Leading in the Covid-19 crisis

Your resource portal for managing and leading your team through the Coronavirus crisis

The information below is kept under continuous review and is updated often, please be sure to check the COVID-19: guidance for employers and businesses from the Government for the latest updates.

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The Covid-19 crisis is the ultimate test of management and leadership - a sudden, dramatic, life-threatening upheaval, where all aspects of our day-to-day lives remain uncertain. In this extraordinarily stressful time, the value of great management and leadership is being demonstrated every day.

On this go-to portal, you’ll find the latest updates from CMI, alongside easy-to-find information to help you to manage yourself and your teams through uncertainty.

For our members, ManagementDirect is rich in content with tools, guidance and checklists to support workplace activity. Our Career Development Hub includes some great tools to boost your professional capabilities.

End Point Assessment partners will also find relative information on our EPA web page and in the CMI Partner Portal.

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Upcoming Events

Take a look and register for our upcoming events, whether you're looking to brush up on your digital skills or find out more about what CMI can offer.
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Knowledge Bank

CMI's management and leadership knowledge bank provides information and guidance for a range of topics

The Better Managers Manual
Managing the New Normal

The #BetterManagers Manual offers a practical guide to navigating the impacts of Covid-19 for managers and leaders.

To support managers and leaders as they navigate this crisis - both for themselves and for those they manage - we have assembled a set of tried-and-tested tools and resources brought together through five key themes: flexible working; crisis management; mental health and wellbeing; the new employment landscape; and good governance.

CMI Better Managers Briefing

Each week our CEO, Ann Francke OBE, will be delivering a CMI #BetterManagers Briefing webinar to support the CMI family and wider community. These will be an opportunity to share challenges and advice as we embark on this challenging journey together. View the current and past videos here.

Next briefing: Friday 18 Sept 13:15 GMT

Get involved on social media using #BetterManagers

Live Feed: 18 September Briefing

Watch previous briefing

Tools, templates and top tips

We know that the current situation will bring new challenges to everyone, which is why we are highlighting the positive steps that we can all take to navigate and adapt through these changes. Take a look at the resources.

We want to ensure that you have the information you need to manage your teams and organisation during these challenging times, let us know.

Content Requests

What topics and content would you find useful to hear more about from CMI?

Request Advice and Guidance

Flexibility

Organisations have accepted the principle of flexible working for some time, but the Covid-19 crisis has accelerated its adoption and necessity for many. This rapid take-up has been an intensive stress-test for management practices that will needed if flexible working becomes more normalised post Coronavirus. But how can you implement flexible working for your team and work as effectively as you can by yourself?

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Managing your team
5 tips for improving as a manager of a disributed team

The unwritten rules of managing a distributed team
Ann Francke

Ann's Blog
The paradox of the pandemic

A growing resilience on technology through the Covid-19 crisis may bring us closer together as colleagues
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Longer Reads
How to have courageous conversations in the age of Zoom

Interrupting and being impatient are deadly sins. Above all, try to listen with intent
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Ann's Blog
Networking in the age of digital

As capital assets collapse, intangible assets grow. This could be the best time to enrich your personal and professional networks...

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Adapting to change
The five main causes of conflict in disrupted teams

..and how to manage them. Top tips
Person making a video call on a laptop

Adapting to change
How not to let furloughed team members feel left behind

Schedule meeting time and don't cut it short, have regular check-ins - they don't need to be one-to-ones
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Leading your team
Team-soothing techniques from the frontline

We asked CMI members how they're adapting their style to engage with their teams
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Adapting to change
How to stop burnout in it's tracks

We spoke to one ex-Google employee for their tips on avoiding burnout
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Personal Development
How I gained Chartered Status in lockdown

Rachel decided to persue Chartered Manager status, then the UK was locked down. Here's her story
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Managing and leading
The volunteering revolution: How managers are stepping up

Meet the two UK-based businesses leading the way to help charitable initiatives get volunteers through the door
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Parents and Flexible Working
Top tips for working from home with children

We spoke to CMI's head of policy, Daisy Hooper, for her top tips for working from home with children
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Working From Home
Working from home, some health and safety need-to-knows

Working from home brings its challenges, take a look at our health and safety tips
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Being your best self
Making homeworking work for you and your team

Home or remote working can be highly productive, here are our tips for adapting
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Leading and managing remotely
How to manage a virtual team

Step up your management style to ensure business continuity with our top tips
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Leading and managing remotely
What if you can’t work from home?

We’ve spoken to our members, managers and business leaders about the unique pressures being faced

Crisis Management

While the Coronavirus pandemic is an unusual crisis with distinct characteristics, there are proven crisis management techniques that, if followed, will enable managers to step-up, support their organisation and team, and turn the crisis into a development opportunity to be ready and better equipped for the future.

