To infinity and beyond ... the COVID-19 angle!

I know, I know ... we have beaten this topic to death ... we have all been discussing this from every angle possible! I can hear the groan! But, bear with me a bit.

As the corona virus pandemic grips our lives in ways that could never have been foretold even a year ago, it led me to ponder on how something so tiny and really microscopic could have such as profound impact on everything that we know! 'Shiver my timbers' as the good old ship-sailing seamen of yonder used to shout ... the very essence of how we have been used to operate in every field or industry has been changed so callously by this unseen and indomitable foe! We are peering into a frightening fog - and that's quite unsettling!

We are now starting to see the first waves of counter-attack by mankind's first responders, the health / pharma research scientists, and their ecosystem partners, racing to find a cure. We are seeing the faint glimmer of sunshine, and the fog is lifting - a hope that the light at the end of tunnel is not from an oncoming train!

Will that mean we will go back to the ways that were ... and what we are going through now will be new normal? What happens to all the transmogrification(or more appropriately 'disruption') that each one of us have gone through over the past 5-6 months, the changes that we have made in both our professional & personal lives ... will we really need to go back to 'how things were'? Our our ways of working has so magically changed that this is going to be the new status quo!

Some of us (I, unfortunately fall in this category too!) have the bad habit of bringing work home and continuing to work late into the evening. With our new 'micro'-offices that we have set up as part of 'working from home' (WFH) model, this is now getting more amplified. Our implicit and explict 'stay out of this zone' boards in various parts of the house as we go about doing our office work at home has resulted in new home layout plans.

As we sleep-walk from one Zoom / Skype / Webex call to another, plugged in our headphones, peering into our computers, we have basically shut out the entire world.

I, for one, can tell you that the WFH model is here to stay, lines between work and family will get more blurry each day. We need to find the right balance ... look up ... see the blue skies, see the greenery in the trees and gardens, take your dog for a walk, exercise - break the monotony and keep your mind & body alert, and stay refreshed. For example, I block out 15 min. or 20 min. slots in my calendar that will allow me to recoup.

As we make these changes in ourselves, businesses are also adapting and will reinvent how they work. Organizations have found so many functions that can now operate remotely, that they are suddenly finding idle office space that will be cut down as part of contracts expiry, car / office parking spots incentives will be moot, data & internet becomes cheaper & dearer, coordination over live-calls / chats will take over our daily social interactions. Water-cooler conversations will now make room for those virtual coffee or evening drink sessions.

Human capital management & engagement, and employee well-being will come into increasing focus.

Organizations will start to engage remote workforce ... working from any place of their choice. Offer letters and salary components will have new dimensions. Office workspaces will become fully 'hot desk's at a fraction of their pre-COVID capacity.

The yardstick for performance measures will change. New contracts will be drawn up, teams engaged differently, expectations will be reset, new experiences will be created for customers. The future is global.

We are in for some pretty exciting times, and it will be fasinating to see the changes that we will undergo, as we innovate and adapt - as we go beyond the known boundaries ... explore ... 'to infinity & beyond!

And, there you have it ... I have finally managed to connect Buzz Lightyear's, 'to infinity and beyond!' to the topic! I am sure many of you were wondering what's the connection! A great war-cry, it oozes with optimism and good cheer, and that's something we can all do with large doses of .. and it does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

Cheerio!