By Anchal Jain
1. RESILIENCE WILL MAKE YOU SURVIVE, VISION WILL MAKE YOU THRIVE. New leadership skills will be required - to act now in face of daily challenges, and envision the immediate future, both at the same time. It’s not either-or, but a big AND. Leaders will need to have clarity on WHY and WHAT they want to do, but need to be very flexible on HOW to get there. Managers will need to think like entrepreneurs.
2. HONEY I DISRUPTED MYSELF! Covid will be the new term for disruption. Leaders will become more open to thinking of disrupting and re-inventing their own businesses regularly. Change will be created rather than followed. Darwian evolution will ensure survival of companies with rapid change in their DNA.
3. DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP AND VIRTUAL TEAMS will be further enabled by improving technology.Teams will not need to co-exist, and can work seamlessly across borders. What was done in the past more out of necessity will become the norm. Employees will report to multiple leaders at the same time and organizations will be heavily MATRIXED. New e-work culture and e-collaboration norms will develop and be learned. Productivity will be measured through team output rather than individual time sheets.
4. LONELY EMPLOYEES, LONLIER HR. Work from Home is the new reality. The “official social time” with its coffee and walk around breaks will be missed. Even Work from Office will restrict free physical movements. What were time and tested employee motivation tools like office parties, open offices, team outings etc. will go through serious rethink. Wellbeing ideas for employees will gain subscription from corporates.
5. FLEXIBLE WORK-FROM-HOME HOURS, OPPORTUNITY TO EMPLOY MORE WOMEN with their unique skills. This is not a new idea. What is new is that no one had seen it work so successfully at such a large scale. Post Covid, more employers will be confident of providing flexibility on work hours and location. This will indeed help more women to join the active workforce.
6. SHARED ECONOMY MEETS ITS MATCH. AirBnB, Uber, BlaBlaCar, Co-Working Spaces etc face a huge challenge post COVID-19. New hygiene and health guarantees would need to be in place to regain trust of the consumers.
7. RETAILERS LOSE THEIR LONG TAIL, FINALLY! Thoughtful buying will begin with retailers, specially the ONLINE ones who were not carrying inventory risks. Brands will have to similarly think hard about why their product or service belongs in the world. If it will find a space on a retaiier’s shrunken shelf, it will also get customers’ attention more easily.
8. LOW RISK, HIGH IMPACT NODES will now be planned and insured. Risk assessment methods will no longer discount unlikely events of high impact. Leadership will create risk scenarios and board room war games to improve preparedness during such crises. A new source of revenue (and risk) for the insurance sector will open up.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are Val-More’s views only. Anchal is neither an economist nor an astrologer. However, besides having an ability to connect future dots, he is an eternal optimist always looking at the positives in human behavior in any difficult moment to come out stronger. Special mention of Manoj Kumar and Geetanjali Rastogi from the Val-More partner team for their contribution and challenges.
If you would like the full PDF, please contact our founding partner and author of this article at anchal@val-more.com