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Leadership lessons
"Lead, follow, or get out of the way"

Leadership lessons from the Practitioner's Guide by the British Army
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Adapting to change
Why your team may be struggling - and how to respond

A leadership deep dive into how to empathise, motivate and continue to challenge teams during difficult times
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Crisis Management
Leadership 111: Managing at the frontline of Covid-19

Here's the inside story from one of the UK's largest independant health and social care providers
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Adapting to change
How to make crisis-led change stick

How do you bring your employees along with you during turbulent times? Here are some toold for effective change management
Ann Francke OBE

Ann's Blog
"Take a stand, be anti-racist, be vocal"

Elysia Mccaffrey is in charge of the UK Government's diversity efforts, here how she's driving diversity
Ann Francke OBE

Ann's Blog
Managing the frontline: inside the food industry

We got insight into managing key workers, communities and communication from two senior leaders in the industry
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Crisis Management
Managing supply chain disruption in the wake of Covid-19

The Coronavirus and lockdown will have long-term impacts on our supply chains, here's how to manage around them
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Adapting to change
What CMI Members feel about returning to work

Here are the fundamental principles for managing risk
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Case Study
How I managed when one of my team contracted Covid-19

If yourself or one of your team gets Covid-19, how do you keep on track?
Lynn Stephens from South Devon College

Adapting to change
What skills do teachers need to lead through the crisis?

Lynn Stevens tells us how she recognised the need to step up
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Adapting to change
How are military leaders preparing for the new normal?

CMI talked to three military leaders about the strategies they'll be applying in the weeks and months ahead
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Students
What will be the impact of Covid-19 on graduates?

What are the options for those finishing their studies in the midst of the current crisis?
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Adapting to change
How to juggle work and study in a crisis

One apprentice tells us how she is managing these two commitments during lockdown
Sir Charlie Mayfield

Adapting to change
Learning as leaders: Advice from Sir Charlie Mayfield

Here are just some of the ways leaders need to develop themselves in this crisis
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Case Study
How St.John Ambulance stepped up to the Covid-19 challenge

Here's how the organisation rose up to the urgent challenge
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Adapting to change
"Just because the data's unreliable, doesn't mean you can't make decisions"

How do you lead effectively in uncertain times?
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Adapting to change
How do mentors need to adapt to the crisis?

In a whirlwind of change, mentors may be looked to as a beacon of stability and direction
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Daily Updates
Managing everyday leadership

Each day we are speaking to a manager about how they are tackling the Covid-19 outbreak with their teams, take a look.
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Crisis Management
Crisis management tips for managing your team

Our advice for how to be the best leader in the face of crisis
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Adapting to change
Five techniques for prospering in uncertainty

How can managers adapt and forecast to predict outcomes?
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Managing Change
Crises: turning the worst of times to the best of times

Unlocking motivation is the key to making the best of a bad situation
Ann Franke

Crisis Management
Call it by its name: a crisis

Following the third #BetterManagers briefing, we spoke about crisis management; take a look at our tips
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Leading and managing remotely
5 ways to achieve results from short-staffed teams

What’s the best way to manage when employee numbers are low?

Mental Health & Wellbeing

Managers must quickly learn - and be trained in - a new set of management skills around empathy and emotional intelligence alongside ensuring that they are getting the support they need to build their own resilience.

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Adapting to change
Getting a foot in the door when the doors are all closed

Young professionals are entering a depleted job market - how are they handling the situation?
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Mental Health & Wellbeing
Taking annual leave in the lockdown

Even booking some time off has positive neurological effects, find out why
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Adapting to change
The brain chemistry of crisis

What managers need to know to help employees cope and perform well
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Quiz
Do you understand the triggers of stress, take this quiz

What is stress mainly triggered by? What can help?
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Mental Health & Wellbeing
"For the first time, there is collective agreement"

The Covid crisis may be a watershed for how we view and manage employees' mental health
Ann Francke

Ann's Blog
Why happiness is the key to better business results

Across the UK, many employees have been happier working at home during lockdown. Ann speaks to CMI's president-elect Lord Mark Price
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Working Together
How are care workers looking after their mental health

In this powerful insight, find out how care workers are coping with the stress and mental health challenges
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Adapting to change
Surviving lockdown unscathed

How to keep the peace with family, friends and housemates during lockdown
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Stress Management
A five-point guide for managers in lockdown

We've put together our five-top tips for managing stress during lockdown, take a look
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Being your best self
Managing your mental health during a crisis

Anxiety, stress and isolation are natural responses, we spoke to the UK’s workplace mental health leader for advice
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Finding Opportunity
Use the bad times to prepare for the good times

The current Covid-19 crisis is an opportunity to see things in a new light - find out why
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Managing Change
How does your body language translate in virtual meetings?

While you're reading virtual cues, you'll need to know these tips

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Finding Opportunity
Unleashed! The spirit of volunteering

Meet the volunteers who are stepping up
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Managing Change
How to make plans when everything is changing

How can you plan to be adaptable when the only constant right now is change?
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Being your best self
Personal Development Planning

Managers need to take personal responsibility for renewing and updating their skills, take a look at our checklist
Ann Franke

Ann's Blog
How to stop underselling yourself

Following our Better Managers Briefing with Simon Blake, CEO of MHFA, here are some of their tips for managing your team's mental health

The New Employment Landscape

Many people will find their working and professional circumstances altered, honest and sometimes difficult conversations will need to take place. Managers need to ensure they know how to conduct them and feel supported in doing so.

