Wanderer above a Sea of Fog - Caspar David Friedrich (1818) In the Public Domain
by Steve Banhegyi & Graham Williams
“Essentially, the Un-Known is part of our human
condition and is an existential given” – Siebrecht
van Hooren
Mind-Set
Friederich’s
painting speaks volumes about the leader’s existential loneliness and the
challenges and risks that lie ahead, which become magnified by the advent of a
huge unexpected happening that threatens to totally
disrupt the
business paradigm – happenings like the coronavirus.
In
the 3 months since the first reported case, there have been libraries of
published articles and posts about the nature and potential impact of the
virus, which has been declared to be a pandemic by the World Health
Organisation
We
have now entered a possible reality in which every aspect of our lives, our
relationships, our work, our definition of self, our sense of security, plus a whole lot more, is up for
questioning. No-one really knows what’s
going on because “what’s going on” is greater than the human nervous system can
readily engage. So we’ve traditionally picked up news of what is going on from
traditional news media as ‘authorities’ who provide the stories that help make
sense of the world.
Part
of this great paradigm change which we’re all experiencing is that there are
many new sources of information arising, new paradigms being created in all
sectors, while old paradigms crash. And
paradigms have far reaching effects:
Questions
you should be asking
· Are we
acting quickly and intelligently?
·
Are we
keeping every function, department and level of the organisation?
·
Are we
Preparing for the worst, hoping for the best, planning and implement our own
best practice?
·
Are we
Following a well-informed, rational response?
Are we handing people aspects in a
way that assures our success?
Are we acting quickly when necessary?
How are we keeping our employees engaged in our company at this time?
Are we
practicing sound, deliberate reflection and contemplation, which begets right
action?
Developing a rational response framework
Clem
Sunter uses the fox metaphor to describe “a
person who keeps ahead of the game by being open-minded and objective as the
evidence one way or the other flows in”. (Sunter, C. 2020)
In
the first instance decide your level of organisational response, as determined
by informed perceptions of the threat.
Whatever you decide in terms of plans and actions, add to that your contingency
plans for the next level (or longer term strategy and plans). Apart from the
task of preparing action plans, the process is beneficial for awakening
imagination, developing an open mind, reducing anxiety, formulating a memory of
the future, and improving decision-making capacity (When the unexpected does
happen, our scenario work as alerted us to such possibilities). One of
Ringland’s key conclusions from her work with scenarios (future possibilities)
is that
“...in a time of uncertainty, it unfreezes intellect, allowing
intelligent people a framework within which it’s not only ‘OK, but even
mandatory, to admit that they do not know what the future will bring, but
nevertheless to plan. The role of vivid image, story-line, timelines, of
anecdotal events in scenario are an important part of the method”. (Ringland,
G. 1998)
De Geus: “The results of...
research [conducted by David Ingvar, the head of the neurobiology department of
Lund (Sweden), published in 1985, show that the human brain is constantly
attempting to make sense of the future. Every moment of our lives, we
instinctively create action plans and programs for the future - anticipating
the moment at hand, the next minutes, the emerging hours, the following days,
the ongoing weeks, the anticipated years to come - in one part of our mind.
This brain activity takes place throughout the daytime, independent of what
else we are doing, it occurs in even more concentrated form at night, during
sleep ... These plans are sequentially organised as a series of potential
actions ... We have, in other words, a ‘memory of the future”. (de
Geus, A. 1997)
(We
have included the ‘Threat is over’ situation to make the point that reverting
to either business as it was or to a permanent new way of working will require
strategic leadership. This is much like a space craft re-entry after a mission
into previously unexplored areas.
Re-adjustment finesse is of vital importance).
For
each of the above scenarios, you can now decide what outcome you are aiming at
and how you want to get there:
Strategic
Response to Corona Threat
Whatever block on the decision-framework you
decide to tackle first, we suggest that you take
account of:
·
Stalled economy, governments lack of
ability or willingness to take tough turnaround decisions, and the impact of
shortage in key resources such as power, food, water and communications
·
Legislative,
political, societal, technological and marketplace constraints and developments
need consideration for business scenario planning
·
On any such
journey there will be things to retain, add or let go of as you proceed. These
will be not only people, process and technology factors but potentially your
existing business model. You may also have to let go of current weaknesses –
for example trepidation about currently low levels of staff engagement
shouldn’t be allowed to capture you in the cautious/ wait and see space. Rather
plans to increase engagement can become an integral aspect of the move to more
remote/ virtual operating.
Such scenario thinking will surface the need
to think anew about every aspect of your business chain (drone deliveries;
stronger and more frequent board - leaders – managers communications and risk
management alerts; on-line hiring, coaching and communication practices using
platforms such as Zoom, Vsee, Skype, Webex in addition to email; different
large gatherings and briefings using platforms such as Webcast, podcasts,
virtual poster messages; collaborating with external stakeholders and
competitors on matters of joint benefit; how to establish timely, honest and
transparent communications to allay rumours about staff cuts, salary policies,
and other people matters
A Sanskrit word arambahshura, meaning “a hero at the beginning” captures the notion
of just doing it, getting moving, allowing initiatives to take root and to take
on a life of their own. Necessary to open up the chances of thriving, not
merely surviving.
