{"id":73,"date":"2020-05-13T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T01:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.praxonomy.com\/blog\/?p=73"},"modified":"2021-03-24T15:47:13","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T07:47:13","slug":"shaping-and-creating-the-new-normal-for-boards-post-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.praxonomy.com\/blog\/shaping-and-creating-the-new-normal-for-boards-post-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaping and Creating the New Normal for Boards Post COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been encountering the phrase \u201cNew Normal<\/em><\/strong>\u201d on a daily basis \u2013 especially as we enter our 3rd<\/sup> or 4th<\/sup> month of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Most of the changes in the way that we live or work have been driven by the extremely damaging effect of the virus and its dire impact on the human population. We have changed our behaviour dramatically, but our need and\/or desire to connect with each other has remained strong. Whether that is for social or business reasons, we have seen a rapid uptake of conferencing tools like Skype, Zoom, etc. As evidence of that, consider the sales of webcams for your computer; they\u2019re selling out everywhere. This is becoming the New Normal, at least for now.<\/p>\n

The question that we need to ask ourselves is: what would we like the New Normal to be? Will we gradually slip back into our old behaviours and ways of working, or will we seize the opportunity presented by this terrible virus to make more longer lasting changes to how we work and play?<\/p>\n

On the business side of the equation, what will the New Normal look like? More importantly, what do we want it to look like?<\/p>\n

I found this article from McKinsey<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

One of their summary comments stood out to me:<\/p>\n

This much is certain: when we finally enter into the post-crisis period, the business and economic context will not have returned to its pre-crisis state. Executives preparing their organizations to succeed in the new normal must focus on what has changed and what remains basically the same for their customers, companies, and industries. The result will be an environment that, while different from the past, is no less rich in possibilities for those who are prepared.<\/em><\/p>\n

Board Activities In The New Normal<\/h2>\n

In the context of board meetings, what would we have learned about running more efficient, more effective meetings enabled by technology?<\/p>\n

We need to critically study what worked better:<\/p>\n

There are the benefits of less travel, resulting in better use of individuals\u2019 time. Additionally, there is a diminished reliance on building or meeting rooms, which makes one wonder how much actual office space is needed in the future. Also, the fact that we have held more meetings remotely has probably resulted in paperless briefing documents.<\/p>\n

We can also consider the matters we can improve on:<\/p>\n

Is there a way to efficiently create and distribute information? As most of us are painfully aware, good internet access and bandwidth are critical to the success of video conferencing. How well have these worked during this period, and what could we do to improve them?<\/p>\n

I pose this question: how will you engage your organisation in a discussion around creating a New Normal?<\/p>\n

We are living in strange times. Nothing feels the same, but we are coping. We are all still gaining experience working in new ways that may be more structurally sound for our businesses moving forward. As the restrictions on travel and work are relaxed, we have the opportunity to shape new processes. By maintaining some of the innovative ways of working and capitalising on experience, we can establish a New Normal \u2013 one that makes us more effective and efficient.<\/p>\n

Creating The New Normal<\/h2>\n

I found the following article on the Bain Company website which looks at the learning points gained, so far, during the COVID-19 pandemic, titled \u201cCovid-19: Building a Digital Bridge to the New Normal<\/a><\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I would recommend reading the full article, but I will draw your attention to the 6th<\/sup> point that is made:<\/p>\n6. Embrace the agile, distributed workforce<\/em><\/strong>
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Leaders are quickly building new ways of working for their distributed teams that reduce costs and enable their businesses to move faster. This entails deploying digital tools that go beyond teleconferencing to improve how the organization plans, collaborates, innovates and executes. As a result, these new ways of working already have many businesses feeling more, not less, efficient. (Read more in our <\/em>Harvard Business Review<\/em><\/a><\/span> article about how leading companies have embraced Agile principles.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Our world will be increasingly made up of teams that operate remotely, hence distributed solutions and systems will be key.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a further look at how things might, or can, evolve in the New Normal.<\/p>\n

Meetings: Face-to-face vs. Virtual<\/h2>\n

Boards are likely to question the reason why they need to get together in one place, when they can make better use of their time by holding board meetings virtually.<\/p>\n

Has technology advanced sufficiently that we now feel more comfortable holding meetings virtually? I still believe that face-to-face dynamics are an important aspect of forging good, strong, effective teams, so perhaps a mix of virtual meetings and some meetings held in one physical space might be the way to go.<\/p>\n

Remote meetings, and how they are currently being managed and facilitated, can be studied and reviewed. In a blog article from last November, we looked at Best Practices: Facilitating Virtual Meetings<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Remote meetings bring their own set of challenges:<\/p>\n