In our member renewal letter this summer, I wrote to my member businesses the following:

“2020 is shaping up to be a year we all won’t forget for a long time to come. Evolution is often considered to be a gradual effect, but in reality, sometimes the changes come in abrupt alterations making lasting, fundamental change. That is what 2020 has been- a proverbial rock slide that lands in the river and redirects the flow of the water into a new unpredictable direction. A better example is air travel- after 9/11 air travel just changed and we all had no choice but to accept the new reality. 2020 feels like that in a way.”

What did you feel when you read that passage? Did it make you a little scared? Did it make you a little sad? I hope not. Though bringing up 9/11 always elicits a particular emotional response, depending on how that day affected you, the point of bringing it up is to illustrate that some things change and never go back to the way they were again.

Here’s another example: at some point in our history, there lived the last great wagon wheel maker. The automobile came along and within 10 years the way we traveled fundamentally changed. And that’s okay. There’s always going to be a bittersweet farewell to those things we lose to evolution, but from that comes new, better and more efficient ways to live.

To go back to the original example, air travel has fundamentally changed since that fateful day, and in fact it’s much safer than it used to be. It can be annoying to go through all of the screenings, but they’re in place so that this won’t happen again. We may sometimes overstate the inconvenience of the new processes, but in reality, most everyone would agree, that those inconveniences are worth the safety and guarantee that this incident won’t occur again.

The point is, with landmark events, as horrible as they may be, some very useful things can come from them. Here are some predictions of things I think we may keep in the months and years ahead that we didn’t consider or value enough prior to COVID-19.

Remote Work Spaces It has long been tradition that people need to go to work to have the proper company synergy to be productive, but I’ve heard from a number of businesses who have said that some members of their teams have been considerably more productive working from home. It’s not a solution for every industry, or maybe even every employee of a business. Yet as an owner or a manager, if you have an individual who is not customer-facing and works on projects primarily, and they’re more productive at home, why not let them work from there primarily and come in the office once per week or a few times per month.

I’ve heard from engineering firms, financial advisors, lenders, law firms and customer call centers who are all considering keeping some of their team members remote. There are some serious advantages for employees too, such as: no lost time in the day commuting to and from the office, no travel for those who may not have reliable transportation or who may live far away, saving money on work clothes and lunches and possibly being able to do some childcare while working- depending on your situation and ages of your children.

Flexible Scheduling This relates a bit to the previous point, in that being flexible with where your employees work is

similar to being flexible about when your employees work, but of course this is different because this also goes for people who work on-site. This speaks to how incredible many business owners have been about accommodating to employee needs. A prime example is for working parents, who had to become their child’s tutor as well as an employee at a business.

Not every business has been completely flexible, nor could they be- I mean, if you’re a retailer, you do need some employees on-site to help customers. However, there are dozens of stories I’ve heard from employees saying how flexible their employers have been about adjusting their schedules. The remote workers highlight this often too as some of them have said things like ‘I do my best work at night after the kids are in bed, and so working on a time that works best for me, has really helped.”

The other thing flexible scheduling does is breed loyalty. Sure, the business across the street may offer $0.25 more per hour, but if the business you are at now worked with your schedule so you could tutor your child while still getting your work done, you tend to be more appreciative. Both flexible scheduling and remote work spaces show employees they are valued.

Less Meaningless Meetings If you have heard the phrase, ‘this meeting could have been an e-mail’ then this change is just right for you. Let’s be honest here, as convenient as online video meetings are (through Zoom or GoToMeeting or Microsoft Teams) they are not the preferred way to meet. Nothing beats the human interaction and relationship building that occurs in person.

Yet, with virtual meetings being the norm for so many employees right now, and employees having 3-4 per day in their calendar, people have begun to reconsider why they are calling meetings. This has led to more productive meetings too where regularly 20-30% of my virtual meetings get out early once the business on the agenda has been completed.

I should say, no meeting is “meaningless”. Even the most mundane meeting still allows for sharing of ideas, and relationship building. However, I’ve seen a noticeable increase in meetings with a defined purpose- which is what I hope we keep.

This ‘Things We May Keep’ series will continue later this fall- maybe even next week- or further down the road.

Cory King is the executive director of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.