Working together amidst COVID-19

Most of my conversations of the last month or two has been dominated by the uncertainty of the situation, professionally and personally.

This situation is undoubtedly unique as there has been no precedence. But once the situation normalizes, which it should eventually, what remains for retrospective analysis is the decisions we took – which defines who we are. 

The culture binder

As a Talent Leader, this means the organizational decisions not only served to protect our people and their wellbeing – it delved into the core of our cultural fabric. So, what are my take-aways from how we dealt with these challenging times?

• Protect our people: The obvious and non-negotiable decision is of course physical safety. But while ensuring this, the factors we also needed to consider included how to deliver business continuity, how to work in a changed delivery landscape, how to engage with our people and clients, and how to be productive. The challenge we took on was not just to emerge stronger from the situation but to emerge stronger together.
• Transform the workforce conundrum: Remote working, at least in the IT and ITeS sectors has become the norm. This mobilization has made us question how we traditionally approach our workforce, and this is definitely changing. I have previously written about the gig workforce playing a major role in the future, and this future may be closer than we think. By enabling a flexible working model and breaking away from the stereotypical work force model, we are gearing up to take on the future of work, now. 
• Put wellbeing at the center: What lies at the core of the decisions we have taken as an organization is the wellbeing of our people. Encompassing physical, mental, emotional and financial wellness, we put our people first. By ensuring they were handling the situation right, with guidance and platforms enabled to nurture our people during these times, we realized that sincere support can go a long way, both for our people and for business.
• Stay true to our culture: The final aspect which stands apart is the culture of our organization. What we do and how we react are two strong indicators to who we are. Mindfulness, empathy, collaboration, compassion and understanding, demonstrated by each one of us, all added up to help us face the hurdles that came our way.

What I take away from these challenging times is that the culture we hold, has guided us to take the right decisions. Decisions that positively impacted not just our current employees, but those who are yet to join our teams or are moving on from us.

The influence of these decisions I had to take part in as a leader, have also helped me deal with the situation on a personal level. When your personal purpose matches the organizations vision, it makes it easy to be positive. Taking cues from this and some introspections here is what I did personally:

• Focus on work life balance in the virtual space: Most of us innately associated the shift in physical space to distinguish work from home. But with prolonged working from home – I had to consciously re-calibrate my habits to draw the line. I put routines in place that helped me stay focused on myself, family and work. Change of work scenes, taking time off consciously to spend with family, are only a few.
• Wellbeing is key: Wellbeing is key, to both the organization and to me. But the fact remains that you as an individual play a larger role in making it a success. While organizations can create policies, businesses can sell platforms, the only secret ingredient to success here is you. Be more aware of yourself. Seek help when you see the first signs of worry and invest in a network to support you on this.
• Positivity will get you places: It’s easy to panic. It’s natural to be overwhelmed. But be cautious of being sucked into a vortex of negativity. Positivity is not being unreasonably optimistic – but it is your ability to open to possibilities and find solutions.

This has been my thoughts as I navigate the COVID-19 situation with my family and my team.