A few months ago, working under coronavirus conditions was still largely a temporary solution. But it is increasingly becoming the norm. Recently, most of the challenges and changes resulting from the digital transformation were already on the agenda. But many companies were not yet ready to tackle them.
Corona has brought many things that seemed a long way off into the present with a jolt and are now "normal": working from home, leading teams via virtual platforms, digital moderation, digital networking, digital architecture and many other changes had to be tackled and implemented very quickly. To what extent does this result in new requirements for management? Can everyone master the accelerated pace of change? We have drawn up 6 theses on this and want to take a closer look at them with regard to the new "normal".
Situation analysis and inventory
Thesis 1:
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted many existing problems and emerging conflicts.
In other words, it was not their cause. It merely acted as a magnifying glass that made deficits and omissions more visible.
Our day-to-day business - personnel and organizational development - for example, is much more digital today than it was a year or a year and a half ago. This probably also applies to almost all training and consulting companies. This development was already foreseeable, but many companies were just at the beginning of the change and did not recognize the problems and conflicts as such or misjudged the implications. This leads us to our second thesis.
Thesis 2:
Most of the challenges that managers are currently facing already existed before the pandemic. However, managers often did not face them.
For a wide variety of reasons. Be it because they were working at their limits. Or because they lacked the necessary support from above. Or because this would have required them to throw cherished routines overboard and enter into conflict with their employees.
However, the developments of the past year have made many companies realize how important it is to tackle these challenges now in order to be prepared for the future. We can clearly see this in the content and target groups of our personnel development measures. In the area of leadership development , for example, we are registering a significantly higher demand for support and development measures - particularly in the area of coaching - from experienced managers who already have 5, 10 or even 20 years of management experience. This leads us to thesis 3.
Thesis 3:
Many a change would have made sense even before the crisis.
For example, the further development of the company's own management style due to the changed framework conditions in the VUCA world. Or digitizing some of the services. Or rethinking the form of collaboration.
Due to the fact that more employees were working from home as a result of coronavirus, many managers were suddenly faced with the challenge of managing their employees and teams virtually or remotely for the first time last year and communicating with them largely online. Travel, face-to-face meetings and conferences have been severely restricted since coronavirus. Teamwork is increasingly being shifted to the home office. Labor law aspects and data protection must also be taken into account. This presented many companies not only with professional, but also technical and organizational challenges. The prerequisites for successful implementation were already in place - applications, devices and numerous development programs for modern leadership. However, many companies failed to recognize the need for change in good time and to invest in it.
Opening up new platforms, purchasing new, suitable devices, training employees, setting up networks, improving the digital infrastructure - these and other "suddenly" necessary measures presented companies with major challenges and resulted in resistance to change. A resistance that other companies overcame years ago and were therefore better able to respond to the rapid pace of change.
The new normal demands new skills
Thesis 4:
The companies that were already facing up to the issues relevant to the future before coronavirus are currently in a better position.
They can react more quickly to the new framework conditions - also because their team has internalized the "life means change" mindset "top-down" and has already gained experience in tackling and mastering new, complex challenges.
However, this does not mean that companies that are lagging behind cannot catch up.
The success of an intervention depends on the inner attitude of the intervener.
William O'Brien, former CEO of the Hanover Insurance Company
Transformational leadership or agile leadership requires a new set of characteristics from managers in order to master change. The leadership style of the future should be agile and adapt to the new conditions of digital change. Successful leadership in change processes means transforming people (and yourself) through processes of change into a new form.
New Work approaches are now also moving into the focus of companies worldwide. This is because the home office, which was initially introduced to protect employees, shows that flexible working time models and self-organized working can provide employees with a great opportunity for self-development and better motivation.
Many people think that when corona is over, everything will return to "normal". But it is clear that the new "normal" is now and it will not regress, but will continue to change and develop. So we come to thesis 5:
Tackling change
Thesis 5:
The best time to start making the necessary changes is now.
Also because it is currently easy to communicate to employees: "Something has to change, because...."
Change begins as an altered pattern of expectations, perceptions and connections to the world. Sometimes it is precisely the break with routines, the familiar, that frees up our sense of the future. The idea and certainty that everything could be completely different - even for the better. Whether change is caused by crises or brought about by the changing times, companies and employees go through various phases of change and emerge stronger in the final phase (with the right change management) after initial rejection and frustration (see illustration).
So the coronavirus crisis is also an opportunity for everyone: after a period of bewilderment and fear, an inner strength for a new beginning is emerging. Companies that want to tackle change need to analyze their starting point...
- What blind spots and cultural patterns prevent us from breaking new ground?
- What motivates you to dare to try something new and go further?
...and develop their strategy from this:
- In which areas are there changes?
- What is the current situation?
- Where do we need a reorganization?
- What decisions need to be made?
Managers must therefore always act strategically in order to drive development forward, which leads us to our final thesis.
Managers need to readjust their leadership behavior
Thesis 6:
Leadership is and will remain challenging and demanding in the future.
Because in the VUCA world, which is characterized by decreasing predictability - even after corona - the framework conditions for leadership will change ever more rapidly, and managers will therefore have to rethink their behavior and its impact more frequently.
Because as the company changes, managers are also subject to change. They too still have many uncertainties, for example when it comes to virtual leadership and online communication. And they feel that the changed conditions mean that some of their leadership behavior needs to be readjusted if they want to continue to have the desired impact. They also need new skills in some cases. At MTI, this is reflected in an increased demand for coaching from experienced managers, among other things. In my interview "Developing new routines as a leader " , I take a closer look at this need for coaching.
Read the detailed interview in the download provided.
Conclusion
What once began as a temporary solution is now the normal state and the change that has been initiated will not stand still. Leading in the new "normal" therefore requires managers to keep pace with change, redesign existing processes and develop their own skills.
MTI supports companies in all phases of change and provides managers with professional coaches for individual development. We are happy to analyze your situation and work with you to develop all the necessary measures for successfully mastering the new "normal".
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