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Leading the way
Why inclusive leadership matters more than ever

Are we on the brink of a more inclusive world in management? Or will Covid-19 intensify social and racial inequalities?
Gill Wootton

Adapting to change
Empathy: The management attribute that we will all need to develop

Covid-19 has made all managers more aware of the personal circumstances in their teams are working. Here's how one leader found her empathy
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Adapting to change
Job quality, not just quantity

The employment landscape after Covid-19, will it change how we view the quality of people's roles and management practices?
Steve Butler

Managing your team
Is your business inadvertantly ageist?

There are fears that the current pandmic will lead to many redundancies, here's why this group of workers shouldn't be overlooked
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Adapting to change
"Don't force us back into the office"

New studies show that current working practises are a thing of the past - here's how to maintain remote working productivity
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Adapting to change
To get unheard of results, you need unseen before methods

One of the UK's top innovation gurus, Jacqui Murray, on leadership in a crisis
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Adapting to change
The new face-to-face

How are we recreating valuable human interactions through videoconferencing and how can we all still feel connected?
Warehouse

Managing your team
Return to work: the toughest management challenge of our age?

Employee engagement will be the key in the treacherous months ahead...
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Members
What CMI Members feel about returning to work

After the publication of the Government's COVID-19 recovery strategy, here's what our members are saying
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Support and guidance
Redundancy support guide

Your go-to guide for getting back ahead of the game following redundancy
Ann Francke

Ann's Blog
How universities and their students can thrive during Covid-19

UK universites are pulling together, but there are still challenges ahead, here are some top tips from Professor Bob Cryan CBE
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Looking Ahead
A new psychology of work post Coronavirus

How do managers and leaders create a sense of psychological safety for their people?
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Employability
Top tips for successful (virtual) onboarding

How can we translate meaningful interactions to be wholly online?
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Adapting to change
Seven radical new ways we'll gain knowledge in the future

When we asked four pioneering educationalists what the future of learning would look like, we didn't expect these answers...
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Looking ahead
The future of learning is... teachers

We talk future learning with international teacher-guru, Alex Beard
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Personal Development
Linkedin's director shares 5 tips to make your profile stand out

Don't know how to update or build your profile? Janine Chamberlin is here to help
Ann Francke

Managing and leading
The type of leader that builds exceptional talent

What kind of manager are you?
Ann Francke

Ann's Blog
Job-hunting in the Covid-19 crisis

We brought together two of the UK's best search consultants, here's their top tips
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Managing your team
Managers guide to implementing the new job retention scheme

Furloughing, what is it and how are managers implementing the new scheme within their organisations?
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Personal Development
How to maintain your personal development in a crisis

How can you manage your personal development plan virtually?
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Apprenticeships
What about apprentices during Covid-19?

What's the impact of Covid-19 on learning for apprentices and how can we help?
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Managing Change
The great step-up

People are being asked to take on more responsibility, how should managers meet the challenge?
A lady sat working on her laptop in her living room

Personal Development
Self-development tips for furloughed workers

Workers are finding innovative ways to look on the professional bright side, find out how
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Crisis Management
Preserving your organisation's culture through crisis

In an emergency, an organisations values become clear - here's what some top thinkers have to say
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Adapting to Change
Six tips for preparing a remote presentation

Suddenly you're faced with a variety of challenges when presenting, here's how to deal with them all!

The New Good Governance

The first priority for leaders and managers during a crisis is for their organisations to survive. However, looking longer term, this crisis may change forever what is expected of them and teams have of their bosses. Poor decision making during this period will not be quickly forgotten. All of us need to consider whether our skills and behaviours will equip us for ‘the new normal’.

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Leading lessons
Ask yourself: "How do I make my employees feel?"

There is no other management behaviour that matters more to your employees
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Adapting to change
How Covid-19 is making us think differently about risk and resilience

The days of just-in-time and 'lean' thinking may be over, says a noted UK risk expert
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Managing your team
Being a great manager, starts with you

The world needs authentic leadership, here are five skills you need to brush up on
Ann Franke

Ann's Blog
Inclusive leadership: Will Covid-19 alter the momentum?

Ann asked two well-know leaders about the impact that the Covid-19 crisis is having on diversity and inclusion
Ann Franke

Ann's Blog
Lead with love and other lessons in managing across cultures

How do managers lead with cross-cultural sensitivity?
Ann Franke

Ann's Blog
Corporate governance during Covid-19

Following our fourth #BetterManagers briefing, here are five things better boards are doing right now
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Managing Your Team
Covid-19: top sources to keep you informed

Managers are being asked for huge amounts of information, here are some resources to keep you up to date
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Adapting to change
How British businesses are adapting for Covid-19

As the impact of Covid-19 hits, how are businesses diversifying to create a positive impact and retain staff?
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Looking Back
The most successful deputies in history

We take a look back at those who have stepped up in times of need over the years

Share these resources with your friends and colleagues

Now, more than ever, we need managers and leaders to lead by example, share your tips and advice with our online community using #BetterManagers