It’s important to stay connected with your team as a leader, especially in uncertain times.

Leaders have the tendency to become less supportive of their team in times of stress, when in fact they need to be even more supportive. When people are under stress, they have some interesting human behaviors and many people, instead of seeking others to help them out or to support them, will have a tendency to retreat into themselves.

Leaders might find themselves not interacting with their team, either in a production environment or in an online environment if your team is working remotely. That is of course the opposite of what needs to happen because it’s in times of stress and uncertainty your team needs even more support from you.

Here are a few tips on how you can stay connected with your team to provide them with the level of support they need.

First, check-in with your team as a group and in one-on-ones on a frequent basis. Daily might be the right frequency depending on the cadence or the momentum of your workflow. It might be you only need to do it every couple of days, but your team needs to hear from you both as a group and also one-on-one check-ins to make sure they’re doing okay in the new reality and with some of the stresses that are out there.

The second tip is to keep your team informed, about factual information you know with certainty as opposed to the uncertain information that we have a lot of right now, especially until things become more clear. Anything you can tell them about factual information in terms of your company, its customers, its suppliers, things that might impact their work hours or their shifts or their assignments, anything like that, your team will cherish you if you’re able to keep them in the loop on those aspects of communication.

The third tip is to remember you have to ask for their ideas, their insights, and their recommendations. Remember, your team is a treasure trove of information and anytime you’re trying to solve problems on your own, you’re going to limit yourself to your own perspectives and experience. Even if you are seasoned, experienced, and knowledgeable, asking your team for their insights and recommendations can be helpful not only in getting them engaged in the work that has to happen, but they might surprise you with some creative information and options you hadn’t considered.

By staying connected with your team, you can keep them as motivated as possible even during challenging times and you can be more effective as a leader.