Mike, Author at The Third Zone

Jan 26 2021

A Revamped ‘Normal’ Requires A Revamped Approach to Doing Business

The words ‘Pandemic’ and ‘COVID’ became new ones in our vocabulary that most of us have never used or thought of. And yet … now a year later after having been clobbered by them … they are front and center for the impact they have had on our lives in so many ways. Perhaps the biggest challenge for all businesses in moving forward is to understand and react to the impact that our new reality is going to have on the customers we want and need.

There have been two potential impacts on organizations. One is a business that has had the good fortune of being one considered to be essential and thus, has been able to thrive during this time. Or there are the businesses that have suffered in ways that have brought great struggles from barely getting by to going out of business. However, regardless of category, ALL businesses in the coming ‘new normal’ are susceptible to ongoing challenge IF they fail to recognize the changes that their customers have undergone. ALL businesses can only count on a rosy future to the extent they understand and anticipate how COVID has impacted and changed the expectations, habits and needs of the very people they count on to do business … the customers.

WHAT ARE THE REALITIES THAT BUSINESSES MUST ACCEPT?

There are several customer realities that will require adaptations in order to attract, retain and satisfy them. The fact is that COVID-19 has had an impact that will last well beyond the distribution of a successful vaccine. It appears that so many have come to realize that the way they lived their lives through 2019 is no longer a requirement to having a happy life. This past year has required changes that many ‘customers’ now say they actually like and appreciate. Here are some thought provoking realities that will need to be seriously considered as businesses of all types as they re-design and prepare for the emerging ‘next normal’.

Discretionary spending is not likely to go back to what it was
Rather, the uncertainty created this past year forced people to budget to a greater extent. It exposed us first-hand to what the lack of a
contingency plan … the ‘what if’ plan … can create. It is anticipated that when COVID is under control later this year many of customers will not easily forget and vow to never be in this same situation again.
Loyalty to specific product brands was relaxed out of absolute need
Often we have certain product brands we have liked and to which we have been loyal. Loyal, that is, until our focus on spending created in a large part by the uncertainty surrounding our lives and livelihoods. This, in turn, inspired a flexibility that was simply necessary. Not only did we find ways to save money … we discovered products that we liked costing less that the cost of blind loyalty.
Trips to our favorite stores or malls gave way to on-line shopping
The advisability for social distancing, the fear of transmission of the virus coming at us and wanting to stay safe in general gave a boon to on-line shopping that made it seem like Christmas every month. And now, with having learned that the process of doing so is efficient coupled with the ability to return unwanted items rather easily this is bound to remain a part of the next normal.
Products and services will need to be altered recognizing the changed customer
Perhaps it means finding less expensive ways to produce the product a
company makes. Perhaps it is creating new products or versions of them that show a recognition of revamped needs or limitations of one’s customers. Only a willingness to do so will increase the likelihood of post-COVID success.
Customers are more cautious. The organization must respect and lead the path
When the company’s customers emerge into this revamped world, the companies need to aggressively make decisions and changes that will allow them to be of the same mindset and drive as their customers. Perhaps they will no longer need the same amount of space from which to operate. Many have already invested in making it possible for the employees to function very effectively from i.e., homes. As such the efficiencies have already been proven and in many cases the employees have become more productive.

HOW MUST BUSINESSES MOVE FORWARD TO REMAIN VIABLE?

Here is the point. All indications are that we are headed toward a revamped sense of normal. We can wish for ‘yesterday’ to return allowing us to just live as we have been used to living. Yet, it’s quite clear that this will remain a wish never to be realized. Just as COVID-19 pitched the world from all vantage points into uncharted waters, the organizations that approaches them with a true spirit of reinvention is doing what needs to be done if they are to remain viable in the world of our future.

Today, in January of the new year, the pandemic is not finished. In fact, it’s

rearing its’ head to heights beyond what we have experienced last year. Still, the development of a protective treatment in the form of a vaccine represents a light at the end of this lengthy and dark tunnel. Any business plan developed for this year is going to need to be dynamic in nature if it is to have true meaning. It must continue to change as any organization sees and experiences the twists and turns that are bound to continue for much of the year. Companies must outmaneuver uncertainty by course correcting, again and again as circumstances change. This requires them to reassess assumptions, re-evaluate scenarios and strengthen their ability to sense and respond.
Mike Dorman

Jan 13 2021

Adapting One’s Leadership Style to a Post-COVID World

light at tunnels end 2

A New Year. A light at the end of a very-long tunnel. Anxious and anticipating a return to something we will recognize as being normal. This most likely describes many of us as individuals. Businesses are also anxiously looking for some semblance of normalcy that is going to need to incorporate some of the learning that has been done by organizations and its’ members for them to once again feel like they are back in the driver’s seat.

