The COVID-19 pandemic brings huge challenges to the delivery of health care in Aotearoa, and on those providing leadership across the Health & Disability sector. Leadership during this time will be demanding and stressful, members of your teams may be fearful and anxious, requiring reassurance and facts to understand the complex issue of COVID-19.
This page provides useful information to support leaders in their roles through maintaining their own wellbeing in times of crisis, enabling them to care for the teams they work with. Click the + symbol to expand each section.
Leadership in a crisis
The response to COVID-19 has meant people who may not usually work together – or even know each other – are coming together to tackle complex and urgent challenges. This is a one-page guide from The King's Fund on forming new effective teams in complex everyday work: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/introduction-teaming-covid19
This website provides tools to support leadership in organisations in times of crisis, while preparing for future opportunities: https://www.ccl.org/coronavirus-resources/#crisis
During the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealand implemented graduated, risk-informed national supression measures aimed at disease elimination. This article investigates the impacts of the epidemiology of the first wave of COVID-19 in NZ and response performance measures: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30225-5/fulltext?dgcid=raven_jbs_etoc_email
This prospective patient safety investigation of the NHS in England loooks at how the health care system operates to minimise the likelihood of patients catching coronavirus on acute hospital wards: https://www.hsib.org.uk/investigations-and-reports/covid-19-transmission-in-hospitals-management-of-the-risk/
Understanding and making sense of the world around us has a profound impact on our goals, plans and actions. Humans develop 'cognitive frames' that enable the ability to scan and filter the mass of information encountered every day and identify what is useful and relevant. Practical tools and resources are provided to assist with framing: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/framing-problems-change-what-possible
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, leadership consultants at The King’s Fund have continued to coach and consult with leaders across health and social care. This article includes experiences shared by leaders through the crisis: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/leading-crisis-acknowledging-feelings
This article is based on William Bridges’ model of psychological transition which helps people as they realise that the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear and that we’re in this for the long haul. When the future is uncertain, and it’s difficult to plan even a holiday, this can be tiring, demotivating and team morale may suffer. This article helps people to understand what it means to grapple with change and live with uncertainty: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/maintaining-motivation-uncertain-times
A three-minute video from the King's Fund about how leaders can make decisions in difficult circumstances during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis, including recognising and overcoming 'decision inertia': https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/making-decisions-difficult-circumstances
This article offers guidance to help leaders understand some of the most important things they should be doing in the near future. The advice falls into three broad actions: take care of your people, take care of the future, and take care of key stakeholders: https://www.ccl.org/articles/white-papers/reset-your-organization-for-post-covid-future/
This article outlines five actions that should be taken by health care leaders: put people first, manage operations creatively, attend to teamwork and communication, create outside partnerships, and embrace clear and humble leadership. Read the article here (158KB, pdf).
An experienced coach and consultant who specialises in supporting and developing senior professionals shares emotional responses from experienced senior leaders during COVID-19 in the UK: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/reflections-leading-through-covid-19
This video features Dr Navina Evans, chief executive of the East London NHS Foundation Trust, talking about the importance of nurturing as a leader: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/nurturing-leadership-navina-evans
The King's Fund talks to Prerana Issar, the Chief People Officer for the NHS to ask her why leadership is so important during the COVID-19 crisis. Prerana also discusses important points about leading teams during crisis situations: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/why-leadership-important-covid-prerana-issar
A very brief introduction to teaming (The King's Fund) (2020)
The response to COVID-19 has meant people who may not usually work together – or even know each other – are coming together to tackle complex and urgent challenges. This is a one-page guide from The King's Fund on forming new effective teams in complex everyday work: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/introduction-teaming-covid19
Coronavirus (COVID-19): Leadership resources for times of crisis (Center for Creative Leadership)
This website provides tools to support leadership in organisations in times of crisis, while preparing for future opportunities: https://www.ccl.org/coronavirus-resources/#crisis
