Crises are known to be transformation accelerators. What will change in the long term and why this is even good news for many. Here is an interim assessment.
1. come to stay: Homeoffice
For many companies, working from home was already firmly established in daily business before coronavirus. Other companies started from scratch and worked flat out on interface solutions. For all of them, however, the surprising realization was that it works. And better than expected. The American tech giants have switched completely to “remote”. Facebook is sending its employees to work from home by the end of the year, Twitter is doing so for good, while Google is introducing a rotation principle for its teams. Martin Krill, Managing Partner at HAGER Executive Consulting, emphasizes:
“I can only encourage all companies and managers to continue to support their employees when it comes to working from home. Of course, it also requires trust on the part of the employer. But honestly, whether my employee is at their desk at 8 a.m. on the dot or starts work later because they do sport beforehand, if they are motivated and successful afterwards, it’s a win-win. Ultimately, it’s the results that count – Corona has proven that working from home can bring real benefits for everyone involved if everyone plays by the rules.”
Scientific studies now also confirm the benefits. According to organizational researchers at the University of Konstanz, 45 percent of employees stated that they work very productively at home. Nicholas Bloom, professor at Stanford University, has found that performance is actually 13% higher when working from home. He sees this as “a future-looking technology” with enormous potential. Not only can employees concentrate better and are less distracted. The fact that they are more self-determined and can organize their time more autonomously has reduced the dismissal rate by 50 percent.
2. B2B events are becoming more virtual
Flying to Cape Town for a conference? To Tokyo for a conference? One thing is certain: corona marks the end of the B2B world as we know it. If you take a closer look, this turning point was already on the horizon; the pandemic has merely accelerated these developments. Christian Muche, co-founder and creative mind behind DMEXCO from 2008 to 2018, predicts: “Of course there will still be analog events, they won’t disappear overnight. But there will be a shift towards digital formats, with completely new ways of interacting and exchanging information in a targeted manner.” At the same time, digital or hybrid events are opening up much greater reach. This is also democratization in the best sense of the word, a breaking down of barriers, a sharing of knowledge and experience. Much of what was previously only accessible to an exclusive circle can now be accessed. Anywhere, at any time. The recent London Fashion Week is a good example of this. For the first time in its history, the shows were streamed in their entirety, accessible to everyone. Bye bye, Front Row. Martin Krill says: “In times of corona, virtual trade fair stands are a successful alternative. But if you go back to the ‘normal situation’, this virtual variant can be a very valuable addition to a balanced marketing mix. It should not be forgotten that an online invitation can achieve a greater reach of potential participants. Of course, direct personal contact, which is what makes trade fairs interesting, disappears. It is therefore important to focus not only on personal chemistry – which is not completely lost thanks to virtual tools – but also more on content.”
3. leadership with the left (and right)
What has not already been written about leadership, agile and new work. We have now seen just how essential this transformation is. When has trust in employees, literally letting go, been a harder and more resilient currency than in coronavirus times? Martin Krill is convinced: “Corona has not only proven to many companies that working from home works, but has also put managers’ leadership skills to the test in many cases. Remote leadership is not something that can be managed just like that. Trust and letting go are the buzzwords, but there are also many employees who, left alone, are disoriented and need their manager to give them direction. Others, on the other hand, run at full speed remotely because they enjoy the laurels of trust, know their way and want to achieve the best results with new impetus. This requires a good balance and a feel for the individual needs of employees.”
The ambidextrous leadership principle is interesting in this context. Originally used in medicine, it refers to the ability to use the left and right hand equally. In management, it describes a synchronous principle: expanding the core business and developing it further at the same time, day-to-day business on the one hand and the speed of innovation on the other. Julia Duwe has written a book on this subject: “Ambidextrous leadership”. This trend will intensify over the next few years. And another component will become even more important. In a Forbes article (“Leadership Will Change Forever After the Coronavirus Pandemic”), Glen Llopis talks about the end of standardized work processes in favour of individual solutions. Although these are more chaotic, the mere fact that they are decentralized, sometimes across time zones, means that these models have the advantage of being much more resilient. He sees an age of individuality dawning (“The age of personalization”)
4 Two roles, one life: The private becomes public
Who remembers the reporter Robert E Kelly, whose children burst into his study in the middle of a live interview with “BBC World News” and were frantically pushed out again by their mother? That was just two years ago. The video went viral back then. Today, this sequence would no longer be newsworthy. In the last few months, we have seen and experienced more private things than in all the years before. We know our colleagues’ children, dogs and cats, we have studied their bookshelves and we know that CEOs of DAX companies wear hoodies at home. Martin Krill explains: “Corona has made us all more human. The view into the ‘home office’ was really very interesting for some of my contacts. But I also have to say that it was precisely these impressions that replaced the personal exchange to a certain extent. There are also personal aspects to a face-to-face meeting. Be it in small talk, when a conversation partner has a family picture on their desk and you make reference to it. Or awards for sporting activities adorning the office walls. All of this is virtually replaced by precisely these ‘private attitudes’ that participants in video conferences unpack.” And, perhaps most importantly, we have all seen struggles with technology; blurred images and rattling sound are no reason to hyperventilate. In this respect, a new serenity, a good enough attitude, has prevailed that was previously alien to Germans in particular. Moving on instead of wasting energy on perfection. 2020 also saw the rediscovery of the Pareto principle, also known as the 80-20 rule: With 20 percent of the total effort, you achieve 80 percent of the result, while for the remaining 20 percent you have to put in 80 percent of the effort.
5 Diversity – now more than ever
The reflex was there. Over the last few weeks, companies have occasionally said something along these lines: We have more important things to do now than worry about diversity. As if it were a “sunshine issue”. Of course, the opposite is true. We are not running out of arguments in favor of diversity, and making progress here is more urgent than ever. “Mixed teams increase creativity and innovative strength – skills that are currently irreplaceable for organizations. That’s why we need even more active diversity management right now” says Stephan Dirschl, spokesperson for the “Diversity Charter”. Who would deny that we need to become even more creative and innovative in the coming years? Martin Krill also sees a need for action here: “I can only underline that. Diversity is a key to entrepreneurial digital competence. Diversity opens many doors. However, this requires not only an open-minded attitude, but also action. Everyone can and should live diversity as the norm and not just talk about it.”
There are many studies that have examined diversity as a success factor and driver of innovation. One interesting and underestimated dimension in this context is the issue of group intelligence. Claudia Peus, Professor of Research and Science Management at the Technical University of Munich, recently drew attention to this aspect. She cited a paper that appeared in “Science”. According to the study, an important predictor of a group’s success in making good decisions (and this is what corporate success essentially depends on) is the proportion of women. The reason: “Women tend to listen more and are more responsive to each other.” Disastrous decisions such as the “Bay Pigs Disaster” under Kennedy would therefore not have happened.
