Former Disney University leader speaks to chamber

Pete Blank, former Disney University leader and now training manager at the Jefferson County Personnel Board, spoke about how to have effective remote teams during the COVID-19 pandemic during a virtual Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce event on Aug. 11.

Blank, who was a sportscaster at CBS 42 in the 1990s, spent years in high-level positions at Disney, including as leader of Disney University, and now works for the county’s personnel board. He is also a published author.

Blank gave the Chamber attendees seven keys to having effective teams.

First, Blank said teams need to be open and authentic. Working in government, Blank said it isn’t natural to work from home, but many teams have made that transition with the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. With employees wanting to know the latest state of their business, what the future may hold and what is expected of them, now is the time for leaders to share more, not less, Blank said.

“If you wait until you have all of the information to share, you’ll be waiting a long time,” Blank said.

Second, Blank said it is vital to create a virtual water cooler, using the correct tools. Those tools can be Zoom, Slack, Google Hangout and others, but it is important to have a space for employees to engage with one another and talk, and about more than just work, he said. Water cooler conversations are often a way for employees to build rapport with one another and talk about sports, politics, the news of the day, and now, those conversations can take place via digital applications.

“You have to have something,” Blank said.

Third, Blank said it’s important to establish the “rules of engagement,” meaning employees need to know what is expected of them. People cannot be expected to be working 24/7, he said, and employees need to know what is and is not expected during this time.

Related to that, Blank’s fourth point to listeners was to manage your energy.

“You need to know when your energy level is,” Blank said.

As much as possible, employees need to be able to work whenever they have the most energy, whenever that may be. Employers and business leaders should seek to be more flexible, he said.

“We need to be a lot more flexible with this whole new work style,” Blank said.

Where an employee works in their home has a lot to do with their energy, Blank said, sharing a story of someone who found his energy constantly zapped when he was working from his bedroom.

Fifth, Blank said priorities must be set, and distractions must be avoided. Asking the crowd what their biggest distractions were, with answers including spouses working from home, children, a wandering mind and others, Blank said if it is a distraction for leaders, it’s a distraction for their employees as well.

Blank also encouraged leaders to not forget to have one-on-one conversations with their employees, and not necessarily about work, but also about home and other issues that may come up. Those conversations, he said, allow for people to say things they may not say in large meetings.

Lastly, Blank said it’s crucial to offer encouragement, support and compassion, and encouraged the crowd to think of one person they could help this week.