Eyal Gutentag: COVID Lessons After One Year
A year ago, who would have guessed we’d have the life-changing experiences that so recently unfolded? COVID 19 has impacted every element of society, from business to personal, in ways we could never have anticipated.
In the process, we’ve learned a lot.
First, the importance of being an agile company and being able to quickly adapt to changing markets and financial environments was once again reaffirmed. Training employees to be ready for change and to respond positively paid off handsomely. Many companies experienced only slight dips in efficiency if any at all.
Second, we were reminded once again that you should never underestimate your staff. If you hired well, you got some of your investment back as the company switched (in many cases) to a remote workforce. Personally, I was always a bit negative about remote workers. Could they be as productive working from home as they were in the office? How could the company function when most of the staff wasn’t even physically present?
Well, they showed us.
Never Underestimate Your Staff
Companies everywhere re-discovered the ability of the Internet to preserve and even enhance employee cohesion and productivity. Again, the importance of communicating your company vision to employees, plus getting their buy-in to that vision, paid off well.
If that was not your experience, perhaps the big lesson from COVID is the need to work on ensuring that our companies are more agile — more adaptable — than ever, and that the vision and purpose that drives top management is also the driving force for our employees. It also taught us that managers need a close personal connection to their staff. Now more than ever, the times call for more compassionate, flexible and inspirational leaders than ever before.
COVID On The Home Front
But for many of us, some of the biggest lessons were learned at home.
As schools shut down, parents found a new appreciation for teachers. Suddenly we were not only working from home, but our children were being schooled from home, as well. We saw firsthand the patience of teachers as they tried to master unfamiliar technology while trying to keep their students engaged and positive. As for the kids, we found ourselves wondering how they ever became so scary smart about computers.
But the most pleasant surprise of COVID was how we grew closer together as a family.
Working shoulder-to-shoulder next to your kids every day is an opportunity to build familial bonds. Like your employees, COVID places new stresses upon your school-age children. And as with your employees, showing kindness, patience and flexibility goes a long way to forge stronger connections.
Will society ever emerge from this epidemic? Undoubtedly, yes. There are already signs that the end may be in sight. Many schools are already reverting to in-person learning, and many companies are slowly bringing staff back on site.
The Bottom Line
So what are the take-aways? Interestingly, they’re similar for both companies and families.
The value of personal connections cannot be ignored. When managers connect on a personal level with their employees, productivity, teamwork and loyalty increase. When families spend more time together, family ties become stronger, life-long values are revitalized, and you can handle anything that life throws against you.
The challenge now is to keep these lessons in mind as we move forward as a society and a nation.
— Eyal Gutentag, Management Expert
