Managing People In A Distributed Workforce
This piece was first published in AdExchanger
Even as the world becomes more silicon-based, data-driven and digital, we are deluding ourselves if we do not remember that people are carbon-based, feeling-driven and highly analog beings.
In a connected age of hyperlinks, networks and algorithms, the true connection always will be between people and stories and not just machines and spreadsheets.
While we live in a connected age, it is not the technology that connects. Technology and software, whether it be Slack, Skype, Zoom or Google Docs, enable. People connect.
This has always been true.
And then COVID-19 happened.
Overnight remote workforce
Today as you read this, you are most likely working from home whether you want to or not. Forrester’s 2013 estimate that in a few years 43% of the workplace would be working from home seemed optimistic at the time but has significantly undershot today’s reality.
There are many benefits of remote work, including (a) increased inclusiveness by ensuring more people can be tapped for their skills, regardless of where they live; (b) greater flexibility for young parents or those looking after elders; (c) lower costs for companies; and (d) time savings, as workers do not need to commute.
Working with modern computing and telecommunication solutions also allows for greater access to data and an ability to communicate with better visuals and multimedia.
However, these advantages come at a cost. We may lose focus as we grapple with other distractions, such as pets, significant others and kids. Communication may diminish as we multitask. And relationships may weaken when important physical signals, such as sidebar conversations or facial expressions, are lost.
Today we have another real problem which is we are not really working from home but working under duress forced to quarantine at home.
There are several ways every individual from leaders to trainees, can leverage remote workforces and the benefits of modern technology to offset the emotional challenges we all face while minimizing the loss of focus, communication and relationships.
Be human and acknowledge that everyone is grappling with anxiety, fear and uncertainty
We are anxious about our health and the health of our loved ones and team members. We are fearful about the future of our finances, jobs and society. We are gripped with uncertainty since every day brings new changes, challenges, uncharted territory and unclear timelines.
These emotions have made all the downsides of remote working particularly acute. We have trouble focusing when the headlines warn of doom and our kids are not at school. It is harder to communicate about business when, while critical, it seems so secondary to the challenges we face. With no in-person contact, relationships can weaken.
1.Communicate constantly
Connect with your teams and organizations at least once a week, if not more often, so they can count on these scheduled interactions in these uncertain times. People may fill the vacuum with speculation, and in these difficult times, silence is chilling. At Publicis the CEO addresses all 80,000 people every weekend, which is both realistic and inspiring. Ensure there are many channels and ways for people to not feel isolated.
2.Augment business meetings with personal conversations
Whether you have team-wide or one-to-one meetings, take time after the business discussions end for non-work conversation.
The simplest and best way to do this is to reach out to your immediate reports and colleagues with a simple question: How can I help?
These interactions, which we would have over lunch or in the hallway, are critically important for both the conduct of business and our souls. Please make time for them.
3. Focus on the five key traits of leadership in every conversation and communication
My research and experience has taught me that the best leaders display five traits: capability, integrity, empathy, vulnerability and inspiration.
Capability: This is when you breathe deeply and become the leader, team member and employee you are to the best of your abilities. Your potential to work under pressure and your company’s values and purpose will be tested now.
Integrity: Make sure that you are truthful, including when you do not know the answers and cannot predict outcomes for the business or people’s roles and jobs.
Empathy: Recognize that each person you are interacting with has their own special challenges.
Vulnerability: Share your own worries and concerns, as Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Satya Nadella of Microsoft did with their organizations last weekend.
Inspiration: Try to end every conversation during these difficult times by leaving people with energy, belief and hope. This too will pass, even though it will not be easy. If you read the Microsoft and Amazon notes, you will be inspired.
4. Leverage art and storytelling
The French philosopher Blaise Pascal noted that we choose with our hearts and use numbers to justify what we just did. Joan Didion, the essayist, has written that we tell stories in order to live.
Art and storytelling important like it never has been before. This is true for all of us in the media and ad tech space who may be more comfortable with data and facts. We need to share heroic stories of our doctors and critical workers, who are risking everything, and of companies and leaders who are rising to the occasion.
