Relief and support in times of Covid-19

The current situation of the corona pandemic is characterised by irritation, uncertainty, nervousness and anxiety. This exceptional situation may cause employees to perceive the following in others and in themselves:
– Contradictory demands
– High emotionality
– Insecurities and fears
– Existential worries
– Self-fulfilling prophecies
– Thinking Traps
– Group dynamics driven by individual stress
– And seemingly irrational behaviour

Furthermore, in our experience, working from home can also increase the potential for stress.
– Childcare is becoming an all-day care
– Role conflicts: private or professional role
– Balancing the emotions, your own and those of others
– Dealing with different expectations and needs
– Escalation and overreactions, which one feels sorry for afterwards

In order to be able to focus again for a first moment and to find strategies for dealing with emotions, we offer relief telephone calls. Experienced coaches are available to help relieve stressful situations and gain new perspectives during the conversation. The hotline is available at short notice, appointments are possible between 7.00 and 20.00 hours in English, German or French.
After an initial conversation in which the stressful situation is described and initial reflection takes place, the implementation and effect are discussed in two follow-up telephone calls. The total time required is between 1.5 and 2 hours.

The offer is aimed at companies that want to support their employees as well as at individuals who have an acute need. Due to the current situation, we offer special conditions, which we would be pleased to explain to you personally.

The benefits
For the first acute moment, a conversation can make the following possible for the individual:
– Psychic relief
– Constructive handling of the situation
– Strengthening resilience
– Change of perspective
– Resource activation
– Relationships are established
– Focus on the essential
– Sensible and helpful separation between working time and private life
– Optimism and a positive look ahead 

Our coaches are very experienced in dealing with emotionally challenging situations and, as they are internationally active, they are experienced in telephone and web-based coaching.

Home-Office 101

Funding opportunities for companies based in Germany: The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) provides funding for our consulting services in the area of organisational development and cooperation. For small and medium-sized companies affected by Corona, even 100% of the consulting costs are covered up to a maximum of € 4,000. You can find more information  here.

Impulse lecture and room for questions (web session)

We offer concrete assistance for employees and managers to create good cooperation at a distance and to deal with personal changes.
60 minutes of input and answers to individual questions via chat and video, including handout. We would be happy to send you an overview of the contents and you can choose the focus.

Teams up to a maximum of 12 people: Interactive Online Session
Team set-up: agreement of individually selected focal points on availability, communication, feedback, conflicts, transparency, social contact and reflection of the team process. (2 hours incl. short break)

Our colleague Renate Brand has been working with virtual teams and training formats for years. She is happy to pass on this expertise to keep us working and connected during the crisis.

Coaching for individual resilience

Resilience generally describes the ability to be both stable and capable of action despite turbulent and critical situations. This ability can be specifically strengthened and developed. In order to pursue a holistic approach, we generally consider three levels of resilience: that of employees, managers and the organisation. In individual resilience coaching, however, the focus is on the resilience factors of employees and managers.

Resilience factors at the employee level
As personal resilience factors, the following aspects are relevant:

• Emotional stability and situation acceptance
• Optimism and confidence in the future
• Solution orientation
• Ability to shape and responsibility
• Cooperativeness and action control
• Activity
• Sociability

Resilience factors at the management level
Both the informal and formal management levels have a formative influence on the organisation. In addition to the personal resilience factors, it is important that managers also have an overview of the overall organization. On the one hand internally, through vigilance, attention and communication, and on the other hand externally, through awareness of the company’s environment and market opportunities.
The resilience factors of the management level lie particularly in the following skills:

• Agility: Creating an atmosphere in which challenging goals are set and positive dynamics can develop
• Vigilance and networked thinking: for the impact of (un-) foreseen events, both positive and negative
• Ambiguity: being able to bear the simultaneity of contradictions
• Courage: Making decisions without having all the information at hand
• Ability to improvise: to make do with existing resources and at the same time develop new ones
• Creation of meaning: through traceability, reliability, identification possibilities and the creation of a framework for the self-efficacy of all
• Balance: between the necessary agility and reflection
• Trust: through clear, true and consistent communication and listening skills as well as transparency across all hierarchical boundaries

Coaching
In coaching for individual resilience, personal resilience factors are strengthened as needed. This is done with methods of systemic coaching, among others. The coaching can take place by telephone or web-based with video transmission.