Some practical actions for your organisation
These actions may be carried out in parallel
with your other scenario, strategy, and action planning initiatives:
- Plug into the
global knowledge base of up-to-date tips and advice being offered by Capacity
and HR.com, which includes a chatbot:
and
·
Learn from those
who may have “been there, done that” – for example, remote contact centre
agents, and apply their learning and use them where relevant as ambassadors to
other parts of the organisation
·
Set up an
in-house help line to dispense advise and answer questions on matters such as
self-care, medical education, action to take in the event of quarantining
·
Consider what
pertinent values (and accompanying behaviour indicators) might apply in a more
dispersed/ distributed/ remote organisation (creativity, compassion,
mindfulness, growth mind-set …)
·
Establish the
basis of a knowledge and story sharing facility, allowing remote workers to
share experiences, concerns, solutions, ideas on an ongoing basis
Engaging Work-At-Home Employees
CultureScan offers a comprehensive survey and
process for preparing for and conducting a transition to virtual/ remote
workplaces. The assessment is designed for senior management, leadership and
all staff that are required to work from home. It covers the
changes necessary to adopt to a
more remote/ virtual work operation should cater for the whole person, taking account of factors such as:
·
Physical. Coping with shared, confined
space as more family members spend more time at home; setting
boundaries and rules for private and shared spaces, getting used to more restricted
movement and travel, home and office layout design and usage (space between
people), shifting into more high-tech and less high-touch (more clicks and
fewer bricks – for example online shopping), providing equipment for working
and learning connectivity, exercise
·
Intellectual. Provision of home schooling, on-line
training
·
Emotional. New relationship challenges at
home, trusting and respecting remote work colleagues, being equipped with
techniques to sooth anxiety, bring about calm (music, meditation), feel
supported and having access to help, adopting ‘agency-based’ rather than ‘rules
– based’ working conditions, self-discipline
·
Social. Altering the balance of
work. social and family living; coping with a new social distancing arising out of moving
into a remote home bubble
· ‘Spiritual’. Continuing to find meaning,
having moments of gratitude, reflecting
And in this respect, the building of hardiness
(both organisational and personal) to change becomes a critical component of
the change effort.
“Resilience is everything because it is the foundation of piloting
through rough terrain in life, of gaining all possible power and knowledge from
adversity”. (Trederwolff,
J. 2016)
Resilience and agility go hand in hand. (Thus
your thinking about the possibly beneficial reversal of certain “agile”
characteristics and dynamics that currently apply, such as shifting to quality
over speed, altering the planning and doing ratio, adopting a wider diversity
of views by ensuring that certain decisions are made by both project groups and
the wider organisation.
If you wish to do a quick,
free organisational and personal readiness assessment (as a precursor to an organisation-wide or representative sample involving more staff) ,
please go to
https://culturescan.biz/work-from-home/
and follow the instructions.
This free survey consists of:
1 & 2. Demographic questions
3. A section for not only leaders but all who will now be faced with remote working
4. A long section covering leadership considerations of the pros & cons of remote operations
5. A section that addresses new skills required by the organisation, for L&D to initiate
6 &7. Open-ended inquiry regarding mainly employee suggestions and concerns
8. An invitation to contact us should you wish to carry the survey into your organisation and involve others, or all employees
https://culturescan.biz/work-from-home/
and follow the instructions.
This free survey consists of:
1 & 2. Demographic questions
3. A section for not only leaders but all who will now be faced with remote working
4. A long section covering leadership considerations of the pros & cons of remote operations
5. A section that addresses new skills required by the organisation, for L&D to initiate
6 &7. Open-ended inquiry regarding mainly employee suggestions and concerns
8. An invitation to contact us should you wish to carry the survey into your organisation and involve others, or all employees
REFERENCES
De Geus, Arie The Living Company Harvard
Business School Press, Boston, 1997
Ringland, Gill Scenario Planning: Managing
for the Future John Wiley & Sons, UK
1998
Sunter, Clem (2020) The coronavirus scenarios and the need to create a shared destiny
News24 3 March, 2020
Trederwolff, Jude How Improvisation
Grows Resilience — and resilience is everything October 2016
A longer version of this article, to be
published by Human Capital Review, is available
Contact: centserv@iafrica.com
Managing Organisations
During the COVID-19 Vortex has
been released by Knowledge Resources and is now available for purchase in
e-book format: https://bit.ly/2R2zdV4
It helps leaders find the
guidance, knowledge and will to persevere through this time, and offers them guidelines
for navigating their organisation through the Coronavirus crisis - from
managing day-to-day practicalities, to scenario planning and sense-making.
I’m proud to have been one of the selected, contributing
authors Use the code AUTHOR upon checkout, and you will
receive a 15% discount not only on your new book, but any other title you choose
to purchase from the publisher.
No comments:
Post a Comment