We should use humor and YouTube videos to help us tell stories. Art has helped inspire, heal, frame and connect us to ourselves and each other. Read books. Watch great movies and not just CNN.
Our current challenges will be overcome.
’Til then, stay safe and be human
The Great Re-Invention: Sculpting Resilience
Today we are in the midst of a Great Re-Invention of society, business and ourselves.
To successfully navigate this time we need to address fragility by recognizing that safety, security and society will be the three primary drivers of the near future.
In order to address the fragility that has been revealed and underscored in recent weeks, society, business and each of us will need to sculpt ourselves into more resilient forms.
A. Society
A health crisis where every single person is at risk, with impoverished people at much greater risk, combined with an economic crisis that will leave over a quarter of the US population unemployed is going to change the mindset of the United States in three ways.
1.Government matters. Governance matters: As he set off what would be four decades of deregulation, former President Ronald Reagan said to great laughter :
“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.“
Who is laughing now?
During this crisis we have seen the need for Government and importantly the difference in good versus bad governance at national, state and local levels.
Government matters. Governance matters.
It is a life and death thing.
2.Expanded Healthcare: Regardless of who gets elected in 2020 we can expect to see significant expansion of health care benefits particularly to blue collar service and gig workers.
We are likely to finally understand that in a world that will require more mobility and flexibility we have to decouple affordable and comprehensive health care from being employed. This is good for business and good for society.
3. Optimizing for society not just consumer and business: Over the past few decades whether it be the government or judicial system there has been a tendency to favor decisions which benefit consumers or business.
Consumer and business will remain key drivers of economic growth, but we will now see the importance of society stakeholders like community, environment and employees.
Make America Well Again may replace Make America Great Again.
B. Businesses
Many businesses particularly smaller ones, may never recover from the shock of having to shut down for two to three months. Even, large established firms are going hat in hand for bailouts or imposing a combination of pay cuts, furloughs and mass layoff of employees to cut costs and drawing down every credit line they can to buy liquidity and time.
After going through such a near death and chastening experience business will re-invent the way they work in order to build in resilience in the following ways:
1.Re-architect to a smaller and/or different footprint: Bob Iger of Disney believes it will be very different in the future including have many fewer employees.
Companies will not bring back all the full time employees they have furloughed even if they can afford it because they will want to create a financial buffer for the future.
Anticipate a greater use of contract versus full time employees to allow one to flex staffing to changing circumstances.
Companies will also radically re-think all their real-estate needs and slash their travel budgets recognizing that not only many meetings can be done remotely but most business travel is not an efficient use of time.
Most importantly, companies will re-think their business models or be forced to do so because this great pause will lead to a great acceleration of change with any nay-sayers either seeing the light or the first to be let go.
2. Re-think supply chains: For the past decade off shoring and just in time supply chains have driven great speed and financial returns. The recent crisis has shown that the most efficient chain is the not the most resilient one and companies will now balance efficiency with resilience. They will carry more inventory and ensure multiple supply chains.
3. Hybrid versus Pure-breed: There is really “no digital “only or direct to consumer only. Majority of businesses will be a mix of analog and digital, direct to consumer and retail channel firms, full time and contractor businesses. For resilience you need optionality. To thrive one needs diversity of models.
4. Strong Balance Sheets will be cool again: With major well run Unicorns like AirBnb forced to borrow money at double digit rates of interest signal imply that lesser Unicorns dreams will pop. We will speak of “Pop”corns and not just Unicorns. The Soft Bank Vision fund will be revealed to be the Soft Bank Delusion Fund.
5. A New Set of Companies and Wealth Creation Opportunities will arise: In the debris of the Great Recession companies like Airbnb and Uber were forged as was Square, and technologies such as Blockchain and much more. One will see new companies being founded that are built using the current technologies and changed expectations of people.
C. Individuals/Employees
Over a four decade career I have seen a lot of changes and adapted to a lot of changes. Some of my distilled advice as 10 Career Lessons remains my most popular blog post and remains even more relevant today.
Like never before I believe every individual must recognize that a part of the Great Re-invention it is imperative to spend time rethinking their own careers. Let’s utilize this down time to begin to up skill in ways that will allow for resilience in times where there will be fewer and different full time jobs.
