How Collaboration Has Changed During the Pandemic

2/17/22, 3:07 PM

How Collaboration Has Changed During the Pandemic | Sean Baltzell | Entrepreneurship

a How Collaboration Has Changed During the Pandemic

by Sean Baltzell | Feb 17, 2022 | Entrepreneurship, Sean Baltzell

The COVID epidemic was something unprecedented and impacted the world globally.

Business was able to adapt relatively well. The trend towards a dispersed workforce was accelerated.

There were many effects. Work from home programs had been in existence for many years but the epidemic accelerated their use. Remote teams, once a novelty, became a permanent part of the business landscape. Management learned a lot about implementation and integration. Employees were able to gain the flexibility that so many desired. In the end, business was able to say that they could rapidly change their inputs to meet client demands.

Productivity One of the biggest concerns of management is productivity. After all, the main contribution of an employee to a business is what they produce. During the epidemic, many businesses

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2/17/22, 3:07 PM

How Collaboration Has Changed During the Pandemic | Sean Baltzell | Entrepreneurship

had to push back major campaigns, initiatives, and launches due to a less productive workforce. It’s a major concern of both lower level and higher management.

The question is quite simple: how can an employee retain their productivity when they’re working at home? Whether it’s their cat, kids, or TV, there are plenty of distractions. Some employees need to be managed more directly than others. Some businesses even forced their employees to install time trackers on their computers.

However, many employees say they are more productive. They don’t have to commute anymore, which saves a lot of time and money. Meetings are shorter and typically go smoother. In some ways, there are less distractions Collaboration suffered Many employees reported they missed the office culture. Many moments are spontaneous and could lead to rapid brainstorming and coming up with strategies. Online meetings are far less personal. Although they have both visual and audio components, nothing beats an in-person meeting. Some reported that people worked individually and in silos.

Decrease in creativity Management reported that they were slower to make decisions. The isolation made creativity suffer. Face time is typically very important and COVID affected that. Although voice calls were always available, it was more difficult to collaborate on them.

COVID-19 was something the world hadn’t seen before. Business was able to adapt but there were massive changes. The workforce became more dispersed and both management and employees had to change their ways. Although flexibility increased greatly, some things (notably creativity and collaboration) suffered.

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