When this is over can we please keep working this way?

A week ago, my four children and I were jealous of our anesthesiologist dad/husband who got to leave the house every day and go to work as usual in the hospital. We had already been stuck for several weeks in the house for very long days. But now, just a week later, his hospital is overflowing with COVID-19 patients and under-flowing with personal protective equipment. We are no longer jealous but rather scared for (and very proud of) him. 

But despite this fear we’re living with, I can’t hide the fact that I love the tiny silver linings. It is not just having my adult and college age children back home or the dinner we all have together every night, it’s also how my work has changed. . . or what I have started thinking of as the tiny sliver of a very valuable silver lining of the COVID-19 cloud.

• The unprecedented speed with which we are moving: new innovative offerings being launched without the endless debate, revisions, and repackaging.
• The true collaboration across teams and companies. Everyone wants to help as much and as soon as they can.
• The flexibility to work when we need to — eliminating most formal meetings and using short “stand up” meetings and electronic boards to have asynchronous conversations. Those with small children can more easily manage work around videos, naps, and meals.
• The incredible discipline we are using when we have virtual meetings. People are running much more structured and time-boxed discussions and even raising their virtual hands!!
• The deep human connections and intimacy we are forming virtually. Seeing families, houses, and each other’s real lives.
• The drastic reduction of travel. I am conducting real interactive workshops with client teams in Europe. Because I lead a global practice, I used to travel non-stop and would never have dreamt of doing a workshop by video. Guess what? They work!

My friends and colleagues know I am an eternal optimist. And maybe finding things I deeply value in the midst of the largest humanitarian crisis most of us have been a firsthand witness to is testament to my optimism. . . or maybe, just maybe, this terrible thing has forced us to rethink work in a way that is fundamentally better. And if that is the case, let’s please, please, please not let these new ways of working disappear on the wonderful day when COVID-19 eventually does.