone else as events are canceled, schools and businesses close, and everyone is responsible for social distancing.

Although it won't be very easy amid concerns for the wellbeing of yourself and your loved ones, how you handle this situation is of profound significance to your employees and other business associates who count on your leadership.

While this crisis is utterly unique, the principles of leadership during times of uncertainty apply, nonetheless. Below are some ways you can be a source of reassurance and support for your team.

The number of people who work from home has been growing at a steady pace for years. Widespread high-speed internet access and a ton of new productivity applications made it possible for 4.7 million people, 3.4 percent of the U.S. population, to work from home this February.

Of course, everything has changed since then.

Now, remote work isn’t a trend or a perk, it’s an imperative for all non-essential workers for the foreseeable future. All over the world, people are finding ways to adjust in-person processes to this new reality.

If daily huddle or stand up meetings were part of your team’s routine, we have some advice on how to transition them to virtual video conferences. Many of these tips will apply to any type of meeting you do via video.

As leaders, managers, and employees alike all grapple with the sudden disruption in routine work and life, go easy on yourself. It is going to take some time to adapt. Processes and tools that worked well in the first few months of the year will need to be adjusted, particularly if your team is now all working from home.

Gemba Walks are the perfect example. (If you are unfamiliar with Gemba walks, here’s a good introduction.) If your employees are working from home and practicing physical distancing, you can’t possibly go to the place where work is done.

But Gemba walks are such a valuable improvement tool, and if ever there was a time for identifying ways to make processes run better, this is it. Although the situation isn’t necessarily ideal, there are ways to adapt the Gemba walking technique and still enjoy the many benefits. Here are a few tips.

Before I start this post on how to keep a workforce that has suddenly moved to a remote model due to the coronavirus engaged and motivated, I want to begin by acknowledging those workers who can't do their job from home.

Without the hospital staff, grocery store workers, pharmacists, first responders, delivery drivers, utility workers, assisted living employees, and countless others in our communities, this situation would be even worse than it is.

We see you. We thank you.

Thank you to everyone that joined our second webinar on Ask Docs Anything About COVID-19. We were joined again by Dr. Greg Jacobson and Dr. Mason Mileur to answer all your questions about COVID-19. If you missed our first webinar, be sure to check out our recap.

You can read all the answers to the questions from this webinar below, after the video.

How likely will this be widespread in the US? What's the best way to protect ourselves?

It’s already spread. There’s no stopping it at this point. BUT, what we can do is wear masks when we go out in public for only essential things.

Is it safe to work from home at an outdoor patio? Is the mask necessary to wear?

It is 100% safe to work from home at an outdoor patio. Since you’re home, there’s no real value in wearing a mask, as long as you’re staying away from other people that don’t reside in the home.

The more conversations I have with people, the more it is apparent that everyone doesn’t yet understand that they need to wear a mask when they go into a public place (grocery, gas station, etc).

Here is a great short explanation and here is a great long explanation. 

In order for everyone to be on the same page about universal-public-mask wearing, we need to change the meaning, the intention, the belief, and ultimately the relationship we have with wearing masks. 

To do this let’s change the meaning of wearing a mask. Let's start making mask-wearing a...

• sign of respect for others as well as a sign of politeness

• signal to everyone that you are taking this seriously

• way to decrease the spread of Covid when you are asymptomatic

• reminder (and a barrier) to not touch your face when you are outside so you don't get infected