1.Upgrade Your Mental Operating System: Spend at least a few hours a day learning new skills when you have the time and there is a world of free resources and training. And when the world returns never stop learning. Whatever you are good at will likely erode in market value unless your replenish yourself.
One of the keys is to also ensure that you become “virtual certified” and can work in a world of distributed work forces. We will get back to offices but less than before both in numbers and the time we spend there. Here is how to ensure that you are seen as capable, trustworthy, empathetic, vulnerable and inspiring will be so key to your career.
2. Build a Brand: In a world where full time jobs are going to be fewer at least for a while you need to make sure that you have developed networks and a brand so that you retain optionality.
A recession is not just a time where smart brands who continue to market gain market share but it is where you can stand out. This is not the time to go into hiding or expect that when you return things will be the same.
3. Face the reality that you are likely to have little pricing power and may need to cut your own costs : When the economy opens up most businesses will find limited demand from customers combined with millions of people looking for work. This will be true at least for a year or two if not more. Those temporary pay cuts may not be temporary and the big bonuses of the past may remain memories as companies husband resources and face cost conscious customers.
You must find ways to cut your cost base wherever you can so that may build your reserves . This will also allow you to afford your next career which may have you start at lower level in growth industry, join one of the new next-generation start ups which will pay you a lower base but lots of options or finally follow the career you wanted but did not do because it did not pay big bucks.
No longer should you price yourself out of your dreams because of your cost structure. Could it be that you should be doing something else? Could Plan B or “one day I will” be really Plan A?
4. Change sucks but irrelevance is worse: While today is traumatic in both human and financial and career loss and the path forward will be uncertain and sometimes difficult we are likely to come out as a better people and society.
Every day you see this with the way people are stepping up and helping their neighbors and finding new ways and approaches to cope.
Humans adapt. Humans invent.
Humans are resilient.
And you are human.
The Great Re-Invention: Address Fragility
In 2008/2009 we lived through the Great Recession.
One way to frame the impact of the Covid-19 tragedy is to think about it as the start of the Great Re-invention.
Of Business, Of Government, Of Society.
And of our ourselves.
I believe the impact of this crisis will be greater than the ones I have lived through including the the dot.com bust, 9/11 and the Great Recession because it is a human, economic and social shock happening to everybody in the world, at the same time, for an extended period ( 8 to 12 weeks or more).
Peoples habits change if they repeat or stop a behavior for 60 or more days.
People’s mindsets change when they go through a severe shock.
Peoples relationships change when they get the opportunity to see, feel and think in new ways.
All this is happening to all of us.
Over the past few weeks I have read, researched and thought about the implications of our current tragedy in the future and will be publishing them here on this blog.
Predicting has always been a risky business and all futurists need to be humble since the tomorrow will prove them often wrong. This is particularly true today given the unprecedented circumstances. So in order to ground my observations I am beginning with what I believe is a key to understand and frame the way forward.
The first thing we all need to do is to address the reality of Fragility.
Human Fragility: If there was ever a doubt about the frailty of our bodies and minds and the reality that we all are carbon based feeling filled creatures with limited life spans and parts that go wrong, Covid-19 has brought us clarity. Never have so many people been so anxious, fearful and uncertain for their futures. Even the well to do who are working from home with financial reserves are stressed. As I remind people we are not working from home. We are working under duress in homes filled with children who should be at school, worried about parents and loved ones and our jobs, while being scared out of our wits via our television and social feeds and dealing with toilet paper shortages and the grocery trip as a hazardous life risking endeavor!
Economic Fragility: Tens of millions of businesses and hundreds of millions of people all over the world have less than two or three weeks of reserves after a decade of a booming economy. Huge corporations including airlines spent all their reserves buying back their stock and would go out of business without government help . The CEO’s who believed in free enterprise and told government to back off are going hat in hand and pleading for help.