COVID-19 in New Zealand and the impact of the national response: a descriptive epidemiological study (The Lancet) (2020)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealand implemented graduated, risk-informed national supression measures aimed at disease elimination. This article investigates the impacts of the epidemiology of the first wave of COVID-19 in NZ and response performance measures: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30225-5/fulltext?dgcid=raven_jbs_etoc_email
COVID-19 transmission in hospitals: management of the risk – a prospective safety investigation (Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch) (2020)
This prospective patient safety investigation of the NHS in England loooks at how the health care system operates to minimise the likelihood of patients catching coronavirus on acute hospital wards: https://www.hsib.org.uk/investigations-and-reports/covid-19-transmission-in-hospitals-management-of-the-risk/
How you see problems can change what is possible (The King's Fund) (2020)
Understanding and making sense of the world around us has a profound impact on our goals, plans and actions. Humans develop 'cognitive frames' that enable the ability to scan and filter the mass of information encountered every day and identify what is useful and relevant. Practical tools and resources are provided to assist with framing: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/framing-problems-change-what-possible
Leading in a crisis starts with acknowledging your own feelings (The King's Fund) (2020)
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, leadership consultants at The King’s Fund have continued to coach and consult with leaders across health and social care. This article includes experiences shared by leaders through the crisis: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/leading-crisis-acknowledging-feelings
Maintaining motivation in uncertain times (The King's Fund) (2020)
This article is based on William Bridges’ model of psychological transition which helps people as they realise that the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic remains unclear and that we’re in this for the long haul. When the future is uncertain, and it’s difficult to plan even a holiday, this can be tiring, demotivating and team morale may suffer. This article helps people to understand what it means to grapple with change and live with uncertainty: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/maintaining-motivation-uncertain-times
Making decisions in difficult circumstances (The King's Fund) (2020)
A three-minute video from the King's Fund about how leaders can make decisions in difficult circumstances during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis, including recognising and overcoming 'decision inertia': https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/making-decisions-difficult-circumstances
Reset your organization for the post-COVID future with creative leadership (Center for Creative Leadership) (2020)
This article offers guidance to help leaders understand some of the most important things they should be doing in the near future. The advice falls into three broad actions: take care of your people, take care of the future, and take care of key stakeholders: https://www.ccl.org/articles/white-papers/reset-your-organization-for-post-covid-future/
Responding to COVID-19 - Lessons from Healthcare Research (New England Journal of Medicine) (2020)
This article outlines five actions that should be taken by health care leaders: put people first, manage operations creatively, attend to teamwork and communication, create outside partnerships, and embrace clear and humble leadership. Read the article here (158KB, pdf).
The most difficult thing I have done in my life: reflections on leading through COVID-19 (The King's Fund) (2020)
An experienced coach and consultant who specialises in supporting and developing senior professionals shares emotional responses from experienced senior leaders during COVID-19 in the UK: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/reflections-leading-through-covid-19
The nurturing role of leaders: Dr Navina Evans (The King's Fund) (2020)
This video features Dr Navina Evans, chief executive of the East London NHS Foundation Trust, talking about the importance of nurturing as a leader: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/nurturing-leadership-navina-evans
Why is leadership important right now? Prerana Issar, Chief People Officer, NHS (The King's Fund) (2020)
The King's Fund talks to Prerana Issar, the Chief People Officer for the NHS to ask her why leadership is so important during the COVID-19 crisis. Prerana also discusses important points about leading teams during crisis situations: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/why-leadership-important-covid-prerana-issar
Supporting your team
This guide from the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors is to help people working in the health and social care ecosystem capture valuable practice and improvements made during their response to COVID-19: https://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/nes-current/capturing-organisational-lessons-from-covid-19/
The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to lead to a significant increase in mental health disorders in health care workers. This paper evaluates the rates of anxiety, depressive and post-traumatic stress disorder in a population of health care workers in the UK: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-open/article/mental-health-symptoms-in-a-cohort-of-hospital-healthcare-workers-following-the-first-peak-of-the-covid19-pandemic-in-the-uk/06754995A1AF38162808CA5D08D09134
RapidCheckTM from the Cognitive Institute is a simple five step briefing and debriefing tool leaders can use to ensure staff are aware, understand and are coping with the rapid changes around them. Read the resource here (546KB, pdf).