But what exactly does this mean? Businesses fortunate enough to have
been able to survive the last many months have done so operating in a changed world. Much has taken place in companies that functioned remotely. Meetings that we often a routine way of life have been greatly reduced in number and length. Communication within many organizations has been streamlined both in length and audience. To think that normal means operating as we did prior to March 2020 is to open the doors to resistance and even failure.

What is the question we must answer and what are the answers?

So, the question becomes what does effective and successful leadership require in the eventual post-COVID world? Whether leading a company, a division, a department or project team leading into the future simply must consider and recognize the various changes that the world and those in it have undergone … changes that we are not so fast to give up as well as those that need to be recognized and respected.

Here are some aspects that effective leading will need to recognize and honor:

Recognize the need for and create new rules that govern team interaction
It may have taken several months for team members to learn how to

be effective in their responsibilities and today … almost a year later … the learning has been accomplished. Things like working remotely and how to effectively communicate and interact with others has begun to work well. Leading successfully will require altering methods and ways that will honor these learned changes.
Concern with well-being of team members moves way up on the focus scale
Expectations to simply show up and do one’s job isn’t touching the reality of todays world. Recognition of what team members might have going on outside of the job is not only needed. It will go far to generate the loyalty and commitment to the work that needs to be accomplished. Having the boss express interest and concern further aligns one the realities of today’s world.

Invite and encourage team involvement in company or departmental decisions
Sending down decisions from the old ivory tower has gone out of fashion over time. Today, in this post-COVID world, having understanding and buy-in from the team members takes on a new importance. Seeking and receiving the opinions from them achieves a sense of buy-in at the same time it garners enthusiasm to achieve the goal simply because “I was asked and heard”.
Being both flexible and adaptable becomes a foundation of a leadership style
If we’ve learned little else this past year it is that clearly, rigidity simply is not compatible with today’s reality. As we never imagined last March the true impact with which we would need to deal in our personal and work lives, we have, perhaps painfully, learned that the
‘best laid plans …’ are not a certainty. Thus, leaders must remain open to fact and information that may well require change … often with little notice. Accepting this as the new norm enables us to watch for it and react quickly.
Humility is a trait that redefines what an effective leader offers … and necessary
To the extent that one interpreted being the leader as conveying the extent of one’s experience and knowledge that would get others to
willingly follow, that simply isn’t as effective going forward. Just as what COVID-19 did to most all aspects of our lives, we came to learn quickly that so much of our knowledge and experience just wasn’t applicable. It wasn’t something we could use to guide us through these turbulent waters. Effectively leading is going to require that leaders be willing learners and listeners as well
Maintain an active eye on what is and anticipated to emerge in the future
One thing we have all come to recognize is that change can happen in the relative blink of an eye. We simply cannot presume that the plan we laid out for the year is certain to happen with dedication and effort of all those charged with the task of making it happen. Rather, going forward the leader who accepts and anticipates the real possibility of changes that will imposed on us will be better able to respond sooner and more effectively.

Without a doubt these changes in effective leadership are not the only ones. They are, however, foundational, and thus, especially important for those leading organizations, departments or teams. Although we have a light at the tunnel’s end given the development and distribution of a vaccine, there is no source saying it’s over … we’re done. Rather a key lesson that hopefully we have learned is that there is no guarantee of anything going on in our lives to be there tomorrow. To the extent we’ve learned and accepted that, we are going to retake the reins of our lives … both from a business and personal standpoint.
Mike Dorman

Dec 16 2020

Forget Traditional New Year Resolutions! Just Carry Forward Learnings of 2020 and Implement Them

There have always been those who are die-hard New Years Resolution makers. And even though, it’s well determined that by the middle of January the largest number of these resolves have fallen off the map. However, it appears this year, as we approach 2021, many people are clearly focused on individual learning take-aways from 2020 that they want to carry forward into the new year and even those beyond. Be them things they have learned as related to their job, business, family or friends, it is hoped that these are things that will significantly minimize ever having to live through what 2020 has delivered. In swapping the resolutions of things we want to do … i.e. joining a gym, losing weight or finding a new job … to those aimed at implementing what we have learned in getting through this year is the focus of many. Our learning encompasses all areas of our lives.

I have little doubt that in reviewing the following things you will be able to resolution sign add to your personal list. Given that we are still a couple of weeks away from the new year, I, for one, think that it will be a valuable topic of discussion. Here are some worth consideration.

