Change Creates New Needs

Over the few days, I’ve had several opportunities to observe how people and organizations are reacting to COVID-19 in the Boston area. The top priority has to be maintaining our health and safety.

For many businesses and organizations, the knee-jerk reaction is to cancel group events to reduce the possibility of catching the virus. In other cases, organizations have opted to replace in-person events with virtual online events. And many companies are encouraging employees to work from home in order to reduce risk.

Beyond Cancelations & Virtualizing

Beyond the important healthcare needs of COVID-19, I’d like to suggest another path in how we deal with COVID-19, one that goes beyond cancelations, virtual meetings, and working at home. 

It’s time to think of how we help each other to be successful in our endeavors -- even in this challenging time. Here are a few examples (this is not intended to be a comprehensive list) to consider across home, work, and the non-profit sector.

Family, Friends and Colleagues

First and foremost, we need to help our families, friends, fellow employees, and colleagues to weather this storm by listening, watching out for each other, and helping each other - such as buying groceries from an elderly person, or checking in on family members to see how they’re doing. If you're working at home, use your old commuting to spend more time with your family.

Working from Home

If you’ve been asked to work from home, think about…

• How to work effectively with other remote colleagues.
• The most effective communication when working remote - video conferences, conference calls, other online tools? What tools does your company already provide?
• Making sure your manager knows what you’re working on even when you don’t see each other as often.
• Demonstrating that the company can trust you to do the work even when no one is watching over your shoulder. 

If you're managing a newly remote team, you may want to think about…

• Maintaining employee morale.
• Keeping employees productive and not distracted.
• How to maintain connections even when people are working remotely.
• How do you deal with sick employees and potential staff shortages?

Companies

Companies also need to consider the business risks as well as new needs created by COVID-19 such as…

• Risks: How does remote work affect your business? For example, if you work for a restaurant company that relies on lunchtime crowd, how will remote work affect that? How will you support employees who become ill? How will you lessen the chance of infection?
• New needs: What new needs does COVID-19 create for your customers? For example, virtualized events and teaching create new needs for tools and experts to coach people and businesses on creating effective online events and courses. 
• New opportunities: For example, does moving from in-person to virtual events enable you to reach a broader audience than in the past?

Non-Profits

Non-profit organizations and service organizations can also think about how COVID-19 creates new risks and needs such as…

• What will replace in-person outreach and events?
• How will you maintain a strong relationship with your stakeholders, communities and members?
• What new needs are arising in your community because of COVID-19? What emotional concerns do they have? Do they need assistance learning how to work remotely? 

Conclusion

No doubt, COVID-19 poses serious health and business risks. But with change comes important new needs and opportunities to help friends, family, colleagues, communities, and customers as well. 

What do you think? Beyond the obvious healthcare needs, what new interpersonal and business needs is COVID-19 creating?

Stay healthy!

Image by Johannes Plenio