The COVID viral crisis has already begun to change entire pieces of our societal framework, including the way business leaders operate. After the majority of U.S. states declared one or another form of social movement controls, popularly known as lockdowns, corporate entities immediately began to adapt to the new rules and worked hard to keep profits up while trying to figure out ways to endure the crisis. When the virus guidelines first took effect, no one was sure how long the arrangement would last. Indeed, many small companies that we’re unable to sustain the short-term hit to their revenues went under and ended up filing bankruptcy. Now that most states are beginning to loosen the majority of restrictions on individuals and businesses, some components of the commercial sector are returning to normal.
However, there are already visible signs that the temporary crisis has had a permanent effect on how managers operate. For instance, remote monitoring of IT systems is now considered one of the best ways to oversee a client’s network without any personal interaction. Additionally, with so many workers forced to telecommute by working from home, managers have had to learn new techniques for evaluating and engaging staff members throughout the day. Here’s a look at some of the key ways in which the COVID pandemic has forced a new normal onto many traditional management techniques.
Managing Telecommuters
Large numbers of supervisors have been faced with a new challenge, which is how to motivate, evaluate, and train workers who are miles away, sitting in their homes and connected to the company only via a keyboard and monitor. Some have taken to requiring daily phone chats, as virtual one on one meetings, to discuss individual goals and specific work assignments. Others use that method as well as online video chats with small groups in much the same way they previously held morning staff meetings.
One of the main outcomes of the virus lockdowns has been to teach corporate leaders that it is possible to successfully run a company when the majority of employees work remotely. Until the coronavirus hit, remote jobs were limited to just a few industries and experienced staff members who had proven themselves in office settings before being rewarded with the chance to work from home. Now, working remotely is a central component of the new normal, and business leadership has quickly adapted.
Remote Monitoring
RMM, remote monitoring and management, is a variety of sophisticated software that assists professional IT services personnel comprehensively, and remotely, monitor client systems, networks, and entire computer environments. Often called remote IT management, it’s part of an entirely new paradigm of corporate operations in which clients and service providers have no physical interaction. The field has been around, and thriving, for years, but has flourished during the recent pandemic.
Overseeing Delivery Teams
One of the recent changes that immediately caused company leaders to sink or swim was the massive demand for home delivery of goods like food, tools, clothing, and other retail items traditionally purchased in person at brick and mortar stores. Company owners who were able to direct and efficiently supervise large squads of delivery drivers and vehicles were able to avoid much of the downside of the COVID virus.
Medical Industry and Education Changes
Telehealth visits in place of traditional medical checkups and virtual schooling as a substitute for routine in-class teaching have teen two of the more significant changes to come out of the crisis. The medical community and education establishment are in the midst of figuring out new ways to monitor these new, online ways of handling two important parts of everyday life: doctor visits and school lessons.
Some public-school systems, for example, shut down their physical buildings but continued to offer classes online to any students who wanted to keep up with their studies. One of the problems educators faced early on was getting parents and students up to speed on interactive video technology. The same situation is facing the medical community, where both doctors and patients are having to coordinate software, make sure discussions are secure, and keep in line with federal laws about the transmission of sensitive health information. Whether this new normal for schools and clinics will last or everything will revert to the old way of doing business is not a question. Telehealth and virtual schooling are here to stay. The new challenge is finding effective ways to manage them.
