This is the fourth in Forum Solutions’ five-part series: Business Value Creation - Post Pandemic, designed to help businesses create value in the wake of COVID.

Innovative ways of doing business are outcomes of economic downturns. Square, Venmo, Uber, and Slack were all formed in the wake of the 2008 US recession as new needs emerged. This economic downturn is no different - companies will require greater innovation to thrive.

In our experience, effective innovation requires:
1) clear expectations in an established structure
2) delegated decision-making to enhance speed and
3) supporting holistic employee well-being

When combined, these three elements foster exploration, expand creativity, and improve individual and group problem solving.

The modern workforce provides more flexibility in how, when, and sometimes where work is done. This future model enables employees to work during the hours that make them most productive – larks could work in the morning hours and night owls in the evening hours. How do you measure productivity in a virtual setting with a workforce who has different styles of working?

Productivity stems directly from clear organizational priorities and the ability to translate those into meaningful contributions at the front-line level. Business success and productivity measurement is not simply a reflection of traditional performance indicators. The ability to successfully execute such an exercise must be intentional. Mindfully adjusting how and when employees perform their work will increase productivity if it includes ways employees can engage with others in the organization.

Leaders must build both Organizational Productivity and Individual Productivity through new norms that foster both.

Organizational Productivity

Leaders need to ensure that employee objectives are clearly aligned with company values & goals, especially in virtual environments where “water cooler” conversations have become nonexistent. Leaders in remote environments need to set their teams up for success by 1) reinforcing company goals more regularly; 2) be explicit on how decisions will be made and 3) demonstrating company values in the process. Alignment to company values fosters a greater sense of connection within an organization, increases productivity, and ensures outcomes are in line with company culture.

The capacity of an organization to produce desired results requires interconnected resources marching in the same direction and communicating via a strong network.

Support entrepreneurial thinking and innovation by formulating smaller teams with shared aspirational goals and enable the teams to work together to achieve those goals. Understand and embrace diverse teams with different working modalities – introverts/extroverts, larks/night owls. Employees in remote environments may be experiencing bliss or torture in a virtual environment. Collaboration is more than just a tool – it is a demonstration of behaviors and norms. Tools should support employee-peer interaction but not replace human connections.

The culture of a company comes to life in peer relationships.

Individual Productivity & Holistic Well-being

In the wake of a pandemic and the shift to virtual workforces, leaders need to model and deliberately support employee well-being and engagement. Trust and confidence in how businesses protect an employee’s well-being will define how an employee engages with and contributes towards the organization’s continued success. Building that trust and confidence must be intentional. Individual needs may have shifted post-pandemic and employees may need help recognizing and understanding the shift. Employee well-being - including physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health need to all be supported.

Physical – Humans are meant to move. We are not our most creative when sitting at a desk all day. We need to provide ourselves with healthy fuel, consistently practice a sleep ritual, exercise to build endurance and promote mental and emotional recovery. Leaders should consider an Agile approach to meetings: shorter durations on a more frequent basis for ongoing projects. Consider regular 15-minute project standups, conduct “moving 1:1’s” where you both get away from the desk and move – even if it is on a treadmill or on walks in different cities.

Emotional –In virtual settings, employees need to set clear boundaries between work and home to allow themselves to recharge emotionally – such as setting an end of day and sticking to it, and closing the door on (or putting away) work when the day is done. Leaders need to encourage employees to build strong relationships with their peers and those in their lives, while establishing boundaries between work and leisure.
Mental – Studies have shown that more efficient use of less time, not more time, produces more creative solutions. Workers need mental oscillation, or cycles away from work to allow their creativity to emerge. Leaders should encourage employees to take breaks every 90-120 minutes, or to make time for themselves for 15 minutes 2x/day for a mental break. This can be as easy as taking a quick walk, enjoying a cup of tea or coffee or meditation.
Spiritual – When employees tap into their personal values and sense of purpose and can connect those to the work they do, they produce significantly higher quality of output. Leaders should ask employees to reflect on their personal values, what motivates and drives them and ask them how they will enable those values to be reflected in the work they do and how they give to others.

The workforce of the future that needs to be deliberately cultivated by fostering innovation, creativity, problem solving and exploration enabling your employees and organization to thrive.

Forum Solutions’ five-part series: Business Value Creation - Post Pandemic includes:

Forum Solutions is a management consulting company that helps Seattle’s business and nonprofit leaders to build and implement effective strategies for transformative growth and sustainable results. Forum offers clients the right skills for every job: strategic expertise, lean execution, and agile resourcing – improving businesses at any level – from the executive suite to the individual contributor.

Business Value Creation – Post Pandemic: Establishing a Modern Workforce

Business Value Creation – Post Pandemic: Building Business Resiliency

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