Be ready for anything … and be flexible
While we personally or business-wise may have felt like we had contingency or rainy-day plans, nowhere did our experience lead us to create concrete emergency plans due to something that impacted our lives on every level.
The Carry forward? – redefine what preparedness would mean for us personally and in all aspects of our lives.
Create a cash emergency fund
Feeling we have enough money to put something aside if a COVID style emergency were to arise can’t be taken for granted as a given. It must become a serious consideration and decision if we truly don’t want to experience the same degree of uncertainty and worry.
The Carry forward? – Regardless of the amount, having anything … something … that will allow us to live our lives with knowing that we have some bandwidth is critical. It can serve to stave off immediate panic while we contemplate our next steps and allow some time to create and act on a plan or possible solution.

Bring budgeting into your world
Maybe before this year we were doing well enough to live and enjoy the kind of life we envisioned. We didn’t foresee any real changes and only anticipated that we would advance our income. However, 2020 taught us all how wise it is to expect the unexpected.
The carry forward? in our work and maybe even enjoying dual incomes into our homes we learned that we had best be prepared for unimagined issues for we now know that unimagined doesn’t mean impossible.

Working remotely is beyond doable
What began as something unimaginable and unworkable emerged into a situation wherein employees and their employers came to realize the array of benefits to both. There is evidence that for many the past beliefs and approach to working and running a business is no longer valid. In fact, remote work is preferable in so many situations.
The carry forward? – Remote working can be both effective and efficient in ways never envisioned. For the company to require less physical space and for the employee to enjoy reduced costs related to the likes of commuting time and office attire needs is a win for all.

Being around others when sick isn’t cool!
How many times have you socialized with friends or been at work wherein someone was there who was ill? Of course, they felt they were better and no risk and their boredom or feeling the need to get the project out drive them to be among others. COVID has shown us differently.
The carry forward? – We have not all experienced the danger of being around those who ignore their own health. As such, they move forward based on their own desires or sense of responsibility and COVID has demonstrated the need for the greater good in our thinking and decision making.

Social interaction is a need to be respected
As human beings most of us have a need for human interaction. It’s also our desire and with the water cooler gone or the restaurants and gyms closed we have had to devise ways to satisfy ourselves to create such opportunities.
The carry forward? – The world of zoom has done much to narrow the gap. In organizations it allows us to come together and conduct business and has been found to create a more efficient atmosphere. On a personal level it has allowed us to stay connected to friends and family beyond what we may have enjoyed previously.

NOT Being techno savvy is much less of an option … and that’s good
With the never-ending rollout of new and enhanced technology designed to make our lives easier, faster or more efficient, so many have adopted a maxed-out mindset. “I like my old way and am tired of always having to learn to do things differently just because it’s there” has been heard often. Working remotely has forced so many to learn different technology in order to keep up. And if our children are at school remotely, we have come to realize how much they know and how easy it is for them to learn using these new tools. Thus, we have been forced to learn what they know just to be able to help them.
The carry forward? – Realizing that being resistant to new technology has been an added disadvantage and challenge this year and should increase our willingness to learn to use it.

Reinvent ourselves and allow flexibility to be our driver
COVID turned so much of our known habits and routines on their ear. Did we really ever imagine we would be going to work … at home? Or did we ever think that we might become teachers? Or did we ever envision meeting a friend for a glass of wine would take place via zoom? And yet there we have been. Forced to step out of various comfort zones and just do what had to be done.
The carry forward? – hold onto to the flexibility we were forced to incorporate. Doing so enhances our value to our work and to deepening relationships.

Boxing legend Mike Tyson once said: “Everybody has a plan until they get think about things differently 1 punched in the mouth.” While we may feel that we always had some sort of contingency plan to deal with the ‘what ifs’, this year has taught us that COVID-19 has done exactly that to us in different ways. Taking real advantage of what we have all learned pertaining to our individual worlds is to reduce the terrifying impact of any future pandemic and in the meantime improve our day to day lives. Putting 2020 in the rearview in this way seems like a great resolution! On your way to the New Year, enjoy a safe holiday.
Mike Dorman

Dec 02 2020

The Learning from COVID-19 That Can Benefit our Businesses, Jobs and Lives

It is probably safe to say that for many of us the new year … 2021 … can’t arrive soon enough. Regardless of one’s personal opinion of the s 2021 sign eriousness of COVID and what protocols should or shouldn’t be followed the fact remains that this has had an impact on our lives in a way that we have NEVER experienced previously regardless of anyone’s age. That we have and are enduring upheaval to what we had known as our ‘normal’ way of life has resulted in extreme challenges across the board. 2021 is a year that we hope can bring a solution to the pandemic and the news in this sense is positive.

new normal rock

Still and as much as we may want to shut the door on impacts that range from inconveniences to significant hardships new normal rock that this has imposed, there has been meaningful learning that is bound to influence the ‘new normal’ that we seem headed to establish. It’s a ‘normal’ that will reflect the lessons that we have learned and experienced while in the throws of COVID and in several ways, that turns out to be a good thing.

