Will Life And Business Be The Same After Covid-19?
There has been a lot of talk about how our lives will change after we move out of lock-down and business returns to “normal” or the “new normal” that we apparently now have to call it.
I have read and heard all the positive noises about how we will all adopt remote working as the “new normal”, how companies will need less real estate, how automation and technology investment will increase.
Yes, I think these things are true.
But those who know me know there is a BUT…
For me, the “new normal” that I have adapted to have taught me a few things about myself, what is important, and what I value most in my work and colleagues.
The first realization I had was that the things I hated doing the most before “lock-down” are the things that I now look forward to the most. Visiting the supermarket and filling the car with petrol.
Those couple of hours of freedom, actually enjoying scouring the aisles. Not rushing home and using my full 2-hour allowance and filling the car with petrol when the tank is still half full!
- I miss my coffee chats with my team.
- I miss debating, challenging, coaching, and hopefully inspiring my teams face to face.
- I have realized that the office is my theater and I draw energy from my colleagues.
- I have realized that the dreaded commute is actually a pleasure.
I enjoy my journey to work; the 30 minutes to mentally prepare myself for my day ahead and importantly the 30 mins back home in the evening to unwind before I reach home.
For me the new normal has (like most other people) meant even longer hours, countless hours of video meetings; apparently, I am not very good at these – I am normally pretty vocal and challenging in meetings but find the video call draining and not very engaging.
Working from home for me has meant being in front of my laptop from 7.30 am until 10 pm.
It has meant more fatigue, less sleep, less engagement but more micro-management with my team.
I understand this is the “new normal” so the biggest thing that I have learned is the need to adapt, we need to express ourselves in different ways when we can’t use our physical presence, the need to pick up nuances on a video call, facial expressions on a small tile on a screen.
I have huge confidence in the human race to adapt and thrive, and I have huge confidence in my amazing team at AIQU who all seem to have taken to this new reality somewhat more easily than me.
I know that whatever the world throws at us we will adapt, we will grow and we will come out stronger.
But even so, when the new normal allows, my hand will be first in the air to return to the office.
