Work after COVID: 7 Pandemic Lessons for Creating a Better Workplace

Everyone is looking forward to a time when the world returns to normal. A time after social distancing, mask mandates, and daily unemployment statistics, when we can look at the coronavirus pandemic in our rearview mirror, as a terrible memory. It may not happen as soon as we wish. But it will happen. When it does, it will be up to us to ensure that the new working normal accounts for the effects of the pandemic, and strives to make our working environments better for people than before.

It is the week of Thanksgiving, and living in the countryside in New England, my home is surrounded by wild turkeys. Watching them from my office, I am reminded of the allegory of the turkeys and the eagle. In this fable, an eagle decides to teach a group of turkeys to fly. Taking them to a hill, he taught them the basics of flight. Thrilled with their newfound skills, the turkeys lively discussed their lesson as they walked back home.

There is a risk that after the pandemic has passed, businesses and individuals will be so eager to return to normal that we will “walk back home” without applying the skills we have learned during isolation. The worst-case scenario is that we combine the worst aspects of our working lives from before the pandemic with bad habits formed during the extended period of social distancing. 

The best-case scenario is that we look at this pandemic as an opportunity to transform businesses and individuals. This involves taking our new found “flying skills” and combining them with the things that worked in the “old normal,” allowing us to create a truly better working paradigm for ourselves and our co-workers. The questions then become: What positive lessons (if any) have we gained from the Pandemic? And how do we ensure that the new working normal looks better than the one that came before? 

1.Improve use of technology.

Without a question, the most obvious lesson we must internalize is a more effective use of technology in all aspects of business. The digital revolution has been a major force in business for years, but the current situation has forced the adoption of technology at a previously unseen rate. Even less technically minded workers have embraced the use of technology to do their daily work. Virtually everyone in our economy, from teachers to therapists to corporate workers and even parents have re-tooled themselves to thrive in the current conditions. This ability, to learn new technical skills, will be required of workers again and again in the coming years. Right now we have all become experts at Zoom meetings, but the future will surely require some new and different technological adaptability from us. Becoming technologically adept, now and in the years to come, is one of the most important lessons we can learn from this pandemic.

2. Embrace real human connections

Having just praised the virtues of embracing tech, the pandemic has also helped us recognize the real value of human connections in our lives. Emphasizing those in-person connections once it becomes possible, and nurturing them in the meantime needs to be a real priority. 

Hopefully, people and organizations now understand the value of lost coffee break chats, lunch meetings, and after-work beers. These are good aspects of our “old normal” that must not be permanently lost in this pandemic.

In addition to these daily rituals, whenever possible leaders should bring back cherished celebrations that connect people to one another and their communities. Holiday parties, birthday celebrations, and company social gatherings are highlights for workers and leaders, and events to anticipate. Easily overlooked, these experiences are crucial in creating the camaraderie and sense of connection that is necessary for high-functioning teams.

3. Lead by “walking around”

In his groundbreaking book “Passion for Excellence”, Tom Peters identifies one of the best leadership practices from the pre-pandemic office: managing by walking around. This approach -- where leaders physically check-in and talk with their teams daily--creates a sense of human connection with leadership that cannot be replaced by a Zoom call, Teams meeting, or a Slack message.

Even though these technologies have brought huge benefits for all of us, the risk is that we start believing that leading by emails, and managing by video call is a substitute for real human leadership. It is not. The past year has made it possible and even comfortable for most leaders to connect with their troops digitally. However, this cannot be a permanent substitute for human leadership and support. Leaders who neglect their “people skills” in favor of a purely digital approach will be significantly disadvantaged. It can be easy to hide behind technology and become an absentee leader during this pandemic. But people need human connections with their leaders, and leaders who can connect with their teams are the ones who will succeed during the pandemic and in the new normal yet to come.

4. Encourage Autonomy

For many, working from home has brought greater autonomy and flexibility over how they meet their responsibilities. Without a supervisor or team working in the same room, workers can work at the pace and rhythm that suits them best. In most circumstances, this leads to better results: Most people work harder when given autonomy and are more satisfied with their work. Surveys have shown that even after the pandemic has passed, most employees want to work remotely at least some of the time. It will be up to leaders to figure out how to effectively create a more engaged workforce, and capitalize on the benefits of more autonomous, flexible, and agile employees.

5. Recognize the Importance of Balance

The flexibility of working from home has given workers the opportunity to pursue something that every organization claims to prize: a work-life balance. Unfortunately, the pandemic is forcing many to manage childcare, housekeeping, and work. This can create a life that seems more overloaded than balanced, where we never ‘clock-out’ of any of our roles. But there are positive aspects of this situation, as well as lessons that we can apply after the pandemic.

Companies have been forced to acknowledge their employees as individuals with families and responsibilities outside their work roles. Loud children may intrude on Zoom calls, working spouses may compete for a quiet room, or school assignments may stretch internet capacity. Given these circumstances, leaders and organizations should reflect again on how they are treating and supporting their employees outside their work. Support for childcare, mental health days, and a clear culture of understanding and flexibility are excellent ways organizations can help their employees create balance and a sense of psychological safety.

Recently, Inc magazine published a letter President-elect Biden had written to his employees in 2014 as Vice President. Below is a copy of the letter, recognizing employees as more than a resource, but as human beings with lives outside of work. As leaders we can all learn from this example: 

I would like to take a moment and make something clear to everyone. I do not expect nor do I want any of you to miss or sacrifice important family obligations for work. 

Family obligations include but are not limited to family birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, any religious ceremonies such as first communions and bar mitzvahs, graduations, and time of need such as an illness or a loss in the family. 

This is very important to me. In fact, I will go so far as to say that if I find out that you are working with me while missing important family responsibilities, it will disappoint me greatly. This has been an unwritten rule since my days in the Senate. 

6. Communicate Purpose

Working remotely without fellow employees has decreased our connection to the organizations for which we work. Not being physically connected to the company or the office has the potential to adversely affect how we identify with company culture, leadership, and purpose. As a result, daily tasks have become the center of our working day, and it has been easy to lose sight of the mission of the organization and community in which we work. When the pandemic passes, it is critical that we do all we can to strengthen the “old normal” in terms of connecting employees with the company, its mission, and its vision.   

7. Focus on the Customer

For all, even essential workers, forced social distancing and safety measures have strained connections to the customers and people we serve. As the pandemic passes, businesses need to ensure that customer-centered thinking continues as the core focus for the organization and its employees. Increasing the quality of connections with customers will increase the engagement of employees, lead to more profitable relationships, and remind everyone why they’re really working in the first place.

When this pandemic passes and social distancing recommendations are lifted, we must ensure that we return to a better “normal” than the one we left behind last spring. We must continue to apply the new learnings of technology, autonomy, and balance from the past months. Combining these new skills with stronger social connections, human leadership, powerful purpose, and customer focus will ensure that we don't "walk" back to our old ways, but will in fact “fly” to a new, better normal.