Social Fragility: In the US about 16% of the population are immigrants but over 25% of the people who are working on the front lines whether it be delivery, warehouses, drivers or nurses are immigrants. In Chicago as I write this African-Americans are dying at a7X rate to the general population. The harsh downturn is impacting labor particularly gig workers, poor people and young people. The walls we put up thinking that we could live compartmentalized lives are eroding as it is becoming clear that we are all connected. Boris Johnson the Prime Minister of the UK is in intensive care as I write this
The Great Re-invention: Think Different. Feel Different. See Different.
As businesses and a society we need to think, see and feel differently to ensure that we work to re-invent our world in the light of the learnings of our fragility. This is likely to mean that successful businesses and leaders will acknowledge the following in all their behaviors, product development and messaging : Society, Safety and Security:
Society: We live in a society where we are all connected as people. We have to ensure we are optimizing for society and not just for consumers or businesses.
America is different from Europe with a rugged individualistic streak that is part of the national character but today when we see CEO’s who were capitalistic in boom times turn socialist when they run into trouble ( or as Professor Scott Galloway says they want to individualize the gains in good times for themselves but socialize the losses for everybody when things go wrong) or politicians who claimed had no money to address infrastructure or social issues but now have unlimited money will give people pause on nonsensical ideologies.
The days of pooh poohing government or causes that focus on common good are likely to pass. I anticipate a new found appreciation of blue collar workers and people on the front lines and would not be surprised to see increased unionization particularly among gig and warehouse workers.
Safety: This crisis has shown the most important asset is our health. It has placed a new spotlight on the importance of safety and the people who keep us safe.
Funding for some form of Universal Healthcare will become essential and new found appreciation for medical staff, first responders will remain long lasting. Too many people are too vulnerable and there will be a hunger to keep oneself and one’s family safe.
And Climate Change will be taken seriously for the first time by many deniers.
For a few months and maybe longer messaging will need to emphasize safety. Why is this conference safe. Why is this theater safe. How does our company keep you safe.
Security: A joint survey by the Financial Times and the Peter G Petersen Foundation released this morning indicated “how widespread the pandemic’s economic impact has become, with almost as many families making more than $100,000 a year reported a hit to their income (71 per cent), as those making less than $50,000 (74 per cent). Similarly, 53 per cent of those making less than $50,000 said they would lose their pay if illness forced them to stop work, while 47 per cent of those making more than $100,000 were in the same boat.”
People all over the world at all income groups will feel far more financially insecure after Covid-19 than before it. The Millennials burdened with student debt and facing a constrained market for employment will feel particularly vulnerable and older retirees are facing lower retirement balances, zero to negative interest rates on savings and the possibility of higher inflation as 6 trillion dollars in the US flows through the system.
As businesses restart up they will have limited to no pricing power since their customers will watch their spending and will be needed to be incentivized to re-start behaviors they may have given up.
Society. Safety. Security.
In conclusion a key to driving the Great Re-invention will be to focus on society and how you are serving society while helping peoples ( customers, employees, stakeholders) need for the safety of their and their families health and the need for financial security.
The Great Re-Invention: Constrained Growth
Today’s constraints on our physical movements can provide the opportunity to enlarge our mental and emotional capabilities to such an extent that it may lead to a great re-invention.
Emotionally the crucible of change we are in can make us feel differently about our lives, our connections and our work.
Mentally the stress in the foundry of uncertainty will twist our thinking in one or more ways as we seek to make sense of what has happened and plans for when the constraints lift.
In many ways it will make us appreciate what we took for granted
In others as we forgo certain behaviors and have the time to ponder and ruminate on our previous days, we may question why we did certain things
We will question many aspects of our lives and we will make resolutions
And many of these resolutions in some form or the other are likely to stick unlike those we make for New Years because for 6 to 12 weeks we will be forced to do things differently day after day and this is how new habits form.
And unlike previous events like 9/11 or The Great Recession, Covid-19 is a health, financial and social crisis that is happening to every single person in the world at about the same time for at least three months.
Every one of us will adapt, evolve and meld different versions of ourselves and interact with a world of people and institutions that are different.
And while it is likely that for the majority of us the world, we emerge will be more constrained due to lower financial assets, fewer job opportunities (if we are lucky to have jobs) and many other challenges, we have the opportunity to upgrade our mental and operating system.
