3-Step reboarding process to optimize post-pandemic performance

In part 1 of this 3-part series, I discussed with Rick Bowers, TTI Success Insights President, why it is vital that you reboard your team to improve post-pandemic performance ().

In part 2, I covered my personal story of how I went through a significant emotional event (cancer diagnosis and cure) and how that changed me ().

Today, I will share the 3-step reboarding process that you can use with each of your team members. This process will help you optimize each team member’s performance and your organization’s overall performance moving forward.

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Step 1: Process Launch Meeting

The first step of the process is to have a process launch meeting to provide an overview of this reboarding process with your team. Share with your team the reason behind why you’re doing this—to optimize individual and organization post-pandemic performance.

Out of that meeting, the leader will email each team member the reboarding questionnaire (). Finally, the leader will schedule time to meet individually with each team member to go over their questionnaire.

Step 2: Meet one-on-one with each team member

In your one-on-one meetings, the first thing you will do is go through their completed questionnaire. Dig into each question by asking why they answered it in the way that they did.

Next, go over their past behavioral science assessment results (if you have them) and their post-pandemic results (we encourage you to have each team member retake the assessment for better comparison). Notice any changes or shifts in their DISC graph or Driving Forces.

As I discussed in part 2, my resourceful driving force increased in intensity due to my cancer diagnosis. This finding led to ample dialogue with my team around that shift and what I can change to address it and maximize my performance.

Make sure to document any action plans that arise from your conversation and take note of any takeaways that you’ll use to update their development plan, which is the next step.

Step 3: Update each team member’s development plan

By going through the questionnaire, you will inevitably uncover a handful of development priorities that will help enhance each team member’s professional and personal life. Pick the top two or three development priorities that will have the most significant impact.

Finally, put specific action plans with due dates around each of those development priorities to ensure they take steps to improve and optimize their performance.

This process is simple yet powerful in that you are proactive in becoming aware of the changes your team experienced from the pandemic and putting a plan in place to address those changes.

Now I want to share a few additional steps I would heavily recommend after going through the reboarding process:

[Bonus] Step 4: Go through a Team Development Exercise

While working individually with each team member to discuss how the pandemic impacted them will bring immense value, getting the entire team together will reap even more significant dividends.

Use this as an opportunity to reconnect and share how the pandemic has changed each individual and the team, collectively. This will lead to candid conversations around how your team can move forward to enable a higher level of performance.

We use a simple Team Development Exercise called Build the Team to Achieve Your Dream as a guide (click here to download). It’s a process you can complete independently and will result in some of the most honest conversations you’ve had with your team.

[Bonus] Step 5: Realign your team around your strategic vision

Have your team go through your 3-year strategic vision and see if it should be updated and improved for this post-pandemic world.

If you don’t have a strategic vision, set a 3-year vision of where you want your organization, objectively (financials) and subjectively (differentiation, culture), to be with input from your team.

[Bonus] Step 6: Update your 3-year talent plan

Your talent plan should contain the skill-set voids and talent needs to achieve your 3-year strategic vision. It will also reveal your current talent weaknesses and the high potentials you want to retain.

Talent planning is the process of proactively resolving the people issues that limit growth to achieve record top and bottom-line results. We will be creating more content in the future around how to do steps 5 and 6 most effectively.

Recap of the reboarding process

The three steps to reboarding your team to optimize post-pandemic performance are:

1. Process launch meeting to give an overview of the process and distribute the questionnaire ()
2. Have a one-on-one with each team member to discuss the questionnaire and behavioral science assessments (pre and post-pandemic results)
3. Update each team member’s development plan to enhance their professional and personal life

As a leader, it’s your responsibility to uncover how the pandemic and other significant emotional events have impacted you and your team and to address those changes proactively.

Use this process to define the changes your company can make to optimize the post-pandemic performance for yourself, your direct reports, and ultimately your organization.

Or, as we like to say, Build the Team to Achieve your Team®.