As the coronavirus pandemic was just starting to gain traction in March, Lee Moore was promoted to market unit lead for the Midwest, where he now manages a team of 11,000 people. Moore has been with Accenture for over 28 years, working in a variety of senior management roles. When he stepped into his new position, he could not have predicted the turmoil around the corner. Just ten days after his start, he would begin transitioning his team to work from home.

Moore’s approach implemented local and global structured crisis management processes. Specifically, he focused on ways to build community and keep the team engaged and connected through virtual water cooler sessions and town halls meetings. In addition to work calls, he curates fun virtual events, from exercise classes to baking competitions. He also shares his own work-from-home experiences through video blogs, creating a more relaxed and friendly virtual experience that recognizes the unique trials and tribulations of the times.

Nonetheless, Accenture still plans on building a large new office space in Chicago’s West Loop. Over half of the people the Midwest branch employs are based in Chicago, and one of the company’s main focuses is on the Windy City’s startup scene. As the company expands its physical footprint, it also aims to grow its apprenticeship program – they hope to train 180 new apprentices by the end of 2022. This comes alongside Facebook, Google, and Salesforce growing their teams within Chicago as well.

Moore says he also wants to create an environment in which employees can “show up and speak up” about systemic racism in the U.S. A virtual event intending to do that for a few hours for the Chicago area grew into an 11-hour event with employees participating from all over the country.

As he looks ahead, Moore doesn’t expect anything to go quite back to normal. However, he is beginning to focus on the more typical aspects of his job – managing clients and keeping an eye on the company’s financial performance. Ultimately, he’ll have to tackle the right way to bring his team back into the office safely, a challenge he will meet head on.