We may have gone into this crisis as MS-DOS and focused on the narrow corridors of ourselves but if we spend the next few weeks correctly, we could come out as Windows 10 and expanded Horizon.
So, let us use these constraints to ask three questions.
How can I use the next few weeks to do some of those promises I made to myself I would do if I had more time? Culture to ingest, skills to learn, dreams to forge into reality.
What is important and if I had half the time and half the choices what would stay and what would go?
What if the opposite of what I believe is true?
The constraints we are living in cannot be changed and is out of our control.
On the other hand, our tomorrow’s self is more under our control.
Maybe instead of thinking of this as the Constrained Era of Covid-19 we reframe it as the Era of the Great Re-invention.
Of Business, Of Government, Of Society.
Diverse Faces are not the same as Diverse Voices
This article was first published in AdExchanger.
All leaders, and particularly those in marketing and media, face many challenges today, including organizational designs built for the past vs. the present, hierarchical command-and-control management styles that do not resonate with a new generation and employees who question their intent.
One key change that companies are making to address these issues is to ensure that they have a more diverse work force that will resonate with the marketplace and with their talent.
Ensuring diversity is not just the right thing to do, but is proven to be good for the bottom line as a representative workforce is a competitive advantage when talent is key, change is widespread and new ways of looking at things become critical.
However, ensuring a diversity of faces is a necessary but insufficient step. Not only do companies need different faces around the table, but they also need diversity in thinking. We need to ensure that every person in a firm and around the table has a voice.
Most importantly, it is critical to have voices that can speak truth to power, question the status quo, call out potential issues and be heard without the risk of being punished.
Today in the field of marketing and technology, there are huge issues that need to be discussed including a) the control major platforms have over marketers, who find themselves with limited data and customer relationships; b) how advertising technology built for engagement has become a society operating system that has created polarization and a breakdown in trust; and c) the long-term secular decline of advertising, which will be accelerated by cheap, ad-free streaming services.
There are voices that question and have suggestions on how to solve or mitigate these issues.
If such voices were listened to, many companies, such as Wells Fargo and possibly Boeing, would not have suffered their reputational and market valuation losses. There were people who knew there were issues, but they either kept quiet or were silenced or ignored.
For true diversity it is key that people can call out the turd on the table when everyone else is celebrating what looks like a delicious brownie.
This is very difficult since the issues being called out are challenging. Financial impropriety. Cutting corners to make deadlines, which hurts product or service quality. Loathsome behavior by management. Incompetence in adapting to change.
In addition to the difficulty of speaking out, there is the risk of job loss, increased workload to fix the problem, career blackballing and, of course, the possibility of being wrong.
But speaking one’s mind is not just important in helping to avoid big problems or issues. It also creates an environment that helps day-to-day business.
Increases effectiveness of teams: The best teams feel connected to each other and feel a sense of empathy and trust. Straight talk helps foster these qualities.
Gets to the root of problems: Continuous improvement is critical in a fast-moving competitive age. This means identifying threats, weaknesses and issues. These are much easier to do when voices are not stifled.
Fosters creativity and innovation: For great ideas and creativity we need trampolines of trust and an environment where disruptors can disrupt without having their lives and careers disrupted.
Speaking up is difficult in all circumstances but particularly if management and the culture is not supportive.
Studying many companies and organizations, including firms as diverse as Pixar and the Navy Seals, has revealed some best practices that one can unleash to encourage diversity of voice.
Ask everyone to speak, from the most junior to the most senior.
Celebrate truth-tellers and status quo breakers when they are right with promotions and financial rewards.
Bring in outside speakers and truth-tellers to share cases from outside and run workshops.
After each project ask how things could have been done better.
Management should ask people to build a case for why the decision being taken by management is wrong. A postmortem before the project has begun allows people to say what they need to.
Being sensitive to diversity of voices as much as to diversity of faces will ensure long-term success for companies.
Rishad Tobaccowala ( @rishad ) is the author of the bestselling “Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data” published by Harper Collins globally in January 2020. It has been described as an “operating manual” for managing people, teams and careers in the age we live in. This article is a segment from the chapter “The Turd on the Table”