Drawing on research, best practice guidelines and expert clinical opinions, The King's Fund's COVID trauma response working group has created rapid guidance for planners putting in place psychological support for staff in the early stages of dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/stress-hospital-staff-covid-19
This graphic is a quick reference version of the detailed guidance available on the traumagroup.org website.
In this video from The King's Fund, Don Berwick talks about how leaders can take care of themselves and their teams during this crisis. He stresses the importance of tending to your own health, wellbeing and energy and urged leaders to continue to exchange ideas and support, leading with confidence and honesty: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/don-berwick-responding-covid-19-crisis
As a leader how can you foster a work environment where people feel safe to speak up, share new ideas and work in innovative ways? Amy Edmonson explains why psychological safety at work is so important and what leaders can do to create it: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/importance-psychological-safety
This article contains a good framework for assessing new COVID-19 practices and whether we should end or amplify them, and pre-COVID-19 practices that we should stop or restart. Written in the UK, it asks these questions in terms of a UK-based socio-cultural and political context: https://medium.com/bridges-to-the-future/the-path-from-crisis-6d3f83c96d0b
This on-demand webinar series focuses on insights and techniques to sustain physical and mental wellbeing and team performance through COVID-19 and beyond. It is suitable for clinicians and clinical leaders. The webinars share practical evidence-based strategies including RapidCheck™, a new operational team briefing and debriefing tool leaders can use to maintain maximum performance and ensure staff are aware, understand and are coping with the rapid changes around them. Watch the series in your own time and share with your colleagues: https://www.cognitiveinstitute.org/webinars/
In this first in a series of short, rapid-fire health quality intelligence papers, the Health Quality & Safety Commission raises the question of our national response to the consequences of measures to contain and eliminate COVID-19 in Aotearoa New Zealand, in particular that of the gathering backlog of scheduled or elective work: https://www.hqsc.govt.nz/news/blog-bouncing-back-the-theory-and-practice-of-addressing-health-care-backlogs-post-covid-19/
This article explores how to learn from our COVID-19 experiences to collectively process and recover, and guide our activities in response to whatever may come next: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/how-to-do-learning-practice
This short article from John Hopkins University Hospital in the USA outlines principles for leaders supporting health care workers through the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also a short video clip explaining the principles: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1236
Developed in New Zealand, this guide supports leaders to develop specific COVID-19 communications, supporting good decision-making and collective action: https://communityfoundations.org.nz/assets/How-to-talk-about-Covid-19.pdf
During the COVID-19 pandemic, health workers have shown resilience and professional dedication despite the risk of becoming infected and infecting others. This article reports robust and concerning findings regarding the risks of COVID-19 among health workers and their households: https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3944
Leading virtually can seem challenging, but a few basic technical and human skills will help you to engage with colleagues and ensure your virtual meetings are productive. Here are some hints and tips on working virtually adapted from Zoom and from the research of Ghislaine Caulat (2012): https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/leading-virtual-meetings-top-tips
The King’s Fund have developed some suggestions for having virtual conversations – based on their work with leaders involved in the COVID-19 planning response – to help people collectively download what’s happening for them, stay connected to each other and provide a space to think together about how best to lead: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/creating-space-conversations-covid-19
A short three-minute video with Michael West, Visiting Fellow at The King's Fund, about why compassion is key to looking after colleagues in the health and care system during the COVID-19 pandemic: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/looking-after-colleagues-michael-west
The King's Fund talks to Ian Bullock, chief executive of the Royal College of Physicians in the UK, about finding solutions in complex situations: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/finding-solutions-complex-situations
This article from the BMJ Quality & Safety offers evidence-based recommendations to help health care teams working directly with patients during COVID-19 and in potential future crises. Tips are included for both leaders and members of teams, as well as for management who support or oversee clinical teams: https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/qhc/early/2020/05/28/bmjqs-2020-011447.full.pdf
One page guides from 3DHBs with tips on a variety of topics.
- Connecting with colleagues remotely (918KB, pdf)
- Leading a remote team (945KB, pdf)
- Leading others (916KB, pdf)
- Self care – top tips (918KB, pdf)
- Staying calm: What I can control (499KB, pdf)