Help! Why Can’t I Get My Distracted Employees to Show Up and Get the Work Done?

Dear Liz,

I own and operate a small marketing business north of New York City, right smack in the area that suffered one of the first full lockdowns in the United States. We transitioned to remote work fairly early on, but onboarding (especially without the resources of a large company) was both lengthy and painful, and clients started dropping like flies as the pace of work, along with the economy, slowed down.

It’s been incredibly difficult to communicate to my team just how badly I need them back at full capacity after the last eight months. Nothing I do works. I’ve tried using project management software to help everyone stay organized and on task, but it doesn’t help. Everyone is either frazzled or completely checked out. 

I understand that we’re dealing with bad times, but isn’t it in everyone’s interest to keep the company afloat? I’ve already had to fire someone and let another go, and our staff only numbered eleven in normal times. I get how difficult it is, but not doing the work puts everyone’s jobs in jeopardy.