Author: Ken

So, you’re a “non-essential employee” and you’re working from home during the Covid-19 lockdown. I read yesterday that there are about 1 billion of us joining the remote worker ranks this month.

Today marks Day 7 of working full-time from home for me and my wife Ann. We’ve figured this out fairly well over many years of doing this. We have two separate rooms with multiple screens set up and doors that close so we can focus without interruption and avoid those awkward “your camera’s on?” moments. We’ve also rediscovered the old-school joy of spontaneously reaching out with a personal phone call to people we care about.

I have written a lot on virtual meetings. One of my blog’s most popular posts on this topic is from 2011 and I published a book about leading over distance in 2013. All this to say you’ve probably been building your virtual muscles for awhile, but the stakes are higher now.

I’m not a prophet, but my take is that after the quarantines lift we will not return to business as usual. That’s good. World culture just made a huge mental shift. Remote work is here to stay. It’s our job as leaders to master the art and science of agile meetings and remote management.

My colleague Erik Butz and I have been doing virtual meetings for more than fifteen years together. He has honed the craft. His team recently published a curated list of “Tips for Working From Home and Virtual Meetings” that I’m sharing with his blessing. It has great stuff on mindset, schedule, getting the tech right, being human while getting work done, and several links to helpful resources.

A few highlights I found helpful this week:

1. Simulate your daily work routine. Get up at the same time as normal, start working at the same time as normal. Take a “normal” lunch break. Have an end time. Let your family know what you’re planning for “office hours” and when you can take breaks to engage with them.
   
2. Set up a good work space. Although it’s tempting to do work from your bed, in front of the TV or on the kitchen table, it’s best to establish your workspace in a specific and consistent spot in your home. This allows that space to signal “work” to your brain. It will also help your job to not intrude into the lives of other household members and ideally it will be a space where you can focus and concentrate.
   
3. Keep engaged with your co-workers. Working from home is a discipline that won’t come naturally to all. Replace hallway conversations by initiating text or chat messages to check in with people. Especially if you are feeling disconnected – proactively reach out to your team leader or teammates. Set up team video check-ins to give updates on work progress and also video call break times when everyone can connect informally, catch up, and pray for one another.
   
4. Get some fresh air. Get outside for breaks and take a walk around your neighborhood if you can. Spending time outside and seeing some nature lowers stress, helps you relax and clears you mind. 
   
5. Get some focused work done. Take advantage of the opportunity to work on tasks that require deeper thinking, planning and prayer. This could include writing, developing plans and proposals or creating content that requires extended periods of undistracted time.

Download the doc for more tips. May God bless you and establish the work of your hands.

Need some ideas or digital tools on how to keep ministering when you can’t gather or get face to face?

The global spread of COVID-19 has required businesses, institutions, ministries and churches to change the way we operate. Many conferences, trainings, meetings, worship services, Bible studies, and other in-person gatherings are being canceled. Some churches have stopped meeting face to face altogether. Many ministries are no longer sending missionaries onto campuses and some entire nations have gone into lockdown. 

But the mission to which God has called us hasn’t changed. Jesus Christ offers life and peace in a world consumed with fear and death. This is a God-ordained moment to step up and help the church pivot in the mindset and traditional approaches to face to face ministry.

Here is a short, curated list of proven ways that digital tools are being used to minister across distance without being face to face.

Pray. Pivot. Get practical.

Welcome to 2020! It’s a milestone for many of our organizations and ministries in terms of vision and faith goals. For the global digital community in which I serve, we are halfway into a bold and realistic two-year Vision Map. At the start of each new year, I take a few days to reflect, pray and seek God. As 2020 gets underway, here are three prayers the Lord has laid on my heart.

For Love. Love is my word for the year. I was down to two options and brought them before my prayer partners. They asked, “Do we get a vote?” “Sure.” “It’s love,” came their response. They affirmed my desire to grow in listening and selfless “agape.” I want to grow in more deeply loving God and loving people. 

For Spiritual Vitality. The fullness of the Holy Spirit brings joy and lightness to life that is otherwise inexplicable. Earlier this month our executive team met for our annual five-day offsite retreat. We spent the first 36 hours in prayer, listening to the Lord, opening the Scriptures using lectio divina, and creating space for Jesus. I returned from that week so deeply refreshed and filled with hope. My heart is making melody to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19). I want to taste this fruit daily in 2020.

After God’s Own Heart. I’m currently studying King David’s life and many of the psalms he wrote. When we walk among the heroes of Scripture we seek to imitate their faith. Here is what I am praying for you, and for myself, in this new year: 

“Lord, make us leaders after Your own heart. May we serve with integrity of heart and skillful hands, inquire of You before every big decision, worship and sing with passion, repent when confronted with our own sin, and fast and pray to draw near to You. As You did with your servant David, Lord, please give us victory wherever we go. Use us to fulfill Your purposes in our generation.”