Here are some of the things that those working in and/or operating a business want to carry forward in a post-COVID era. They reflect some of the positive impact that this pandemic has had. Still I expect that you will find agreement of these key things as summarized below that were identified by David Petkau in writing for North Carolina Blue Cross. And, although identified in March of this year, now, 9 months later, these things have more application than ever.

We must all work together
COVID-19 is making clear just how vital cooperation, compromise and flexibility are in a crisis, particularly in combating the spread of a serious illness. In the business community, our collective priority must be the well-being of the people we serve. Self-interest – even at a corporate level – is self-defeating.
- Regardless of what else might be going on we must continue to put our customers front and center
- What changes must be implemented that allow employees to continue to be productive regardless of other realities with which they need to contend.
- The focus on the people who are doing the work has taken on a new emphasis and catering to their needs that allow them to be very productive while still dealing with ‘life’ is key.
We can be productive while working from homeAlthough off to a rough start, these many months later many organizations have learned that their employees can be every bit as productive working from home as being in the office. COVID-19 forced many to put in place new policies that could remain permanent as both employers and employees become more comfortable with working from home.
- The investment that many companies have made to help team members establish a home-based work area with the technology and related tools they would need to be effective appears to have paid off. The benefit to a company and employee is one that many indicate will become a part of their new work culture.
There is no substitute for a good crisis plan
Having a ‘Plan B’ or alternative plan to enable fast response to an unforeseen potential or even one that can be seen as possible has always seemed just smart business. COVID-19 has served to reinforce the wisdom of creating such a plan and it doesn’t need to be only in the event of the next pandemic.
- With each passing month, more and more organizations have seen the wisdom and necessity of creating such a ‘plan B’ for any type of unplanned event that can impact that business … its’ people, customer or product.
Communication is key
At the heart of any crisis response is communication, both internally and externally. As a business, your employees need to know what’s happening and why as Petkau identifies. COVID-19 has brought with it the importance of effective and efficient communication adapted to the reality of people working remotely.
- Methods of communicating have been adapted to a work force that is operating remotely to a large extent.
- Organizations have reevaluated both the needed frequency and the extent of involvement required to make the desired progress. Thus, meetings have been streamlined in terms of length, frequency and participation needed to accomplish the goal.
Businesses must be nimblePredictability is a key ingredient to business success. And predictability went straight out the window with the arrival of COVID-19. Flexibility has come front and center as a key to surviving and thriving in this era.
- The day-to-day or month-to-month uncertainty have become an expected part of this landscape and this has introduced many to living and accepting the need to make decisions quickly to stay on top of the challenges.
- None of this is particularly easy, but being nimble means doing what is necessary to meet customer needs today and positioning a business for recovery and success tomorrow.

I think it’s very safe to say that the COVID crisis will pass. As we have tried to figure out how to best get through all that it has imposed on us there is no question that we will have learned things about ourselves, our families, our business and our jobs. We will have learned to build up a degree of tolerance that enabled us to come out on the other side. We will have learned …

about resetting priorities, realigning finances, and even rethinking careers
to reprioritize relationships with family, friends and co-workers.
happiness doesn’t require us to spend the amount of money we’re used to spending
we need to have some financial reserve to see us through unplanned tough times
having back-up plans are both important and valuable
yes … our teachers are extremely important and valuable
we are all equal when it comes to having lives overturned and challenged

world upside down

There is no one to argue that COVID-19 has turned worlds upside down. And yet, when we consider so much valuable learning that has emanated from these most challenging times and provided we use it to formulate the ‘new normal’ of the future in 2021 we’re able to see and realize the good of which we have been left.
Mike Dorman

Oct 28 2020

Can’t Wait For the ‘Old Normal’ of Work to return? Don’t Count On It and That’s Not All Bad

With each day, week or month that passes more and more of us are chomping at the bit for the return of normalcy related to our work among other aspects of our lives. Being able to go to our offices, having children back in a real classroom, being able to openly socialize and in general, live the life we know and like is the vision of which many dream. This vision is the one thing that helps us endure the way we have been forced to live. Give me back the ‘Old Normal” and I can happily return to the life I now realize I like more than ever.

