Corona has changed the world. The first people are slowly returning from their home offices. But everyone and forever? The coronavirus crisis has shown the following:
- Employees working from home were forced to deal with digital formats
- Fears of contact were reduced as a result
- The virtual work has worked
- Companies can save a lot of costs by working virtually: Travel costs, office costs, material costs
Certainly not everyone will be happy working from home
- Not everyone has a study at their disposal that allows them to work undisturbed
- A lot of content is difficult to transport virtually
- A video screen cannot replace human contact
- The connection to colleagues is missing
The cards are being reshuffled – and not just to our advantage
Working from home requires a lot of self-discipline and is of course not feasible in some sectors. In other areas, however, this is already the case. IT departments in particular can be decentralized and work virtually and agilely:
- Daily meetings (Scrum) are held online
- Programming is done from home
New requirements
The prerequisite is that the home offices are connected to the systems of the respective companies with the necessary security. Of course, the speed of data transmission also plays a role here. In this respect, companies will again incur costs, as not all employees will have the appropriate conditions at home. After all, this is not just about sending a few e-mails or documents:
- The data connections must be secure, i.e. encrypted
- The necessary hardware must be available
Sticking points in international cooperation
Of course, all of this is feasible, but it costs money. However, such an investment can pay off, especially in international operations where cooperation takes place across continents. However, there are a few tricky details to consider here:
- With virtual collaboration, colleagues only get to know each other digitally
- It is precisely this distance that can lead to miscommunication
- There is still insufficient relationship building, which is essential for good cooperation in some cultures
- Time differences must be taken into account and can slow down the process as there is only a limited time window for a direct exchange
We know of many examples where this type of collaboration is slow, sometimes even slower than direct collaboration.
Preparation instead of rework
The Global Cultures and Global Leaders seminars can make a significant contribution to your success:
- Targeted preparation of the employees concerned for virtual communication
- Work out the special features of virtual project management
- Developing strategies for virtual collaboration
- Support for virtual projects
- Preparation of Scrum Masters for their virtual role
- Adaptation of the organization to the new requirements
Talk to us – because preparation reduces poor processes – and saves costs!
