The Honeycomb Support Kit 

Struggling to keep focused and connected while under stress?

That’s entirely expected - our brains work differently when under stress and we’re dealing with an unprecedented situation where everyone is affected. So we’ve created a support kit to help you help your people through this. 

Our Honeycomb support kit is designed to help people develop the critical habits that will be vital in the coming days and months. Habits that may just save your business and their sanity. 

We have a few options depending on the level of support you need.

Helping your people to keep your business going during this crisis while protecting their well being.

If only it was as simple as all of us figuring out how to work remotely - all those lovely articles about separate work spaces and ‘dressing for the office’ would be of some use.

But even if people are used to remote working, they are likely doing so under new parameters - they may have kids at home that they need to educate, a partner also trying to do work in a small space, anxiety about finances, health, friends and family.

If they are managers, they have the added responsibility of looking after their team who is dealing with all the above, while they’re dealing with it too. Without support, something has to give.

So, first, we’re hosting a couple of community workshops - one for managers and one for non-managers -  focusing on what we all need to get through this: 

Rapid Prioritisation, Empathy, Connection

We’ll go beyond buzzwords to the most important actions people can take to help them be a great manager or colleague virtually, while still getting their critical work done. 

We’ve also put together a set of packages to coach people in the behaviours that will help them through this, giving them structure and community while everything is changing around them. With our Honeycomb support kit we can help you give them that much-needed stability. 

We’ll help people answer the questions they’re asking themselves: How do I stay productive? How do I manage my team remotely? How do I know how much communicating is enough but not too much?

“While chief executives and their coterie are in emergency board meetings, drafting crisis directives, or reassuring panic-stricken investors, coronavirus is testing underrated, overburdened, oft-maligned middle managers as never before”

FT, March 2020

• Low cost topic-by-topic deep dives for an hour - three workshops a week on different topics, with follow ups every two weeks

• Access to our Honeycomb app for people to get feedback on their behaviours, alongside supporting learning content to help them make the change

• A moderated community slack group where people can support each other and get expert advice 

• Topic-specific virtual workshops for as many people in your organisation that need them - these will be designed to delight people, strengthen connections and deliver positive measurable impact 

• Our Honeycomb app where people can keep track of their key behaviours and see how they are doing, along with supporting content to help them whenever they need it

• A dedicated chat channel where people can ask for advice or just have a place to share - our place or yours

• A coach who will nudge, support, and check in with people regularly  

• For groups experiencing similar issues, e.g. a team spread across various parts of the business. They’ll tackle difficult issues quickly, in a supportive and cost effective way for real, lasting behaviour change.

• 4-6 weeks of virtual guided, bespoke coaching for groups of up to 8 people facing issues such as remote management, quickly adapting a product or supporting well being 

• 60 mins of group coaching per week focused on developing the key behaviours to enable people to adapt to their new situation

• Our Honeycomb app where people can keep track of their key behaviours and see how they are doing, along with supporting content to help them whenever they need it

• A dedicated chat channel where people can get advice or just have a place to share

• A coach who will nudge, support, and check in with people regularly

Prioritising under pressure: 

No one is at their best when under very high pressure; your cognitive abilities - your memory and attention are affected - and not in a good way.

Some people feel disorganised and confused. Others can feel hyper focused but this often comes at the expense of the big picture. Either way your brain just isn’t working as effectively as normal.

In the current situation, you won’t be able to get everything done that you want to, so good prioritisation is key.

You will need to make hard choices about where to focus your time and energy.

Prioritising under pressure will help people keep focused on the most important things when stress is mounting, many things are competing for their attention and nothing is certain.

Making good decisions:

It’s hard making good decisions at the best of times but when we are stressed it’s even more difficult.

We are more likely to act on our biases, ignore critical information and rush into what we feel is the least risky.

Unfortunately this is also the time when making the right decision could make all the difference and the wrong decision can have a long lasting negative impact.

Instead learn how to pause and find the ‘good’ information that will lead to the best decision.

Making good decisions helps people distil information quickly, discern the credible from the fake and do it all at pace!

Engaged listening:

High levels of stress can derail even the most effective and empathetic communicator.

Under pressure we become distracted, our body language changes, we’re more likely to misunderstand others or not hear them at all.

When everyone is under pressure at once, this effect becomes magnified, causing communication channels to break down and an already highly difficult situation to get worse.

By paying attention to people you can prevent this, ensuring they feel listened to and comfortable coming to you to share information and concerns.

Engaged listening will help you understand the unexpected challenges people are facing and give them the support they need to manage these situations.

Communicating key information

In tough times how leaders and managers communicate with each other and their teams is essential to being able to ride out the storm.  A lack of information will lead to lead to high levels of anxiety and low productivity so one of the most important things for leaders to do in difficult times is communicate - consistently and clearly.

While a little stress is good for performance, high stress reduces our ability to process and remember, so your ability to understand and communicate new information is going to be impacted. 

Communicating essential information is for anyone, but particularly managers and leaders, who need to share key information clearly and consistently with their peers and reports in a way that is both engaging and easily understood.

Everyday inclusive management

We try to treat everyone fairly but sometimes our instincts can be off.

There’s a danger we may be making assumptions or have preconceived ideas that we aren't even aware of.

To get the most from everyone in all circumstances and ensure a collaborative, trusting, high performing culture, it’s essential that you treat each person equally, making sure that you are provide the same amount of support and opportunity to everyone.

Everyday inclusive management will help you overcome your unconscious biases and also help your team get the support from you they may not have known they needed. 

Encouraging dissent

When the stakes are high and the pressure mounts it can be even harder to be the voice of dissent but it’s even more important.  

In order to ensure people speak up you need to help people feel safe to share their concerns and opinions.

How? By taking their views seriously, acting when they are valid, and giving reasoned explanations when, for whatever reason, they cannot be acted on.

Encouraging dissent will help leaders and managers behave in a way that encourages people to give feedback and share difficult ideas, even (especially) when it’s something that hurts to hear.