But maybe … just maybe … this is a ‘not so fast’ situation. We have been living in the current ‘new normal’ for some 8+ months. There appears to be a good likelihood that there are at least the same number of months ahead before there is a protective treatment. At last we will be able to return to a way of life using all the methods and procedures that made up our lives pre-COVID, Sounds great
huh? And yet not very realistic for whereas businesses have had to alter the ways in which they conducted business, employees have had to adapt to them and many months later we have begun settling in somewhat successfully … not by our choices but rather by necessity.

What are the emerging new realities?

The realities that are emerging include …

Businesses have come to realize that many of the positions and jobs held in the organization do not have to be carried out in the office. Rather and as long as many have access to all of the tools that enable them to function to the fullest, business is happening and successfully so.
Employees have come to realize that as long as they have settled into the home-based routine and created the spacetherein to enable them to be productive in ways they had been at their office desk, they can now choose to live in an area that is not governed by proximity to the workplace and that has provided some attractive alternatives in terms of locale and financial impact.
As a result of how all in the company are learning how to be effective in their work outside of the physical location of the business, the organization is moving to reducing the amount of space they have and therefore reducing their costs as a benefit.
Companies have been forced and have learned to value the cutting through of various old methods and practices that slowed down the progress they desired and actually achieved. Think lengthy meetings or the number of meetings that used to be routine.

What Does Normal of the Future Look Like?

With this being the case today what can we expect the next ‘normal’ will be like and the requirements that might impose on organizations and those who work within them? As more and more organizations settle into the reality of what is happening today and buy into the need of employees working remotely in the future, they are creating plans for their businesses once COVID-19 is under some effective treatment control. Here are changes we can anticipate that will, in fact, create the ‘normal’ of tomorrow:

Companies are going to invest in providing their home-based team with the tools and access that will enable all to function at the highest possible level of productivity. Some of this has begun given the COVID realities that created home-based work as the norm. Think the likes of … ~Policy and procedure manuals ~ Presentation templates and supplies ~ Mail supplies and stationery ~ Software programs ~ Corporate credit card
Companies are beginning to provide furniture and equipment that mimics what one would have at the office to maximize functionality and comfort. This tremendously improves the many forced to work at home in created make-shift working areas and furniture needed to function (think dining room tables),
Firms are and will need to provide company-owned computers that provide necessary access where needed as we look to the future. This, rather than requiring employees to use their own personal equipment. Today and for the past many months home-based workers have often used their own personal computers which creates both an inconvenience and security concern from both vantage points. In creating the ‘next’ new normal, they are making certain that the home-based team has the proper bandwidth and internet connectivity to maximize their productive efficiency.
Organizations are establishing productivity standards by which all remote employees will be expected to follow.In doing so, structure will be provided that can, actually, contribute to greater individual and collective success. What type of daily communication is needed? What are the time parameters for responding to emails? What kind of end-of-day report would be beneficial to the leaders that keep them up to date on where projects and progress remains?
Establishing organized and specific times and days of team interaction. This acknowledges that being a remote-based organization eliminates the ease and convenience of being able to converse with others on a happenstance or when needed basis. Therefore, creating specific days and times to provide updates to others who need to know is and will be key. It also affords the opportunity to seek needed input from others that can advance the success of the efforts being made.
Communicate with remote staff frequently. What issues or challenges are they experiencing? What are the bottlenecks they have encountered and their suggestions as to what could remove then? What is their next step for further development and how the organization can facilitate that happening?
Encourage team members to provide their ideas for improvement. Although a home-based employee is not new, today’s situation has taken this to an unprecedented level and that has demanded the creation of new norms and methods. The change will be an evolution of ideas the trial and error that will continue to improve results.

As we have all experienced for much of 2020, change is a challenge and although it can and does cause disruption of what we accepted as normal, we have had no choice but to adapt. And now, as organizations have become somewhat used to doing their business in this way, they and their teams are seeing the opportunities that this has created. Previously this would have been considered unthinkable and unrealistic. Now that they have become today’s norm, many are seeing the wisdom that has been created as we all move forward. Getting to work from home? Getting to live in an area that we choose irrespective of where our organization is located? Having more choice and having greater balance in our life? Like I said … it’s not all bad and on the way to making it even better. To quote George Bernard Shaw, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”. And so we are challenged!
Mike Dorman

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