Skills for working during Covid-19
View(s):Let’s accept it, we are in the worst times of the pandemic. The death rate is no more a statistic. It’s a friend, family member, colleague or team member. Vaccination is not a protective shield any more. But the good news to corporate lives is that the really talented and passionate to work is coming through strongly.
The seat warmers, floaters are getting exposed. The weak hearted are also finding it hard to perform. It’s interesting time to be honest. Let me capture some of the best practices we see in corporate life.
1) Listen deeply
Working online is no more an alternative. It is the only way to work. Strong leadership require the skill to listen to your team deeply. You have to look for signals that peoples attention is weaning off. You have to have the skill to have a deep connection with your team. Gone are the days where you have to surrender a ‘ leave chit’ or take ‘short leave’. People are at home. The only way to get the work done is by ‘ 100% empowerment’. This can be achieved by practicing deep listening skill. This is the new power in an organization. Learn it or you will be obsolete.
2) Let people find purpose
Another positive of COVID-19 is that it have given space for people to ask them self what there ‘ purpose’ in life is. I have noticed that employees who are doing exceptionally well are people who have come to terms with there purpose and willing to take risk with their life as ‘ purpose’ drives them for behavior.
Have you noticed that very rarely that you have to remind people on the work to do. It’s amazing how people are working independently. People have found a sense of relevance in the new organisation.
Our research shows that today’s organizations are very agile and structures have faded away. Communication lines have also become very open and transparency is the how working order. To be honest I love the new working culture.
3) Living is more important money
Research reveal that people are now fighting to lead a life where contracting of Covid will not happen. People are moving away from dependency. No drivers and dailies any more. There is no option but each person must become self sufficient. Living is more important than money.
Proletariat find time to work out even in their very home as the luxury of the gym or personal trainer is now a distant dream. People are looking healthier and beautiful with the glowing and healthy skin. An interesting dimension to life that we have to face to come to terms with.
4) Importance of a close circle
Whilst the pandemic has shown the importance of attending to your own needs we have also realized that you have to have a close circle that you can absolutely trust. Life has become live or die. Only the really trustable that you associate and mingle with. We can call this the safety net or you can call it the eco system that we must learn to live with for the next two months plus.
If you do not have this close circle you will have to put this together in your mew life. There is no option. If you cannot find this close circuit then life can be tough. Think about it. Social connections are vital in today’s situation.
5) Governments have become skill less
Let’s accept it. We have seen so many country leaders resigning. Policy makers must learn new skills and new ways of working. It’s a tough situation to accept but even if we look at our country, we see leaders who were brilliant in winning the war but now, finding hard to be relevant. The shocks that the environment is challenging a country cannot be forecasted.
This is the reality. Private sector is agile but the public sector us finding it harder to accept change as the administrative policies and financial policies does not create an enabling environment. What governments are trying to do is to sue the opportunity for policy reforms. Let’s see how things evolve in Sri Lanka.
( The thoughts are strictly the authors views and not the views of the organization he serves in Sri Lanka and internationally)